





>*- ^^. 



^^, 





'^ 








.^■^°- 








' y ^.^ ysM^ x</ :Mfev "^.^ y-^^^U'" ^ ¥v "^^^ /^^^'^ 















X- 



vv 

J'-'-^ 



.v' 






V^^' 

.^^'^^. 






V 









v«* 



•X 









P 



'** 



% 






"^-^^ 






\ 









<./•••••■ 



">x 







'\ 






<<»<^' ■■ • ^ -V, •) J> "5 



.^' 



4 o 



u 






•^0^ 
.^^ 



-0^ 



•^-, 









%.^" 

,./% 



♦^yK%c' 






.V^ 



VV "VV ^"^^ 



^O^"^ 
>°-^^ 



v^'' 






tS^'" 






tL^^^ ^V'>•^ ,9»r .v.* 

\ /."---^ .^.-V-^X <^.-''.y% A^. :■'-:•% ^ 
/°- ^°-^^^ -e^^x. ^ ; ^0--^ : ^^^°^ 

■••^Wf:-- ^**'"'''^^ ••■...;■• ,/\ ■-.'^s;?:-'^*'''"''*. '-X' >:■■' <,'-*''\ ■-•'^^■' ■.' 

'"oV^ "^.-0^ -o>^ -^^0^ . -oV^ 






=^-..<^ 



,-}•- 









''^'^, 



./^' 



V 









■** 



J.1 
=•<>>. .-i* 



i-^' 



.V^^ 



"-^^0^ 









.0^ 



..^' 












0' 

o " e , ^^ , :• 






















^ 



' /»-T>^ 



H J S T O R Y 



NEW YORK CITY, 



KMBRACINC 



AN OUTLINE SKETCH OF EVENTS FROM 1609 TO 1S30, AND A FULL 
ACCOUNT OF ITS DEVELOPMENT FROM 1S30 TO 1884, 



BENSON J. LOSSING, LL.D., 



•Pictorial Field Book 0/ the Revolution," " The War 0/ 1S12," nnd " The Civil War in 

Ameiica ;" "Mount Vernon and its /tssocialions ;" " Jllustraled History 0/ the 

United States ;" " Cyclofiedia of United Stales History ;" " Our Country ;" 

•■ St.iry of the UiiHyl Sf„i,-: ,\'.>-'v /;)'■ A'-n't," /A., el,- 



%\\\\%\rn\tii m\\} Poi;tiiiits, Viquis of; ^arks. ^Buiibiugs, clc, 



ENGRAVED ON STEEL EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK 



BY FERINE. 




NEW YORK: 
GEORGE E PERINE. 



Copyright, 1884, by Geo. E. Ferine. 
All Eights Reserved. 






PREFACE 



Tins work is designed tn l)e an uiitliiic ]iictur(' <>f life in 
New York and of the city's niateiial proLTess during tlie past 
sixty years. It is prefaced liy a brief liistory of the city from 
tlie date of its foundation until 1830, when tiie impetus wliich 
produced its most marvellous development Ijegau to be power- 
fully felt. 

No attempt has been made l)y the author to give details of 
the conuneree, finances, mechanic arts, and manufactures of the 
city, for the scojio and limits of the work would not permit. A 
few notices of ])ai'ticidar commercial, manufacturing, and other 
establishments have, been given, only as illusti'ations of tlie 
enormous expansion of all kinds of business within the ])eriod 
of a (piarter of a centuiy. 

The work is essentially a socidl history of the city of New 
York. It contains an account of society there in its various 
aspects of home life, l)usiness activities, and social organizations, 
during a period of two generations. In it may be found brief 
records of the growth of the city in area, from time to time ; 
changes in its architectural features ; its amusements ; its increase 
in population, commerce, manufactures, and other industries; 
the trausfoi-mations in the aspects of society and in municij)al 
aifairs; its judiciary, educational systems, and its government; 
its politics and its journalism ; its inventors and discoverei-s ; 
the disturbances and disasters which have afflicted it, and othei' 
events which have made it famous; the origin and work oi 
the principal educational, religious, scientific, literary, artistic, 
benevolent, and charitable institutions with which the city 
al)ounds, together with the names of the pi-ojectors, corporators, 
and present officers of the various institutions. 

In this woi'k may also be found the portraits and luief l.jo- 



graphical sketches of nearly one hundred citizens, who by their 
enterprise, intelligence, and character have materially assisted in 
the promotion of the prosperity and good name of New York, 
and in its elevation to the high position of the metropolis of the 
Western Hemisphere. They are the portraits of men whom 
their fellow-citizens delight to honor. Tbese portraits and the 
materials for the biographical sketches have been obtained only 
thi'ough tije earnest solicitations of the author. 

There are also numerous views of parks, public and pi'ivate 
l)uildings, and other objects. These, like the portraits, are en- 
graved on steel in the best manner, expressly for the work. The 
backgrounds of all the j^lates are of iiuifoi-ra size, causing an 
unique synunetry in the illustrations, particularly noticeable. 
The vignette views are after original India-ink drawings by 
Mr. J. Lawrence Giles. The illustrations are uniformly distrib- 
uted through the work at equal distances apart, for the sake of 
regularity, aud therefore could not, as a rule, be inserted where 
reference is made to them in the text. The readei", by i-eferring 
to the list of porti'aits and other illustrations, may readilj'' 
find their jilaces in the work indicated ; and by a refei-ence to 
the general index will as i-eadily find the relevant l)iography oi* 
descj-iption sought. 

It has been observed that the scope and limits of this work 
would not permit minute details; only a general view of the 
topics introduced. This, it is believed, will be more acceptable 
to the general reader than a nari-ative overburdened with the 
dry details of statistics, methods, and technicalities. The pub- 
lisher has projected another work, in which will be given a full 
account of the commerce, finances, mechanic ai-ts, manufactures, 
nnd otber industries, statistical and teclmical, in the city of 
New York fi-om its foundation until now. That work will be 
a complement to this. 

The author gratefully acknowledges the uniform kindness 
and courtesy of the managers of institutions and of all others 
who have cheerfully aided him in gathering the materials for 
this work, and to these he tenders his sincere thanks. 



1 ILLUSTRATIONS 



STEEL PORTRAITS. 



AUAMS, iVLVIN J'ttcilUJ jXl'JV 2IJ-J j 

Appueton. Daniel '--*> 

AsToit, John Jacob 30 

Bakkeb, Fokdvck •>'"• 

BauSaud, F. a. r 170 

Bates, Levi M 3-12 

Beach, Moses Y 634 

Bebgh, Henky 280 

BijicKFonD, EroEKE G S72 

Buss, CoiiNEurs N 618 

Brown, Jami-s 90 

Bbewster, J<oies B 556 

BnucE, Geoboe 8()0 

Cesnola, L. p. di ... 852 

Clinton, De Witt. . 6 

Clabk, Emmons. ... 678 

Colton, G. Q 738 

Cooper, Peteb 116 

CRoutJS, Sr., Clakkson 816 

Crosby, Howard 298 

CuinnNos. Thos. S 210 

Daly, Cilvrles P 468 

Datts, Noah 316 

De Witt, Thomas 438 

De Pevster, Frederic 74 

Dodge, William E lUM 

DiiN, U. G G«8 

DURAND, A. B 198 

EcKERT, Thomas T 688 

Faber, Ebeehard 786 

Field, Benjajiin H 476 

Field, Cyrvs W. . . 236 

Fish, Ha-milton 82 

Francis, John W 38 

Fredbicks, C. D 754 

Gerry, Elbridoe T u3ij 

Grace, Willlvm R 608 

Green, Noevin 352 

GurNNEix, lIosEs H 98 

Habpeb, James 152 

Hatch, G. W 528 

Helmtjth, William Tf>D ... 624 

Henderson, Peter 796 



Hoe, Peteb S 306 

Hoe, Rif:HARU M 306 

Hoe, Robert 306 

HovT, Joseph B 770 

Hfdiics, John (Archbishop) 254 

I\T8oN, Henry 582 

Jay, William v . 22 

jE.srp, Morris K 444 

KuBTz, William 842 

Lee, Gideon 54 

Leooett, Francis H 696 

LossiNO, Benson J (i'/c \itiiie 

Low, .\biel A 272 

McKesson, John . . . . 546 

McCloskey, John (Cnrdinal) 360 

Macy, R. H 762 

Maiy, Wnj-UM H 414 

Martin, Charles J 460 

MoTT. Jordan L 484 

Morr, Valentine 46 

Moss, John C 746 

MuNN, O. D 590 

Ottendorfer, Oswald 388 

Packard, S. S 652 

PtERBEPONT, Edwards 188 

PbIJIE, S. iRENiEUS 452 

Raynor, Samuel 730 

Renwick, James 378 

Ridley, Edward 704 

Rogers, John 778 

Roberts, 5LutsH.ux 334 

ST.utiN, John H 510 

Steinway, Henry 518 

Stephenson, John 660 

Stttrges, Jonathan 66 

Tay-lor, Moses 180 

Thompson, John 406 

Thokne, Jonathan 396 

Tiffany, Charles L 324 

Tyno, Stephen H 162 

Vai^^entdte, Lawson 714 

Vanderbilt, Coen-elius 144 

\'an Nostrand, Daniel. . . 824 



VI 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Wales. Rai.em H facing page 492 

Webb, James W.atson 126 

Webb. William H 424 



Weed, Thttblow 832 

Winston, Frederick S 244 



VIEWS OF PARKS, 

Academy of Music J'acixg page 208 

Amekicin News Company Bcilding . . 042 I 

.\sTOK LiBRAKY 208 

Baptist Home for the Aged 288 

B ARTHOLDi Statue of Liberty .... litle plate 
Bates, Keed and Cooley's Building. . 806 

Battery and Castle Gaiiden 500 

Bellevue Hospital 134 

Bible House 288 

Bloomingdale Asylum 134 

Calvary Baptist Church 134 

Central Park 432 

Chemical Bank 564 

Charlleb Institute 208 

City Hall, Court-House, and P/Vek. . 564 

Columbia College 208 

Cooper Union 208 

Customhouse 564 

Dakota Apartment House. 642 

Elevated K.uleoad title plate 

Equestrian Statue of Washington . . 564 

Evening Post Building 642 

Five Poikts House of Industry 288 

Fbaunce's Tavern, where Washington 

Parted with hls Officers . . frontispiece 

Fulton Ferry 564 

Fulton Street Daily Noon Prayer- 

ilEETING 134 

Gramercy Park 500 

Herald Building 642 

High Bridge title plate 

Howard Mission 288 

John Street Methodist Church 134 

Lenox Libraey 208 

JIadison Square 500 

Map of New York in 1728 14 

Masonic Halt, in 1830 .frontixpiece 

Masonhc Temple 288 

Methodist Book Concern 288 

Metropolitan Museum of Art 208 

^IlLLS BUILDINO 642 

Mount Morris Park 500 

National Academy op the Arts of 

DE.SIGN 208 

New York in 1776 frontispiece 



BUILDINGS, Etc. 

New Fulton Market .... .facing page 564 

New York Historical Society 208 

New York Hospital 134 

New York .vnd Brooklyn Bridge . title plate 

New W.isHiNGTON Market 564 

Newsboys' Lodging House 288 

NiEUW Amsterdam in 1659. . . .frontispiece 

Normal College 208 

Obelisk, The 564 

Old City Hall fiontispiece 

Old Government House is 1810 frontispiece 
Old Stone Bridge, Canal Street and 

Broadway in 1812 . frontispiece 

Post Office 564 

Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avente . . 134 

Presbyterian Hospital 134 

Produce Exchange 642 

Eesidence of Mrs. A. T. Stewart . . . 642 

B. Hoe & C'o.'s Building 722 

St. Luke's Hospit^vl ". . . 134 

St. Patrick's Cathedral 370 

Seventh Kegiment Armory 564 

Society foe the Prevention of Cruel- 
ty to Antmals 288 

Staats-Zeitung Building 642 

Stock Exchange 642 

Sttjyvesant Square 500 

Sun Butlding 642 

Temple Court 564 

Temple Emanu-el 134 

Tombs, The 564 

Times Building 642 

Tribune Butlding 642 

Trinity Church 134 

Tompkins Square 500 

Union Square 500 

Union Theological Seminary 564 

United Bank Building 642 

Vanderbilt jVIansions 642 

Washington Square 500 

Western Union Telegraph Building. .642 

Windsor Hotel 564 

Worth Monument 504 

Young Men's Christian Association 
Hall 288 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

OUTLINE HISTORY, 1G09-1830. 



OTTAPTER T. 

IT was a warm day in oarly Sfpteiuljcr, 1009, when the yacht Ilalf- 
3[(>i>ii, (jf ninety tons liurden, tlic liull of whicli Ijore many scai-s of 
wounds received in battle with ice-floes in polar seas, anchored in a bay 
now known as the iiarbor of Xew York. She had a high pooj) after 
the fashion of the times, sti-ong masts, and aiTi])le sijais and stiils. She 
was commanded by Henry Hudson, an expert English navigator, then 
(>nij)]oyed 1)V tiie Dutch East India Company in searching for a passage 
througli arctic wateis to far-off China and the adjacent islands of tlie 
sea. 

Hudson had failed to penetrate the polar ice, and now sought the 
" strait below Virginia,'' spoken of by his friend Cajitain Smith, wiiich 
might bear his vessel to tiie " South Sea" or Pacific Ocean. He had 
failed to find it ; but now, looking up the broad stream nortliward 
from his anchorage, in which the tide ebbed and flowed, his ho])es 
revived, and he ascended the smooth watei"s toward the high mountains 
dindy seen in the hazy distance. But as he drew near these lofty hills, 
and tiie water freshened more and more, lie was satisfied that it was a 
great river and not a connecting strait between the two oceans. 

Hudson sailed up the river to the head of tidewater, more than one 
hundred and fifty miles, finding dusky inhabitants everywiiere. He 
was chai'ined with the beauty of the country and its i)romise of we<alth 
and renown to whatever ])eo]ile should occupy it. Returning to the 
(jcean, lie sailed away for Europe to tell his employei-s what a magnifi- 
cent ]>rize he had won for them. He had not reached India by the 
way of the Arctic Circle, but he had discovered a great rivei- nmning 
through a magnificent country heavily timbered, abounding with fur- 
l)earing animals, and occujiied by half-naked Ixirbarians only. 

Hudson's wonderful story aroused tiie commercial cupidity of the 
Dutch merchants of Amsterdam, wlio had already establi.shed a very 
l)rofital)le fur trade with the northern Paissi;is. Very soon Dutch ves- 
sels fnjin the Texel, among them the discovery yaclit, api)eared in tlie 
watei-s where Hudson fii-st aiichoivd the IInlf-Moo), ; and not long 
afterward Cajitain Ciiristiansen. as agent for the merchants, accom- 



4 mSTORV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

paiiiecl by cxjiert tr;ippei-s and ti-adei's, built a redoubt, four log huts, 
and a storehouse on the slope west of (present) Broadway, just above 
the Bowhng- Green. This was the seed of the conunercial inetrojiolis 
of Aniei'ica, ])lanted in 1612, at the southern extremity of a long, rocky, 
and swampy island which the barbarians called Man-na-hat-ta. 

Among the bold Dutch navigators who came to Man-na-hat-ta or 
Manhattan was Adi-ien Block, in the schooner TnjrmH. When she was 
laden with bear-skins and was about to depart for the Texel late in 
1613, she took fire and became a blackened ^^^■eck. Before the next 
spring, oaks that had sheltered bears where Wall Street " Indls" now 
contend with financial bruins, were fashioned into a trim-built j'acht of 
sixteen tons, which was filled with slcins and sailed for the Texel. She 
Avas named the Orirnfit—\\\Q " Restless" — a prophecy of that unresting 
activit}' which now marks the island of Manhattan. Such was the be- 
ginning, in Kil-t, of the vast merchant marine of the city of Xew York. 

In accordance with an ordinance lately passed by the Government of 
Holland, tJie Amsterdam merchants hastened to obtain a special license 
for trading in the newly discovered region. They procured a charter 
which gave them the monopoly of the trade for four years, and the 
region was named New Netherland. They enlarged their storehouse 
at Manhattan, built forts as trading stations near the site of Albany, 
and the little seed planted at the mouth of the river by Christiansen 
germinated into a thriving plant of empire — a viUage which they called 
Manhattan. Finally, in 1621, these merchants and others olitained 
from the States-General (the Congress) of Holland a charter for a 
Dutch West India Company. It made it a great commercial monop- 
oly, i)ossessing almost regal powers to colonize, govei*n, and defend, 
not only that little domain on the Hudson, but the whole unoccu])ied 
coasts of America from Newfomidland to Cape Horn, and from the 
Cape of Good Hope far northward along the coast of Africa. The 
charter contained all the guarantees of freedom, in social, political, and 
religious life, necessary to the founding of a free state, and which 
characterized the institutions of Holland. K^o stranger was to be ques- 
tioned concerning his nativity or his creed. " Do you wish to build, to 
plant, and to become a citizen T' was the sum of the catecMsm when 
a new-comer appeared. 

Before the company was fairly oi'ganized, the menacing growls of the 
lion of England induced them to ado]rt measures for making a perma- 
nent settlement in New Xetherland, and place an industrious colony 
there who should found a state. In 1623 the company sent over the 
Nev} Nethfirhjiirl, a stanch ship of two hundred and sixty tons, bearing 



Ol'TLINK UISTOUY. KiO'J 1830. 6 

thirty families of Wallootis, I'rotcstant ivlugci's from (prosent) Belgium, 
who spoke the Fieneli laii;^uage and who had settled in Ilollanil. 
Thev consisted of one hundred an<l ten men, women, and children. 
They brought with them agricultural ini])lements, cows, hoi-ses, sheep, 
and swine, and a sulHciency of household furniture to make them com- 
fortahle. ('ai)tain May, who commanded the JVi'io JVethi'rlaiKl, was 
constituted their titst or teniporaiy governor. 

These immigrants — the Hi-st of a vast multitude who have come to 
our shoi-es in the coui-se of more than two liundred and Hfty yeai-s — 
landed from the Xcir Nctheyhoid in small boats, at the rocky jioint on 
which Castle Garden now stands, and is the receptacle of thousands of 
emigrants who enter the harljor of New York every year. It was a 
beautiful morning in May, 1(323, when they ascended the bank in their 
picturesque co.stuiiies, every man carrying some article of domestic use, 
and many of the women carrying a baliy or a small child in their anus. 
They were cordially received by the tradei-s and friendly Indians, and 
were feasted under a tent made of sails stretched between several trees. 
A Christian teacher accompanied them, who, before they ]iartook of 
their first meal, ofTcix-d uj) fervent thanks to Almighty God for his jire- 
ser\-ing care during their long voyage, and imi)lored his blessing ujion 
the great undertaking before them. Captain .May then read his com- 
mission as govemor of the colony and the country ; and so the germ of 
the city and State of New York was planted in a fruitful soil. 

These immigrants were immediatelv scattered to different points to 
fonii settlements. Some founded the city of I5rooklyn on Long Island, 
and near what wa,s known as the "Wallabout (now the Navy- Yard), 
Sarah Rapalje, the earliest born in New Netherland of European jiarents. 
first saw the light of life. Some went up the Connecticut River and 
built Fort (iootl Hope, just below the site of Hartford ; others planted 
themselves at Esopus, in Ulster County, N. Y., and on the site of 
Albany ; and four young married couples went to the Delaware and 
began a settlement on the New Jersey side of that stream, a few miles 
below Philadelphia. New Netherland was constituted a county of 
Holland, its official seal bearing the figure of a beaver with the coronet 
of a count for its crest. 

When the Xew XcthfrlitiKl returned to the Texel with fui-s valued at 
over S10,0()0, and her commander re]wrted the colonists in good heart 
and ])ros])erous, there was as much excitement as was possible in the 
staid Dutch towns in Holland. People longed to go to the pictiu-ed 
paradise. The membei-s of the West India Company were deughted. 
Thev commissioned Peter Minuit. one of their number. First Director 



6 HISTORY OK NEW YORK CITY. 

or governor ; sent other ships with emigrants, stock, and agi'icultural 
inii)lements ; and when tlie new governor arrived, in lt>2li, lie opened 
negotiations with the barbarians for the ])urchase of Manhattan Island. 
It contained, it was estimated, about twenty-two tiiousand acres of 
land, and it was bought foi' the sum of twent^'-four dollars, wliich was 
paid in chea}) trinkets, implements of husbandry, and wea])ons. Each 
party was satisfied, for each felt it had made a good l^argain. 

When the purchase Avas completed, an engineer staked out the lines 
of a fort at the southern extremity of the island, near the site of the 
modern " Battery.'' The specification called for a Avork " faced with 
stone, having four angles," by which the Bay in front and the Hudson 
and East i-ivers on its flanks might be commanded by cannon. The 
fort, whicli was nothing more than a strong redoubt surrounded by 
cedar palisades, Avas finished the next year, and was named Fort 
Amsterdam. Each settler protected by it owned the house he Uved in, 
kept a cow, tilled the land, and traded wnth the Indians. There were 
no idle pereons. The traders delivered all their furs at the trading- 
house of the company (a large stone l)uilding thatched with reeds), 
and the year when the fort w^as completed furs were sent to Holland 
valued at almost twenty thousand dollars. As yet there was neither a 
clergyman nor a schoohuaster in the colony, but there were two 
appointed " consolei-sof the sick," whose duty it was to read the Script- 
ures and the creeds to the people on Sundays, who were gathered in a 
large loft of a horse-mill. A tower was erected, in which were hung 
Spanish bells captured by the company's fleet at Porto Eico the year 
before —the fu'st " church -going bells" heard on Manhattan Island. 

It was dui'ing the building of the fort that an event occurred which 
caused much enibarr;issraent and misery to the colony afterward. An 
IncUan, his nephew, and another barbarian, members of a tribe in 
"Westchester Count}'-, came to I^lanhattan with beaver-slcins to barter 
with the Dutch. The beaten trail of the Indians from the Harlem 
River was along the shores of the East River to Kip's Bay, and then 
diverging westward passed by a large pond where the halls of justice, 
or Tiie Tombs, now stand. At that pond they were met by three 
farm servants of the governor, who robbed and murdered the men with 
the peltries. The boy escaped. Tliis deed was long imioiown to the 
Dutch authorities, and the guilty men ])robably escaped punishment. 
But the young barbarian vowed he would avenge the murder of his 
uncle. It was done with fearfid usury years afterward. This atrocious 
deed made the surrounding Indians, who were disposed to be friendly 
with the Europeans, jealous, suspicious, and vengeful. 




£y^^^^ 



OUTLINE IIISTOKV, IDOtl 18.W. 7 

The little colony flouri.shcd, ami tlic villiigc wliirli <^r('\v up uiidcr tlio 
protectin":; wing i>f the iovt was called ^ranhattan, which name it 
retained until Stuyvesant came in 1(547. The community at Manhattan 
became cosmopolitan in its comiKjsition, as New York now is, because 
of the free<lom enjoyed tliere, and finally gave to the State and nation 
a race in whose veins course the bloml of Teuton, Saxon, Celt, anil 
Gaul. Their passion for far-reaching commei'ce and adventurous cntei - 
prise has lieen a characteristic of the inhal)itants of Manhattan Island 
from that time until the present, through all their social ami political 
vicissitudes. 

Within twenty years after Hudson's discovery of the island the 
people there turned their attention to ship-building, and in lii:?l they 
actually completed a ship, named Sen} Xetlierhnul, of six hundred or 
eight hundreil tons, and sent it to Holland. It was probably one of 
the greatest merchant vessels then in the world. It was a costly 
exi)erim(>nt, and was not repeated ; and it was nearly two bundled 
yeai-s afterward when the shipwrights of "Manhattan began U> build 
merchant vessels of such large proportions. 

The "West India Company, in order to encourage emigration to New 
Xetherland and increase the population and strength of the colony, 
granted to some of the directoi-s large tracts of land, and invested each 
with the privileges of a "lord of the manor," on condition that he 
should, within a specified time, have on his estates fifty lx)na-fide 
settlers. These proprietore were called pati'ooiiK. One of the most 
extensive landholders among these directoi-s was Killian \'an Rens- 
selaer, a pearl merchant in Amsterdam, whose domain lay on each side 
of the Hudson River at or near ,Mbany. 

In the warehouse of the company at Amsterdam was a clerk name<l 
Van Twiller, who had mai-ried Van Rensselaer's niece. He was 
narrow-minded and inexperienced, but he had served Van Rensselaer 
well in shipping cattle to his American domain. Thi-ough tliat 
director's influence Van Twiller was ap])ointed governor of New 
Netherland, to succeed ^linuit. He was a sleek, rotund, bullet-headed 
Dutchman, who loved ease of mind and body ; was dull of intellect, yet 
slirewd and cimning ; always cf)urageous where there was wo danger, 
and undecided and wavering. He came to Xew Amsterdam in 1<'>88, 
and was a dead \veight U|)on the prosperity of the colony for four 
years ; yet it flouri.shed in spite of him. AVith him came Everaixlus 
Bogardus, the fii-st clergyman who appeared in the colony : also a 
schoobnaster. 

Bogardus was an able, eaniest, :ind bold man. Faithful to his 



8 llISTOm- OF NEW YORK CITY. 

mission, lie did not liositate to reprove Van Twiller for his short- 
comings in his oHiciai, moral, anil religious duties. On one occasion he 
called him a '' child of the devil " to his face, and told him that if he 
did not behave himself he would "give him such a shake from the 
pulpit" tiie next Sunday as would make him tremble like a bowl of 
jelly. \iu\ Twiller lost the respect of all the citizens, and was recalled. 
This was a severe disappointment to him, for he had dreamed of living 
in ease anil dying in New Netherland. He had bought Nutten Island, 
in the harbor, and there he proposed to retire when the cares of 
government should become too burdensome for him, and vegetate in 
luxurious comfort. Tiiat little domain lias been known as " Governor's 
Island " ever since. 

Van TwiUer was succeeded Ijy William Keift, an energetic, rapacious, 
and unscrupulous man, who brought serious trouble upon the colony. 
He endeavored to concentrate all power in his own hands, and began a 
tyrannous inile. A small colony of Swedes liad settled on the Dela- 
ware. With these Keift quarrelled. He incurred the enmity of the 
English on the Connecticut, and of the Indians aU around. Under a 
flimsy pretence he sent an armed force to attack the Raritan Indians 
in New Jersey. Many of them were killed. Savage vengeance did 
not slumber long. The Earitans ravaged outlying plantations ami 
murdered their occujjants. Keift prepared for war. The colonists, 
alarmed, boldly opposed him. They held hun responsible for theu* 
ti'oubles. Hitherto they had lived peaceably with their barbarian 
neigh boi-s ; now these were all hostile. Keift yielded to popular 
clamor for the moment. He requested the inhabitants to choose 
twelve men, heads of families, with whom he might consult on public 
affaii-s. It was done, and this was the germ of representative govern- 
ment in the State of New York. The Twelve not only refused to 
sanction Keift's war schemes, but took cognizance of public grievances, 
when lie dismissed them. 

Some Iliver Indians fled before the fiery MohaAvks and took refuge 
with the Ilackensacks at Hoboken. Keift, burning with a cruel desire 
to " chiistise savages," sent over a body of armed men at midnight in 
February, 16-43, Avho fell upon the sleeping fugitives and before the 
dawn massacred a hundred men, women, and children, and returned to 
New Amsterdam with the heads of several of the slain. By this 
savage act the fierce hatred and thirst for vengeance of all the surround- 
ing V)arl)arians were aroused. A furious war was kindled. Villages 
and farms were desolated, and white people were butchered wherever 
the Indians found them. For two veare the colon v of New Netherland 



OUTLINK IIISTOUV. lOOO-lsyn. 9 

was tlireatencd witli (lestniction. Tlic war finally ceased. Tlio people 
clamored foi- the recall of tlie governor, and he was suniiiKined t<» 
Holland, lie jierislied by shipwreck while on his way with a lai'ge 
fortune, and was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesiint in 1(147, late governor 
of Cura(;oa, a soldier of eniinenc(>, and p()sscssed ol" every requisite for 
an efficient administration of government.* 

Stuyvesant was too frank and bold to conceal his opinions and inten- 
tions. At tlie very outset he frowned at every expression of republi- 
can .sentiment, defended Keift's rejection of the interfei'ence of the 
Twelve, anil plainly told the people, '• If any one during my adminis- 
tnition shall ai>peal, I will make him a foot shorter and .send the pieces 
to Holland, and let him a])j)eal in that way. ... It is trea.son to 
petition against one's magistrate, whether there be cause or not." 
With such despotic sentiments Stuyvesiint beg-.m his iron rule. He 
was a tyrant ; yet honesty and wisdom marked all his acts. He .set 
about refonns with vigor. The morals of the people, the sale of 
Into.xicating liquois to the Indians, the support of religion, and the 
regulation of trade received his immediate attention, and he imparted 
much of his own energy to the citizens. Enterprise took the place of 
sluggishness. He treated the Indians so kindly, and so soon won their 
respect and friendship, tliat the foolish story went abroad that he was 
forming an alliance with the savages to exterminate the English at the 
eastward. 

Stuyvesant found the linances of the colony in such a wretched con- 
dition that ta.xation was necessar\'. For two centuries a political 
maxim of Holland had been, " Taxation witiiout representation is 
tyranny" — a ])ostuIate copied b}' our patriots when they l)egan the old 
war for inde]HMidence. Stuj'vesant dared not disregard this great prin- 
ciple, for it would offend his masters the States-(Teneral, so he called a 
meeting of citizens and directed them to choose eighteen of their best 
men, of whom he might select nine as representatives of the taxpaj'ers, 
who should fonn a co-ordinate branch of the local government. He 
was careful to hedge this jropular council about with restrictions. The 

* Peter Stuyvesant was the last Dutch povemor o£ New Netherlnnd. He was born in 
Holland in 1002, and died in the city of New York (formerly New Amsterdam) in August, 
1G82. Serving; as a soldier in the West Indies, ho beeamo governor of Ciira(;oa. He 
lost a leg in battle, Relnrnin^' to Holland, be was sent to New Ni'therland as First 
Director or Governor, in Ifil", where he ruled tyrannically but righteously until li'i''.4, 
when the province was taken possession of by the English. After that event he went to 
Holland to report in person the misfortunes of the colony. He returned to New York, 
and resided on his farm, which lay along the East River on >ranhattnn Island. His wito 
was Judith Bayard, by whom he had two Rons. He was dignified, honest, and br.ive. 



10 HISTORY OK NEW VOHK CITY. 

fii'st nine selected were to choose their successors, so as to prevent tlie 
peojile having a direct voice in public affairs. But the Nine proved to 
be more potent than the Twelve. They nourished the prolific seed of 
democracy, and gave Stuyvesant much uneasiness. 

The inhabitants of ilanhattan asked the States-Creneral for a muni- 
cipal government. It was granted in 1653, under the corporate title of 
New Amsterdam. Its government was modelled after that of old 
Amsterdam, but with somewhat less political freedom in its features. 
The soul of Stuyvesant was troubled by this " imprudent trusting of 
power with the people." The burghers wished for more power, but it 
could not then be obtained. A silver seal was given to the authorities 
of the new city, and a painted coat-of-arms was sent to them. 

A new trouble disturl)ed Stuyvesant. In the fall of the same year 
when New Amsterdam was incorporated, a convention of nineteen 
delegates, chosen by thepeoi)le of eight villages or communities, assem- 
bled at the town-hall in the city, ostensibly to take measures against the 
depredations of savages and pirates. Tlie governor tried to control 
their action, but failed. When they adjourned they invited the 
governor to partake of a collation with them. Of course he would not 
so sanction their proceedings, and refused, when they plainly told him 
he might do as he pleased ; they should hold another convention soon, 
and he might prevent it if he could. Stuyvesant stormed and threat- 
ened these incipient reijels, but prudently yielded and issued a call for 
another convention, and so gave legality to the measure. They met 
on December 10, 1653. Many English people were now settled among 
the Dutch, and had intermarried with them, and of the nineteen dele- 
gates chosen ten were of Dutch and nine of English nativity. This 
was the first real representative government in the great State of New 
York, now an empire with a population of over five millions. 

Now and here was fought the fii-st battle between democracy and 
despotism on the soil of New York. The convention adopted a remon- 
strance to the States- General against the tyrannous rule of the gov- 
ernor, and sent it to him, with a demand for u categorical answer to 
each of the several counts. He met it with his usual pluck. He 
denied their authoi'ity. He blustered and threatened. They told him 
])lainly that if he refused to comply with their demand they woukl 
appeal to the States-General. At this threat, uttered by the lips of a 
bold messenger — Beeckman, of Brooklyn— the governor took fire, and 
seizing his cane ordered him to leave his pi-esence. The ambassador 
folded his arms and silently defied the wratii of Stuyvesant. When 
his anger cooled he asked I5ceckman to pardon his sudden ebullition of 



OUTMNK IIlSTdHV. KiO'J WW. 11 

feeling, but lie imlered tli" cDtivention to dispei-se instantly. Tliey 
dill no such tiling, but executed tlieir threat by seiuling an advocate 
to Holland with a list of tlieif grievances, ;uul asked lor redress. So 
republicanism, like any other truth, has i-cmarkable vitality, and is 
fostered by pei'secution. It never receded from tin- position it assumed 
in New Amsterdam at Christmas, 1^53. 

Stuyvesant was a faithful servant of the Dutch West India Company, 
watching and defending its interests at all points. The Swedes on the 
Delaware became aggressive ; he made war upon them, conijuered 
them, and as diil Alfred of England with the Danes, he absorbed them 
})olitically, and they became loyal sulijects of the Dutch. This accom- 
plishetl, the long peace Avitli the Indians was suddenly bi-oken by the 
murder of a stjuaw by a citizen of New Amsterdam, who detected her 
stealing his peaches. The fury of her tribe was fiercely kindled. 
Befoi-e daybreak one morning, about two thou.siind Kiver Indians 
appeared before New Amsterdam in sixty canoes. They landed, and 
searched for the murderer of the stjuaw. Stuyvesant summoned tlieir 
leadei-s to a conference at the fort. They were jiromised justice, and 
agreed to leave the island. They did not, and at midnight they 
invadeil the city and shot the murderer, whom they knew. The people 
flew to anns and drove the bai'barians from the city. The Indians 
crossed tiie suri-ounding waters and lavaged New Jei"scy and Staten 
Island. Within three days a hundred white inhabitants were killed, 
fifty were made captive, and three liundred estates were utterly 
desolated by the dusky foe. Stuyvesant finally restored order, 
and then issued a jiroclamation directing those who lived in secluded 
places in the country to gather themselves into villages for mutual 
defence. 

Another and more serious crisis for New Amsterdam and Xew 
Xetherland came. The British always claimed the whole territory of 
Xew Xetherland as tlieir own. The British monarch granted the 
domain to his brother, the Duke of York. In 1<!G4 the duke sent ships 
of war and troo])s to take possession. The jieople of Xew Amsterdam 
were (juite willing to exchange Dutch rule for " English liberty,'' and 
counselled submission when the ai'inainent ajipeared. Stuyvesant held 
out. but was finally comjielled to yiehl. The English took possession. 
The name of the fort was changed from Amsterdam to James, and the 
name of the city and province were changed U) X'ew York. The city 
was held temporarily by the Dutch awhile afterward, when X'ew 
Xetherland became a permanent English possession. But the ])eople 
soon found " English libeilv" not so easy to bear as " Dutch tvrannv," 



12 I11ST(J1{Y OF NKW VUUK CITY. 

for tlieir new masters taxed them almost witliout stint. Yet tlicy 
prospered, and were com jia rati velj' happy. 

Eejnibhcanism grew apace in the city and province of Xew York. 
Man}' of that faith hatl fled froua jjersecution to America, and inocu- 
lated the people here with its doctrines. The people of New York 
cliunored for a representative govenuuent, and in 16S3— about thirty 
yeai's after the Dutch of the name city made a similar demand^their 
request was granted. Governor Dongan, an enlightened Roman 
Catholic, favored theu* ^^^slles, and on tiie 17th of October, 1083, was 
established the firet General Assembly of the Province of Xew York, 
which sat three weeks and passed fourteen acts which became laws. 
The firet of these was entitled " The Charter of Liberties and Privileges 
granted by his Royal Highness to the inhabitants of New York and its 
Dependencies." It was ratified by the duke. The day of that assem- 
bling is a memorable one in the history of New York. 

Before Ave proceed fiu'ther, let us take a brief glance at the social 
condition of New York before its surrender to the EngUsh. At tliat 
time it contained about three hundred houses and about fifteen 
hundred inhabitants. The city was then one of considerable wealth, 
and many of the inhabitants were enjoying the comforts wliich riches 
bring. Eut riches is a thing of relative estimate. A citizen then 
worth a thousand dollars was esteemed a rich man. At first their 
houses were of logs, the roofs thatched with reeds and straw, the 
chiimieys made of wood, and the hght of the windows entered through 
oiled paper. Their tables were made of rough planks ; their plattei-s 
were of wood or peArter ; the spoons of the same ; and carpets were 
unknoAATi until the time of the revolution in 1688. Finally the unsafe 
thatched roofs and wooden chinuiej^s gave place to tiles and shingles 
and brick. The better houses were built of brick imported fi'om 
Holland until some enterprising citizens established a brickj^ard on the 
island during the administration of Stuyvesant. 

Every house was surrounded with a garden, in which cabbage was 
the chief vegetable cultivated, and tulips the principal flowers. Good 
hoi-ses were rare until they began to import them from New England, 
but their cows and swine wei-e generally of excellent quality. There 
were no carriages until after the revolution, and the firet hackney 
coach was introduced into the city of New York in 1096. It is said 
that the fii"st carpet — a big Turkey rug — seen in the city belonged to 
Sarah Ooi-t, the wife of the famous Captain Kidd. The clean flooi-s 
were daily strewTi with white beach-sand wrought into artistic forms 
by the skilful motion of tlie broom, lluw oaken chests filled with 



Ol'TIJNK IIISTOKV. 10(111 1S30. 13 

lioiiscliold linon wow seen in a corner of a nioni in ovorv liousc, ami in 
another c-nrncr a trianfiular cui)l)oar(l witii a f^lass door, in wliicii was 
displayed sliinin<jf pewter or other plates. As wealth increased a few 
had ciiina tea-sets, and solid silver tankards. ])unch-lHjwls, ])()i'rinjieis. 
and ladles. Tea had oidy lately found its way to New York when the 
revolution of ItJSS occurred. 

("hnks and watches were almost unknown, and time was mea.sured 
by .sun-dials and hour-glasses. The habits of the jieoplo were so regular 
that they did not need clocks and watches. At nine o'clock they all 
.said their prayers and went to bed. They arose at cock-crowing, and 
bieakfastcd before sunrise. Dinner-jiartie.s were unknown, but tea- 
parties were frequent. These ended, the participants went home in 
time to attend to the milking of the cows. In every house were 
spinning-wheels, and it was tiie pride of every family to have an ample 
sup]>ly of home-made linen and woollen cloth. The women spun and 
wove, and were steadily em]>loyed. Xoljody was idle. Xobody was 
anxious to get rich, while all practised thrift and frugality. Hooks 
were rare luxuries, and in most houses the I)il)le anil Prayer-l)ook 
constituted the stock of literature. The weekly discoui-ses of the 
clergymen satisHe<l their intellectual wants, while their own hands, 
industriously employed, furnished all their physical necessities. Knit- 
ting and spinning held the jilace of whist and music in these " degener- 
ate days," and vtilltj/ was as ])lainly stamjied upon all their laboi-s and 
pleasures as is the maker's name on our silver spoons. These were the 
"good old days" of simplicity, comparative innocence, and positive 
ignorance, Avhen the " conunonalty" no more suspected the earth of 
the caper of turning ovei- like a ball of j'arn every day than Stuyve.siint 
did the Pm-itans of candor and honesty. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE Duke of York became King of England as James II. in 1685. 
As king he refused to confirm tlie " Cliarter of Liberties" which, 
as duke, he liad granted to the inhabitants of New York. He ordered 
a direct tax, forbade the use of a printing-press in the province, and 
filled the public offices with Roman Catholics, whose faith he had 
embraced and avowed. The liberal and just Governor Dongan stood 
by the people as long as he could, but in the spring of 1688 he was 
ordered to surrender the government of Xew York into the hands of 
Sir Echnund Andros, a supple tool of the king, who had a viceregal 
commission to rule that province and all Xew England. Andros was 
received in Xew York by Colonel Bayard's regiment ; and in the midst 
of rejoicings among the royalists — the aristocracy — because of his 
arrival, news came that James's queen had given birth to a son and 
heir to his thi-one. The event Avas celebrated that evening by a 
banquet at the City Hall, while bonfires blazed in the streets. At the 
festive table Mayor Van Cortlandt became hilarious, and testified his 
loyalty and joy by maldng a burnt sacrifice of his hat and perivrig, 
waving the blazing offerings over the banquet-table on the point of his 
straight sword. 

Republicanism had grown apace in X'ew 'i'ork, and there was great 
disappointment among the Protestant repubhcans ; for in case of failure 
of an heir on the part of King James, his daughter Mary, who had 
married the Protestant Prince WiUiam of Orange, would be his suc- 
cessor. Their chsappointment was soon turned to joy when news came 
that James had been driven from the throne, was an exile in France, 
and William and Mary were joint monarchs of England. The people 
seized Fort James, at the foot of Broadway. Their leader was Jacob 
Leisler,* a popular and leading ship])ing merchant, who had come to 

* Jacob Leisler -was a native of Frankfort, in Germany. He came to .America in 1660, 
resided awhile in Albany, New York, when he became a merchant in the city of New 
York. While on a voyage to Europe in 1678, he, with several others, were made 
prisoners by Turks, and paid a high price for their ransom. He entered public life 
under Governor Dongan, and as a military leader he was at the head of an insurreo- 



I 



OUTLINE HISTOUV, 1609-1«)0. 15 

New Amstcrclain a snldior in the service of tlie West India Comjiany, 
and was captain of one of tlie militia coniiianies of the city. He was a 
warm friend of Wilham of Orange and an anient re])ul)lican. The 
aristocratic party of New York, led hy Mayor \'an Cortlandt, Colonel 
Bayard, and otiier memijei-s of the council, hated Leisler liecanse of his 
political principles, and when, ohedient to the wishes of tiie jieoplc, he 
assumed the functions of governor of the province in the absence of a 
representative of royal authority, they were enraged by this den«x;riitic 
movement, led by " an insolent plebeian and foreigner." They resolved 
on his destruction ; and when a royal governor (Sloughter) came, they 
procured Leisler's ari-est on a charge of treason. lie was unfairly ti-ied 
and condemned. The governor hesitated to sign his death-warrant 
before the pleasure of the sovereigns should be known. Sloughter was 
maile diunk at a fea.st, and in that condition was induced to sign the 
fatal document. Before he was sober, Leisler and his son-in-law, Jacob 
Alilborne, were hanged. His enemies thought they had crushed 
democracy in Xew York. Swift disappointment overtook them. The 
Earl of Dellomont came as governor, and under orders from the Privy 
Council and his king he gladly aided in reversing the attainder of 
Leisler and procuring the restoration of the victim's confiscated 
property to his children. The tables were now turned. Democracy 
obtained a stronger foothold in Xew York than ever. Tuder the veiy 
law enacted for the purjiose of bringing Leisler to trial for treason. 
Colonel Bayard, its chief promoter, was tried for the same olfence, 
found guilty, and sjived from tli(» gallows only by the death of Bello- 
mont and the accession of Ii^dward Hyde, a profligate man and a bitter 
enemy of republicanism in any fonn. He liberated Bayard. 

We have now come to a pei'iod in the liistoiy of Xew York when 
the political and social forces known respectively as Democracy and 
Arititocnirij were organized for the great conflict which resulted in the 
triumph of the former at the close of the old war for independence in 
1783. From the accession of Governor Lovelace in ITi'S, to that of 
Governor Cosby in 1732, democracy prevailed in the General Assembly 
of X^ew York, and the royal repi-esentatives were compelled to yield to 
the will of the people as expressed bj' that assembly. 

.\ new social element had jitst lieen introduced into the city of Xew 

tionary movement in the city of New York after the accession of Williani and Slary. He 
a.ssunie(1 the functions of governor of the colony, bnt on the arrival of a royally 
appointcfl governor he was arre.stcd, condemned as a traitor, and hanged on May IG, 
1691, with his son-in-law, Milbome. Leisler purchased Xew Rochelle for the Hugue- 
nots. 



16 lUSTORV ()!•' NEW YOIiK CITY. 

York by Governor Hunter. J.ouis XIY. luul caused llie expulsion 
from their country of Protestant EJienish Palatines, who besought the 
Britisii Government to give them homes in America. It was done, 
and £10,0UU were appropriated to defray their expenses, they pledgino- 
them-selves to jn-oduce materials for tlie royal navy in the way of 
reimbursement. By conunand of Queen Anne, three thousand of the 
Gennan Palatines accom])anied Governor Hunter to New York. A 
considerable number of them remained in the city ; others went up tlie 
Hudson Piver to Livingston's manor and settled the region known as 
(iennantown ; others went to the Mohawk Yalley and foumled the 
settlement of the German Flats ; while the greater portion made homes 
in Pennsylvania, and so laid the foundations of the German population 
which foi-ms so large and influential an element in the social fabric of 
that commonwealth. These Germans were industrious and frugal. 
Those wlio i-emained in the city soon built a Lutheran church on 
Broadway, on the site of the first Grace Church, near Trinity. This 
was the beginning of the vast German emigration to America. 

In 1725 a new element of ]wwer in the realm of opinion ajipeared in 
New York. William Bradford,* who had set up the first printing- 
press in the ])rovince, issued the first newspaper published in that 
colony in October of that year. He entitled it the New YorTc Weeliy 
Gazette. It became the organ of the aristocratic party. 

When Governor IMontgomerie died, in 1731, Rip A^an Dam, the 
senior meml)er of the council, took charge of ])ublic affairs until the 
aiTival of Governor Cosby the next year. TJie latter was avaricious 
and arbitrary h\ nature. On his arrival lie demanded of "\^an Dam an 
equal share in that officer's salary \\'\\\\q acting as governor. It was 
refused, and Cosby sued him in the Supreme Court. A majority of 
the judges were of the aristocratic jiarty, and gave judgment against 
Yan Dam. The chief justice (Morris) decided against the governor, 
and the latter removed him and ])ut James De Lancey in his place. 
The sympathies of tlie jieople were ^vith \-m Dam. They wanted an 

* William Bradford was a Friend or Quaker, and a printer by trade. He -nas born in 
Leicester, England, in 1G59, and at the age of 23 years emigrated to America, landing on 
the spot where Philadelphia was begun. He had learned his trade in London, and set 
up a press (the iirst) in Pennsylvania. There was a quarrel among the chief religionists 
of Pennsylvania. Bradford having become unpopular with the dominant party, he 
removed to New York, where he introduced printing into that province in 1G93. That 
year he printed the laws of the colony. He established the first newspaper in New- 
York, called the New York Gazette, in the fall of 1725, and in 1728 he established a 
paper-mill at Elizabeth, N. J. He was printer to the government for fully fifty years, 
and the only one in the colony for thirty years. 



OITI.INK IllSTUUV, KIOSI ISIJU. \': 

organ, ami tlii-y pt-iMiailcil Julm IVtcr Zongcr,* who liad bi-i-ri an 
apjnvntict' witli I'ratlfoid and liis Imsinoss partnL-r for a wlnle, to cstab- 
lisli an opposition newspaper. Jle did so in Novenilier, ll'.i'.i, giving it 
tilt' title of tlic Xi ir Yi/rJ: W<<Klij Journul. Xan Dam, who was a 
leading merchant, stood behind Zenger as his financial suitporter. 

This organ of the democratic ])arty made vigoi'oiis war U|ion the 
governor and his political friends, and liually it charged him and them 
with violating the rights of the people, the assumption of tyi'annical 
power, and the ])erversion of their official stations for selfish pur])oses. 
When they could not answer nor endure these attacks any longer, 
Zenger was arrested on a charge of lil)elling the government, and the 
couucil ordered his i)aiMMs containing these alleged libels to be bumed 
by the common hangnum. 

After lying in jail several months Zenger was bivnight to trial, 
^leanwhile a republican a.s.-<ociation called '• Sons of Liberty" worked 
assiduously for Zenger, and his friends employed the venerable Andrew 
Hamilton of Philadeli)hia, then eighty veal's of age and the foremost 
lawyer in the colonies, as the prisoner's counsel. The case excited 
wides])read interi-st and attention, for it involved the great (juestion of 
liberty of speech and of the ])ress. 

At that famous trial Chief-Justice Dc Lancey presided. The couit- 
room was crowded. The citizens generally sympathized with Zenger. 
The ])ri.soner ])leade(l " Not guilty." admitted the publication of the 
alleged lil)el, and offei-ed full jiroof of its justification. The attorney- 
general rose to oppose the admission of such ))roofs. At that moment 
the venerable Hamilton entered the room. Kumoi-s had gone abroad 
that he would be there. The multitude rose to their feet and welcomed 
him with waving of hats and loud huzzas. "With his long white hair 
flowing over his sh<nddcis, this Nestor of the bar in a few eloquent 
words scattered all tiie legal sophistries of the jirosecution to the winds. 
lie declared that tli(^ jui-y were themselves judges of the facts and the 
law ; that they wei'c a i)art of the court ; that they were competent to 
judge of the guilt or innocence of the accused : and he reminded them 



* John Peter Zenger was a Genunn, a son of a widow among the Palatines who oaino 
to New York in the reign of Queen Anne. He wa.s apprenticed to William Bradford, 
the printer, became his partner, and in 1733 began a weekly newspaper in the citj' of 
New York, called the llVr/./i/ Jouriuil. For some strictvires on the conduct of the 
governor, Zenger was pro.secuted for a libel, and was imprisoned thirty-five weeks. His 
trial was a famous one. He was defended by the great lawyer, Andrew Hamilton of 
Philadelphia, and was acqnitted. His acquittal was regarded as a vindication of the 
frpednni of the press. Zenger died in Now Ynil; in 1746. 



18 UISrORY OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

that tliey were the sworn protectors of tlie rights, hberties, and privi- 
leges of their fellow-citizens, which, in tliis instance, had been violated 
by a most outrageous and vinchctive series of persecutioas. The chief- 
justice's charge to the jur}^ was wlioUy averse to this doctrine of the 
great advocate, but after a brief conference they returned a verdict of 
" Kot guilt}'." A shout of triumph went up from the multitude, and 
Hamilton was borne fi'om the court-room upon the shoulders of the 
people to an entertainment prepared for him. The citizens gave him a 
pubhc dinner the next day, and a few weeks later the coi-jooration of 
New York gave Hamilton their thanks and the freedom of the city in 
a gold box. He had served a righteous cause without a fee, because it 
was a righteous cause. 

To the city of New York is due the imperishable honor of first ^'indi- 
cating the fi'eedom of the press in the English- American colonies, and 
it has ever maintained the exalted position of a champion of liberty and 
the rights of man under aU circumstances. 

The population, industries, and wealth of New York City had rapidly 
incr-eased since the begiiming of the century. In about thiity years 
the population had expanded from live thousand to almost nine thou- 
sand. Already the shipping employed in trade gave the city the char- 
acter of a commercial metropoMs, and its merchants were noted for 
enterprise, intelligence, wealth, and probity. For a while they had 
serious difficulties to contend with. At the close of the seventeenth 
century the ocean swarmed with pirates. They entered the harbor of 
New York and seized vessels lying at anchor. It is believed that men 
in high official station there were confederated with the buccaneere, 
shared their booty, and shielded them from punishment. Finally a 
worthy shipmaster of New York, Captain Kidd,* was employed by a 

* William Kidd was a jirominent shipmaster in New York at the close of the seven- 
teenth century. His wife was Sarah Oort. Kidd was the son of a Scotch Nonconformist 
minister, and had followed the sea from his yonth. He was regarded as the boldest and 
most enterprising marfner of New York, about 1695, when he was appointed captain of a 
privateer, owned by King William, Governor Bellomont, Robert Livingston, and several 
of the English nobility, and was fitted out for the suppression of piracy. He received 
his commission from King William. He sailed in the Adventure Galley from Plymouth, 
England, in 1096, for the Indian seas, where, after scattering the pirates, he became one 
himself, or rather was compelled by his crew to become the commander of a pirate ship. 
He returned to New York with large booty in lfi98. The piratical partners of the Adven- 
ture Galley raised such a hubbub in England, that her owners, to escape the odium of 
Kidd's conduct, made him a scapegoat. With virtuous pretensions Lord Bellomont 
caused Kidd's arrest on the chaise of piracy and murder. He was convicted and hanged 
at Plymouth, England, on May 24, 1701. The charge of piracy was not pioven, and 
the killing for which he suffered was undoubtedly accidental. 



OUT1-IN1-: IIISTiMtV. HiO',) WM 19 

couipanv to disiioi-sc or destroy the pii'atcs. He suceeedcd, but liiially, 
tlirouyli great temptation, he turned pirate himself in distant seas. ;ind 
was hanged in England, an unfortunate seapegoat for his more guilty 
titled confederates. 

Intellectual foi'C(>s of nmch strength were early at work in the city of 
New York. The tiiird i)rinting-press in the Enghsh-American colonies 
was set up there by William liradford, and in 10'j;3 he jjrinted tiie 
kiws of the colony in a small folio volume. This Avas the fii-st pui)liea- 
tion of a book in that city, where millions are now issued every year. 

Episcopacy had been made the leading ecclesiastical system in New 
York by the fiat of royal governoi-s, and on the establishment of 
Trinity Church, in ItJDO, ]>ublic worship was conducted in the English 
language instead of the Dutch, excepting in the liefoniied Dutch 
Church. Trinity Church echlice — a small, .sfpiare structure with a very 
tall spire — was completed in 1(197, and in 17i>3 Queen Anne granted to 
it the "King's Fann" on the west side of Broadway — the famous 
" Trinity Cliurch property" claimed by the alleged heii-s of Annetye 
Jans-Bogardus. 

The fii'st attempt had been made in KiO" to light the streets of New 
York by hanging a lantern from a pole projecting from a window in 
every seventh house. A night watch of foui- men. had been established 
at the same time, and two men were appointed to inspect the hearths 
and chimneys of the six hundred houses in the city once a week. A 
])ublic ferry between New York and Long Island liad been established 
by the city authorities, and in ITOT Broadway had Iteen fii-st jiaved 
from the Bowling Green to Ti-inity Church. In 17i>9 it was levelled as 
far as Maiden Lane. In that year a slave-market had bee)i established 
on the site of the old block-house at the foot of Wall Street, where 
most of the shipj)ing was moored. Rigorous nmnicipal laws concerning 
the slaves were strictly administered, which caused occasional out- 
brealis. 

The fii-st liospital for the ]K)or had l^een estabhshed in ItUtO, and in 
170.5 the fii-st grammar school in New York had been authorized, but 
was not established for some time because a com]ietent teacher could 
not be found in the city. The first Presln'terian church built in the 
city had been erected in 1719, on Wall Street near the City Hall ; and 
the previous year the first ro])ewalk in New York — the beginning of a 
very flourishing industi'V — had been set uji on Broadway between Bar- 
clay Street and Park Piace. 

Pulilic mattei-s in New York had presented no piiase of s]iecia.l 
imjjortance until the anival of Jf)hn Jlontgomei'ie as governor in the 



so HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

spring of 1 728, when he was received with more cordiality and granted 
more lavoi's than any other magistrate since Bellomont. The chief 
event of his administration was the granting an amended charter for 
the city in 1730. The tii-st charter given to the city under EngUsh 
rule had been granted in 1GS6. Others have been granted from time 
to time. By the new charter the hmJts of the city were fixed ; the 
power of eslabhshing ferries, and tlie possession of the feri'ies, market- 
houses, doclcs, etc., and all pi'ofits arising fi'ora them, were granted to 
the city. Provision was made for the establishment of courts, and the 
privileges and duties of all public officei-s were defined. The jurisdic- 
tion of the city was fixed to begin at the King's Bridge, near the upper 
extremity of the island, extending to Long Island, including small 
islands at the mouth of the Harlem River, thence on that side of the 
East River to Red Hook, and thence, embracing the islands in the 
harbor, up the Hudson River to Spuyten Duyvel Creek to the place of 
beginning. 

Wliile this charter gave the authorities of the city of 'Sevr York 
jurisdiction over the whole of Manhattan Island and adjacent islands, 
the streets of tiiecity were laid out only as far north on the west side as 
Courtlandt Street on the border of the King's Fann, and on the east 
side as far as Frankfort and Cherry Streets. There Avere only scat- 
tered houses above Maiden Lane, ^ut the city was then so densely 
populated below Wall Street that in 1729 the Dutch Reformed Church, 
in Garilen Street below Wall, was so crowded that a ])ortion of the 
congregation colonized and built the " iliddle Dutch Church,"' on the 
corner of Nassau and Liberty Streets, used (until a few years ago) for 
the city Post-Office for many years. Wall Street had been so named 
because along its line, from river to river, had extended the jjalisades 
or wooden walls of the city of New Amsterdam. 

Paui)erism became prevalent and troublesome during Montgomerie's 
administration, and measures Avere taken for providing a public alms- 
house, which should also be a workhouse. One was erected in the rear 
of the present City Hall in 1734. It was well supplied with spinning- 
Avlieels for the women and shoemakers' tools and otlier implements of 
labor for tlie men. It was made a sort of self-sustaining institution. 

Nothing of sjiecial pul)lic importance occurred in the city of New York 
after the trial of Zenger until 1741, when the famous "Negro Plot" 
produced a reign of terror there for some time. A similar occurrence, 
but of smaller projiortions, had taken place in 1712, when the popula- 
tion of the city was about six tliousand, composed largely of slaves. 
There was a suspicion of a conspiracy of the negroes to burn the city 



olTMNK IIISTUHV. IliO'J-lSUO. 21 

and destroy tlio inliabitunts. During the [v.nuc tluit pn-vailcd niiK'tioii 
slaves suspected of tlie crime perished. 

In 1741 a susju'cted negiu plot to destroy the city and its inhiil' 
pioduced great disaster. New York then contidned ahout ten timu- in i 
inhabitants, iieaily one liftli of whom were negro slaves. Tiie city 
literally swarmed with tiiem. There were growing apprelicnsions 
among the people of a servile insurrection. The slave-maiket was at 
the foot of Wall Street ; the calaboose was in the " common" or City 
Hall Park. The slaves were under rigorous discii)line, and were keenly 
watched as a|)prehonsions of danger fivm them increased. 

In the early spring of 17-tl some goods and silver were stolen from a 
merchant. Suspicion fell u])on the keeper of a low tavern to wiiich 
negroes and thieves ivsorted, but on s(\irching the police found noth- 
ing. A maid-servant of the pul)lican told a neighbor that the gootls 
were there, and very soon she, her master, and his family were brought 
before the court. Then tlie servant accused a negro with being the 
thief and his master the receiver of the stolen goods. A pail of the 
])iopeity was fountl under his master's kitchen floor and ivturned to 
tlie owner, and here the matter rested for a wlule. 

Two or three weeks later the governor's house in the foit was laid in 
ashes. Within a few days afterward other fires in different parts of 
the city occurred. These fires, breaking out in such ra])id succession, 
alarmeil the people, and a iiinior that the negroes had jilotted to burn 
the city took wing and Hew to every dwelling in the coui-se of a few 
hours. For several days the slaves had been suspected of meditating 
the crnne ; now suspicion was changed to co7ifirmation. 

It was now noted that a Spanish vessel, manned in part by negioes, 
had recently beeii lirought into jwrt as a prize, and the black men had 
been sold at auction for slaves. They were naturally exaspei-ated by 
this inhuman treatment, and had let fall some stifled threats. No one 
now doubted that these desjierate fellows were leadei-s in tue horrid 
plot. There was a general cry of " Arrest the Spanish negroes !"' 
They were seized and cast into prison. On the same afternoon the 
magistrates met, and while they were in consultation the storehouse of 
Col(jnel Philli])se was discovered to be on lire. Magistrates and people 
were panic-stricken, for the busy tongue of rumor positively declared 
the negroes were about to fire the city, murder the inhal)itants, and 
pcjssess themselves of their masters' projierty. Negroes were seized 
indiscriminately, and very soon the prisons were filled with them. 

The Cotmnon Council offered a reward of one hundred ])ounds and a 
full pardon to ;mv lonspjrator wIk. sli.mld reveal the plot and the 



22 HISTORY OK NEW YOKK CITY. 

names of the incendiaries. The imprisoned servant of the tavem- 
keejjer spoken of took advantage of this offer to gain her hberty and 
fill her purse, and told a most ridiculous story of negroes whom she 
named bringing stolen goods to her master, and talking about their 
design to burn the city and destroy the inhabitants, and the rk;hes and 
])o\ver they aa'ouKI possess afterward. The excited and credulous mag- 
istrates received this absurd story as truth, and persons arrested were 
induced to make all sorts of confessions in the hope of averting danger 
to themselves. There was a reign of terror throughout the city. The 
victims of the lying servant's pretended revelations were imprisoned, 
tried, condemned, and executed. Among these were her master and 
his wife. On her testimony alone many negroes were from time to 
time accused and imprisoned, and in Ma}'' several of them were bm'ned 
alive in a green vale on the site of the (present) Five Points. In June 
othei-s were burned, and before the middle of August one hundred and 
lifty-four negroes and twenty-four white people had been imprisoned. 
Of these four white persons were hanged ; fourteen negroes were 
burned alive, eighteen were hanged, and seventy-one wei'e transported. 
The last victim was Ury, a schoolmaster, who was accused by the lying 
servant (Mary Burton) of being concei'ned in the plot. lie was sus- 
pected of being a Roman Cathohc priest. The bigoted magistrates 
took advantage of an old unrepealed law for hanging any priest who 
should voluntarily come into the province, and Ury was doomed. 
They seemed to be hungry for his hfe. In vain ho offered to prove 
that he was a clerg^nnan of the Church of England. Marj' Burton was 
considered infallible, and poor Ury was hanged. Then the " state's 
witness" became bolder, and accused " persons of quality ;" and, as in 
the case of " Salem Avitchcraft, " when leading citizens, who had been 
active in persecuting the poor negroes, Avere implicated, men took meas- 
ures to end the tragedy — " stop the delusion." It was done, and the 
2-l:th of September Avas set apart as a day of thanksgiving for the great 
deliverance. The " Negro Plot" may be classed among the foremost 
of jiopular delusions. 

It was at about this time that a few men Avho played important pai-ts 
in the social and political drama of the citj" of A'ew York appeared 
consjjicuous upon the stage — Dr. Cadwallader Golden, James De 
Lancej', Philij) Livingston, Peter Schuyler, Abraham De Peyster, 
Frederick Phillipse, "William Smith the elder, and a few othei-s. Some 
of these, hke Golden, Avei-e lovei-s of science and literature. So 
absorbed in trade, and in efforts to increase the wealth and material 
pro])erty of themselves and the city had the citizens become, that edu- 




IVLiUaryi J^^L, 



I 



OUTLINK HISTORY. KiOn isyo. ...j 

cation was no<;lcct<'il. Some of tlioso gontlomon floai'ly perceived tiio 
evils to be feared from sucli a want, and set about su]>])lyin<j it. There 
were then luit few colle<i:ians in the province ; Messi-s. Smith and I)e 
Lancey weie tiie only ones in tlie leg;d profession. There was a small 
public library, but it was little used. The chaplain of Lord IJellomont 
(Iiev. John Sharp) had jiiesented to the city a collection of books in 
17"i», for a " Corporation Library," and in 1721* the Society for the 
Pro|)agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts atlded to these, for the 
same purpose, hVl-1 volumes, which had been given to them Ijy Rev. 
John Millington, of Euglaiul. The first librarian ajipointcd died ; the 
books were neglected, and their very existence was almost forifotten 
until 1754, when some i)ublic-spirited citizens org-anized and foumled 
the " Society Library." The Connnon Council added the " Corpora- 
tion Library'" to the institution, and for several yeai-s the books of the 
Society Librai-y were kept in the City Hall. 

Meanwhile £*:i2r><> had been raised by lottery for the foundation of a 
college. This sum was increased, and in 1754 King's (now Columbia) 
College was chartered. Sectarianism was then lampant in the city, 
and there was a sliarp straggle for the denominational control of the 
institution between the Episco]ialians, headed by James De Lancey, and 
the Presbyterians, led l)y Philip Livingston. The former gained the 
mastery. 

In 1752 the fii-st merchants' exchange in New York was erected at 
the foot of Biwul Street. Beekman Street was opened the same year, 
and St. George's Chapel was erected on it by Trinity Church corpora- 
tion. 

This jieriod in the history of the city of Xew York is particularly 
distinguished for political and theological controversies. The lines be- 
tween sects in religion and politics were sharply drawn. Bigotry and 
intolerance were rampant. The Jews had been allowed to estalilisli a 
cemetery near the present Chatham Square, east side ; now they were 
disfranchised. The Moravians, who closely resembled the Episco- 
jxdians in the form of their liturgical woi-ship, and \y\\o had built a 
church on Fair (now Fulton) Street * and established a mission in 
Duchess County, were persecuted as Jesuits in disguise. In the colonial 
a.sseml)ly political controversies became bitter. This bitterness was 
augmented by the conduct of the royal governor. Admiral Sir George 
Clinton, who speedily made himself un])o|ni]ar with tlu- Iradi is nf all 

* On the west side of lii-.m.iway it wus cailuJ I'.iifiii ui :^xv:\.. 1.1'. i...uiii.Mi iiiiu- 
between the King's Farm nnd others. 



24 HISTORY UF NEW YOUK CITY. 

parties. His best supporter at the beginning of his administration 
■was Chief-Justice De Lancey. Clinton soon offended liini and alhed 
himself to IJr. Colden,* who Avas then a power in the i)rovince ; but 
De Lancey, who was more prominent socially and pohtically than 
Golden, made war ujjon the governor. lie engendered a fierce contest 
between Clinton and the assembly. The governor soon offended 
Colden, who joined the opposition. At length the admiral, wearied 
with the contest and becoming more and more unpo[)ular, left the office, 
and was succeeded i>y Sir Danvei-s Osborne. 

At the hist meeting of liis council Osborne laid his instructions before 
them, when they .said, "The assembly will never yield obedience." 
" Is this true ?" he asked Wilham Smith. " Most emphatically," 
rephed the councillor. "Then what am I come here for f said 
Osboi-ne musingly. The next morning his dead body was found sus- 
{lended b\' a handkerchief from the garden wall of his lodgings. lie 
had destroyed himself in despair. James De Lancey,t the lieutenant- 
governor, assumed the direction of |)ubhc affairs. The political leadei-s 
had zealous partisans among the citizens, and JS'ew York for many 
years was a seething caldron of adveree opinions. 

The quan'el of De Lancey with Clinton :}: had caused the former to 

* Cad wall ader Colden was a native of Scotland ; was born at Dunse, Februaiy 17, 
1688, graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1705, and in 1708 emigrated to 
America, and died at his country seat on Long Island, September 28, 1776. He was 
a physician and skilful mathematician. He practised medicine in Pennsylvania a few 
years, and went to England in 1715. The next year, after visiting Scotland, he returned 
to Pennsylvania, but at the request of Governor Hunter settled in New Y'ork in 1718, 
when he w-as appointed surveyor-general, a master in chancery, and in 1720 a member 
of the King's Council. Obtaining a patent tor lands in Orange County, he settled there. 
He was acting governor of New York from 1760 until his death. During the Stamp Act 
excitement in New Y'ork in 1765, the populace destroyed his carriage and burned him in 
effigy. When Governor Tryon returned to New York in 1775, Colden retired to Long 
IsUind. He wrote a history of the Five Nations of Indians. 

•f James De Lancey was born in New Y'ork in 1703, the son of a Huguenot emigrant 
from Caen, Normandy. He was educated at Cambridge, England, and returned to 
America in 1729, soon after which he was made a justice of the Supreme Court of New 
Y'ork. In 1733 he was elevated to the seat of chief justice. De Lancey was acting gov- 
ernor for nearly seven years, from 1753 to 1760. He was an astiite lawyer, a sagacious 
legislator, a skilful intriguer, and a demagogue of great influence and political strength. 
These qualities and vast estates secured to him triumphs when most other men would 
have failed. 

X Admiral George Clinton was governor of New^ York for ten years — 1713-1753. He 
was the youngest son of the sixth Earl of Lincoln, and was appointed commodore and 
governor of Newfoundland in 1732. His administration in New Y'ork was a stormy one, 
for he did not possess qualifications for the position, or any skill in civil affairs. He 
found in De Lancey a most annoying oppomnt. Golden was Clinton's champion on all 



Ol'TI.INK IIISTOHV, 1009-1830. 25 

oppoRO tlio povpmor's iini)n|)iiliir sclu'inos, and so inado himself a favor- 
ite witii tlR' iM'n|)li'. 'I'lic irpi<'SL'ntalive " aristrjcrat" i)(raino, by Ijie 
i(.'<,'cr(li'iiiaiii of party iM)liti(.s, tlio repirsontative *' (Iciiiocrat" of tiie 
lioiir ; ami tlie laU? royalist faction, t'oiniM)se(l of the wealthiest and 
most inlliu-ntial citizens, was now arrayed on tiie side of the people's 
rif^dits. J>ut De I.«ineey found it diltieult to maintiun that position and 
render obedience to royal instructions. He was soon relieved of tiie 
enihari-.issment hy the arrival of Admiral Hardy as governor, when De 
Lancey resumed his seat as chief justice. He s(jon afterward l)ecaine 
acting governor again, and was ])erforming its duties when, on tlie 
morning of July oO, ITfJn, he was found <lying in his study, the victim 
of clironic asthma. 

The French and Indian war then in progress had taxed the patriot- 
ism and the resources in men and money of the citizens of Xew York. 
The war was raging on the northern frontier of their province, and 
they cheerfully and generously responded to every reasonable call. At 
the same time, jealous of their political rights, they warmly resented 
any violation of them. Lord Loudoun, the commamler of the British 
forces in America, sent a thousanil troops to the city of Xew York with 
orders for the authorities to billet them u])on the inhaltitants. This 
was an infraction of their rights. The city authorities quartered the 
soldiei-s in the barracks on Chambei-s Street, leaving the otficers to 
take care of themselves. The angry Loudoun hastened to New York 
and commanded the authorities to find fiee (luartei-s for the olficei-s, 
■ and threatened if it were not done he would bring all the soldiei-s under 
his command and billet them upon the inhabitants himself. The gov- 
ernor was disposed to comply, but the indignant people refused, and 
deHed the general. The matter was finally adjusted, to avert serious 
trouble, by furnishing free quartei's to the otficei-s liy means of a \m- 
vate subscription. This demand was afterward several times repeated, 
and was one of the principal grievances which impelled the citizens of 
New York to anned resistance to royal authority. 

On the accession of George IIL in 17<i(», followed by ministerial 
schemes for burdening colonial commerce with restrictions, the niurinui-s 
of the king's subjects in America, which had been heard in almost in- 
audible whispers by his immediate jiredecessoi-s, became loud and 
menacing. As occasions for complaint multi|)lied, the colonists showed 
symptoms of absolute resistance to acts of I'arliaineiit. and in this none 

occiisions. Clinton wna made vice-ndmirnl of the rear in 17-43. and viee-aduiiral of the 
Heet in 17r>7. He died governor of Newfoundland in 1761. 



26 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

were more jirompt and defiant than tlie citizens of oS'ew York. Unwise 
and oi)j)ressive navigation laws were put in force, and tliese weighed 
heavil}' upon Isew Yorlv, then become a decidetlly connnercial city. 
Tliese laws were at iii-st mildly resisted. The collectors of customs 
finally called for aid, and writs of assistance were issued, by which 
tliese oHicers or their deputies might enter every house they pleased, 
bi-ealv locks and bai-s if necessary in search of dutiable goods, and in 
this wa}^ become the violators of the great princi2)les of Magna Charta, 
which made every Enghshman's house his "castle." These writs 
were denounced everywhere, and were followed soon afterward by tiie 
famous and obnoxious Stamp Act, which required every piece of paper, 
parchment, or vellum containing a legal document, such as a ]>romis- 
sory note or a marriage certificate, to have a stamp affixed u])on it, for 
which a s])ecified sum was to be ])aid to the government of Great 
J3ritain. 

This indirect system of taxation was very offensive, and the scheme 
was stoutly o])posed everywhere on the continent, but nowhere with 
more firmness than in the city of IS'ew York. Dr. Golden, then nearly 
eighty years of age, was acting governor of the jirovince, and duty to 
his sovereign and his own political convictions compelled him to oppose 
the popular movements around him. When, late in October (1765), 
stam])s arrived at New York consigned to a " stamp distributor," the 
" Sons of Liberty," recently reorganized, demanded that agent's resig- 
nation ; Golden upheld and ])rotected him, and had the stamps placed 
in the fort. This covert menace exasperated the people. 

Though British ships of war riding in the harbor, as well as the fort, 
had their great guns trained upon the city, the patriots were not dis- 
mayed, and appearing in considerable number before the governor's 
house at the fort, demanded the stamps. The demand was refused, 
and very soon the large group of orderly citizens was swelled into a 
roaring mob. They bore to The Fields (the Gity Hall Park) an effigy 
of the governor, Avhich they burned on the spot where Leisler was 
hanged three ff)urths of a century before because he was a republican. 
Then they hastened back to the foot of Eroadway, tore up the wooden 
railing around the Bowling Green, piled it up in front of the fort, 
dragged the governor's coach out and east it upon the heap, and made 
a huge bonfire of the whole. After committing other excesses, and 
])arading the streets with a banner inscribed "England's Folly and 
America's Ruin," they disjiei-sed to their homes. 

Earlier in the same month a colonial convention laiown as the 
" Stamp Act (Congress" assembled in New York, discussed the rights 



OHTMNK HISTOHV, IfiOO 1s:{0. 27 

of tho rnlonists, and jidoijtcd a Declaration of Ri;,dits, a Petition to the 
Kinjr, and a Memorial to both Houses of Parliament. Already the 
idea of union had heen sug-fested by a newspaper called the Conxtitu- 
tioiiid Coi/ntiit, hearing the device of a snake separated into several 
parts, each with an initial of a colony, and hearing the injunction. Join 
OK DiK ! Only one issue of the Courfiut was made, hut its suggestion 
was potent. The idea of the device was hke an electric sjjark that 
kindled a Hame which was never (juenched. The merchants of Xew 
York immediately "joined" in creating a Committee of Correspond- 
ence instructeil to solicit the merchants of other cities to join with tli(>m 
in a solemn agreement not to import any more goods fiom (^reat Britain 
until the Stamj) Act should I)e repealeil. There was general acquies- 
cence. This measure jiroduced a powerful im|)ression upon the com- 
mercial interests of Great P>ritain. The ]ieople at the centres of ti-ade 
there clamored for a repeal of the obnoxious act, and in the coui'se 
of three months this much-desired measure was effected. Then the 
citizens of New York, in the plenitude of their gratitude and joy, 
caased a leaden equestrian statue of the king to be erecteil in the centre 
of the Bowling (ireen, and a marble one to Pitt (who had effected the 
repeal) in the attitude of an orator, at the junction of Wall anil "William 
Streets. 

To New York merchants is due the honor of having invented those 
two powei-ful engines of resistance to the obnoxious acts of the British 
Parliament, and with so nmch jwtency at the beginning of the old war 
for independence — namely, the Committee of Corresjjondence and tlie 
Non-imjK>rtatioti Leayue. 



CHAPTER III. 

FROil the jieriod of the Stamp Act until tlie beginning of the old 
war for indejwiidence, ii\ 1775, the merchants of New York bore 
a conspicuous jiart in political events tending toward iiKle])endence. 
The}"- were leachng " Sons of Liberty." For a while the liberal char- 
acter of the administration of the new governor, Sir Henry Moore,* 
allayed excitements and animosities ; but the stubborn king and stupid 
ministry, utterly unable to comprehend the character of tlie American 
]>oople and the loftiness of the principles which animated them, con- 
tiiuied to vex them with obnoxious schemes of taxation, and kept them 
in a state of constant in-itation. 

Before the echoes of the repeal rejoicings had died away, troops 
were sent to New York, and under the provisions of the Mutiny Act 
they were to be quartered at the partial expense of the province. Tliey 
Avere sent as a menace and as a check to the growth of republican ideas 
among the peo])le there. Led by the Sons of Liberty, the inhabitants 
resolved tp resist the measure for their enslavement. The Provincial 
Assembly steadily refused compliance M'ith the terms of the Mutiny 
Act, and early in 17G7 Parhament passed an act prohibiting the gov- 
ernor and Legislature of New York ])assing any bill for any purpose 
whatever. The assembly partially yielded, but a new assembly, con- 
vened early in 17G8, stoutly held an attitude of defiance, and the colony 
was made to feel the royal displeasure. But the assembly remained 
faithful to the cause of liljerty down to the death of Governor i\Ioore, 
in 17G9. Then Dr. Golden again became acting governor, and an un- 
natural coaliti(jn was formed between him and James De Lancey, son of 
Peter De Lancey, who was a leader of the aristocracy in the assembly. 

JMeanwhile the city had been almost continually disciuieted by the 
insolent bearing and outrageous conduct of the troops, who Avere 

* Sir Henry Mooro was a native of Jamaica, W. I., whore he was born in 1713. He 
became governor of his native island in 17.'>6, and was created a baronet as a reward for 
his services in suppressing a slave insurrection there. From 17G4 until his death, in 
September, 1769, he was governor of New York. He arrived in New York in the midst 
of the Stamp Act excitement in 1765, and acted very judiciously. 



urxLiXK iiisrouv, niMo-isao. 29 

encouraged 1)V tlieir odieci-s. On tlie king's l)irllui.n , m !.>»!, ihe 
citizens, grateful for tlie leiK^al of the Stamp Act, ceiehrated it witli 
gi'eat rejoicing. (Jn tliat occasion they ei'ecteil a flag.stafF wiiicii Un-e 
tlie words "Tlie King, Pitt, and Libeity." They called it 11 L'lhu-hj 
Pole, and it became the rallying-place for the Sons of Liberty. This 
New York idea became ix)|)ular, and hberty poles soon arose in other 
proAnnces as rallying-places for political gatherings of the patriots. 
When the soldiei-s came to IScw York this ik)1c becaine an object of 
their dislike, and they cut it down. When, the next day, the citizens 
were preparing to set up another, they were attacked by tlic tr(K)ps, aii<l 
two of tiie leading Sons of Liberty wei-e wounded. l>ut the pole was 
set up. It, too, was soon prostnited, and a third pole was raised, when 
Ciovernor Moore forl)ade the soldiei-s to touch it. 

The next spring the citizens of New York celebrated the first anni- 
vereary of the repeal of the Stamp Act around the liberty pole. That 
night the soldiers cut it down. Another was set up the next day, pro- 
tected from the axe by iron bands. An un.successful attempt to cut it 
down, and also to prostrate it with gunpowder, were made. The Sons 
of Liberty set a guard to wateli it, and Govorn(3r Moore again forbade 
interference with it. That liberty pole stood in proud defiance until 
January, 1770, when, at midnight, soldiei"s issued from the barracks on 
Chambei"s Street, prostrated it, sawed it in pieces, and piled them up 
in front of the headquartei-s of the Sons of Liberty. The bell of St. 
George's chapel was rung, and the next morning three thouMud indig- 
nant people stood around the mutilated liberty pole, and by resolutions 
declared their rights and their determination to maintain them. The 
city was fearfully excitetl for thi-ee days. In frequent atTrays with the 
citizens the soldiers were generally woreted, and in a severe conflict on 
Golden II ill, an eminence near Burling Slip at Clitf and Fulton Streets, 
several of the soldiei's were disarmed. "When Cjuiet was restored 
another liberty pole was erected on private ground, on Broa<lway near 
Wall Street. This fifth flagstaff remained undisturbed imtil the Brit- 
ish took possession of the city in 177(1, when it was hewn down by 
Cunningham, the notorious provost mai"shal. That fight on Golden 
Ilill in the city of New York between its citizens and royal troops was 
the fmt hattle of the Bo'olufion. The last battle of that war was 
fought there between Cunningham and Mi's. Day. at the foot of ^furray 
Street. 

AVith the coalition between Colden and De Lancey a gradual change 
in the jwlitical complexion of the Provincial Assembly was ajjparent. 
The leaven of aristocracy had begun a transformation. A game for 



30 IllSTUUY OF NEW YOUK CITY. 

jiolitieal jiowei", based upon ])ro])osed financial schemes, was begun. A 
grant for the su])|)ort of tlie Inxjps was also made. These things men- 
aced the liberties of the peojjle. The jjopular leadei-s sounded the 
alarm. Among the most active at that time were Isaac Seai-s, John 
Lamb,* Alexander McDougall,t and John Morin Scott;}: — names 
which will- be ever associated as efficient and fearless champions of 
libei-ty in the city of New York when the tempest of the Revolution 
was impending. 

In December, 1769, a handbill signed "A Son of Liberty" was 
jiosted throughout the city calling a meeting of " the betrayed inhabi- 
tants" in the Fields. It denounced the money scheme and the assem- 
bly, and pointed to the coalition as an omen of danger to the State. 
The call was heeded, and the next day a large concoui'se of citizens 
assembled around the Liberty Pole, where they were harangued by 
John Lamb, one of the most ardent patriots of New York. By unani- 

* .John Lamb was bom in New Y'ork on .January 1, 1735, and died there May 31, 
1800. He was at first an optician, but in 1760 he engaged in the liquor trade. In the 
ten years' quarrel between the American colonists and the British ministrj', Lamb was 
an earnest and active patriot. He accompanied Montgomery to Quebec in 1775, where 
he was wounded and made prisoner. He was then a captain of artillery. Exchanged 
the next summer, he returned to New York, was promoted to major, and attached to the 
regiment of artillery under General Knox. From the expedition to Quebec at the begin, 
ning of the war to the siege of Yorktown at the end of it, Lamb was a gallant and most 
useful officer. He became a member of the New York Assembly. He was appointed 
collector of customs at the port of New Y'ork by President Washington, which office he 
held until his death. 

f Alexander McDougall was born in Scotland in 1731 ; died in New York June 8, 
1786. He came to New York about 1755, and was a printer and seaman when the 
quarrel between Great Britain and her American colonies was progressing. He issued 
an inflammatory address in 1769, concerning the action of the Provincial Assembly, 
headed " To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the Colony," and signed " A Son of Liberty." 
This, the assembly declared, was an infamous and seditious libel. McDougall was 
put in prison, and was there visited and regaled by patriotic men and women. He was 
finally released, and became one of the leading men in civil and military life throughout 
the war for independence. He entered the army as colonel, and was a major-general in 
1777. A delegate in Congress in 1781, he was soon appointed " Minister of Marine" 
(Secretary of the Navy), but did not hold the office long. He returned to the army. 
He was chosen a senator of the State of New York in 1783, and held that position at the 
time of his death. 

1 John Morin Scott was born in New York in 1730 ; died there September 14, 1784. 
He was a graduate of Yale College, became a lawyer, and holding a forcible pen, he 
joined William Livingston in writing against ministerial measures for years before the 
breakin" out of the war tor independence. He was a most active and influential member 
of the Provincial Congress of New York, and of committees. In 1770 he was made a 
brigadier-general, and fought in the battle of Long Island. In 1777 he was chosen State 
senator ; was Secretary of the State of New York, and was a member of Congress 1780-83. 



# 



^ # 




JOHN JACOB AS TOR 



OITl.l.NK IIISI(l|;V. IliDll IHJJl). 31 

nious vote tho ]ii'(k;'oc( lings of tlic asseinbly were (lis,'i])])r(>ve(l. A cuiu- 
iiiilU'e iircscnlcd tlit' itntft'LHliiigs of tiiu inci'ting to llie assembly, and 
were oourtfously received. Anotlier liandhill from tlie same liand, 
signed " Legion," appeared tlie next day, in wliieli tlie action of the 
assembly was denounced as " Ijase and inglorious," and charged that 
hodv witli a betrayal of thiir trust. This second attack was ])m- 
nounced a libel by the asseml)ly, only tho staiieh ])atriot Philip Schuy- 
ler voting Xo. They ofTered a rewaid foi- the discoverv of the writer. 
The iirinter of the handbills, menaced with ]iunishment, told them it 
was Alexander ^IcDougall, a seaman, who was aftei'ward a conspicuous 
oIKcer in the Continental army. He was arrested, and lefusing to 
|)lead or give bail, was imprisoned many weeks before he was brought 
to trial. Regarded as a martyr to the cause of liberty, his pri.son was 
tho scene of daily pulilic i-eceptions. Some of the most reputable of 
the citizens sympathizing witii him frequently visited him. Being a 
sailor, he was regarded as the true type of " imjirisoned commerce." 
On the annivei-sary of the icpeal of the Stamp Act, his health wa.s drank 
with honoi's at a banquet, and the meeting in jirocession visited him in 
his ])rison. Ladies of distinction daily thronged there. Popular song-s 
wore written, and smig under his prison bai-s, and emblematic swords 
wei-e worn. His words when ordered to prison wei-e, " I rejoice that I 
am the first to suffei- for liberty since the commencement of oui- glorious 
struggle." He was finally released on bail, and the matter was wisely 
tli-opi)ed by tho iirosocutoi-s. ifcDougall was a true type of what is 
generally known as the " common people" — the great ma.ss of citizen^ 
who carry on the chief industries of a country— its agriculture, com- 
merce, manufactures, and arts — and create its wealth. 

Comparative cpiict prevailed in New^ York from the time of the 
"McDougidl excitement until the arrival of the news of Lord North's 
famous Tea Act, which set tho colonies in a blaze. The people every- 
where resolved to ojipose, and not allow a cargo of t(>a to be landed 
anywhere. The earliest public meeting to consider the reception that 
should be given to the tea-ships, which had actually sailed for America, 
was held in the city of New York on the I'.th of Octo1)er, 1773. Inti- 
mations had reached the city on the lltli that a tea-siiip had been 
ordoi-ed to that port ; and at the meeting held at the Coffee-House in 
"Wall Street, grateful thanks were voted to the ))atriotic American 
merchants and sliipmastei-s in London who had refused to receive tea as 
freight from the East India Comi)any. 

"When the tea-shl]i {Xanri/) arrived at Sandy Hook ( .Vpiil IS, 1774) 
tho captain was informed l)y a pilot of the drift of public sentiment in 



32 HISTORY 01- NEW YORK CITY. 

New Yoric, and lie wisel}' went up to the city without his vessel. He 
found that sentiment so strong against allowing him to land his cargo 
that he resolveil to return to England with it. While he was in the 
cit}-^ a merchant vessel arrived with eighteen chests of tea hidden in her 
cargo. The vigilant Sons of Libert)^ discovered them and cast their 
contents into the waters of the liarbor, and advised the captain of the 
vessel to leave the city as soon as possible. As he and the commander 
of the yuHcy put off in a small boat at the foot of Broad Street for 
their res]iective vessels, a multitude on shore shouted a farewell, while 
the tliundere of cannon fired in the Fields shook the city, and the 
people hoisted a flag on the Liberty Pole in token of triumph. This 
New York Tea Party occurred several months after the famous Boston 
Tea Party. 

At this juncture the state of jiolitical society in New York was pecul- 
iar. Social differences had produced two quite distinct parties among 
professed republicans, which were designated respectively Patricians 
and Tribunes ; the former were composed. of the merchants and gentr3% 
and the latter mostly of mechanics. The latter were radicals, and the 
former joined with the Loj^alists in attempts to check the influence of 
the zealous democrats. Most of the influential merchants were with 
these Conservatives, and Avere, as usual, avei-se to commotions which 
disturb trade. They hesitated to enter into another non-importation 
league. They held a public meeting, and appointed a Committee of 
Fifty-one as "representatives of public sentiment in New York." 
They ])ublicly repudiated a strong letter which the radicals had sent to 
their brethren in Boston ; and while the people of other colonies 
approved non-intercourse. New Y'ork, as represented by this Grand 
Committee, stood alone in opposition to a stringent non-intercourse 
league. The Loyalists rejoiced, and a writer in Rivington's Gazette 
exclaimed with exultation : 

" And so, my good masters, I find it ao joke. 
For York has stepp'd forward and thrown off the yoke 
Of Congre.ss, Committees, and even King Sears, 
Wlio shows yon good nature by showing his ears. ' ' 

The "Committee of Vigilance" appointed by the Radicals disre- 
garded the action of the Grand Committee. They called a mass- 
meeting of the citizens in the Fields on the 19th of June, 1TT4. That 
meeting denounced the lulcewarinness of the Committee of Fifty-one, 
and resolved to support the Eostonians in their straggle. The port of 
the latter had been closed to commerce b}' a royal order. It was an insult 



orTMNK IIISToliV. IClll IS30. 33 

and an injury to tlio wliolo nmtinent, and <ni;ir''l to ho i-esontod by the 
wliolc. An<itlior ni(>otin<; was called in the Fields at six o'lloek in the 
oveninj,' of the (itii of .luly, " to hear matters of the utmost importance 
to the reputation of the jn'ople and their security as freemen." It was 
an inunense gathering, and was ever afterward known as 77*<' (irmt 
Mi'i'lhitj in till' F'k'IiIk. a strong ix^solution in favoi-of non-im])ortation 
was adopted, anil other ])atriotic measures were apjjroved. In the 
crowd was a lad, seventeen yeai-s of age, delicate and girldike in per- 
sonal grace and statuio. Some who knew iiim as a student at King's 
(now Cohnnbia) College, of much intellectual vigor, urgr-d him io make 
a siieech. After much pei-suasion he complied. With rare eloquence 
and logic he discussed the principles involved in the controvei-sy, de- 
])icted the suflerings Americans were enduring from the oppression of 
the mother country, and pointed to the means which might secure 
redress. All listened in wonder to the words of widsoni from the lips 
of the youth, and Avhen he ceased .speaking there was a whispered 
nmrmur in the crowd, " It is a collegian ! it is a collegian !" That 
young orator was Alexander Hamilton. 

Preparations were now on foot for a general council of the English- 
American colonies. The citizens of Xew York took the fii-st step in 
that direction. The Sons of Liberty, whom the Lo3'alists called " The 
Presbyterian Jesuits, " moved by the injustice and menaces of the Boston 
Port IJill, proposed, in iSIay, 1774, by their representative committee, a 
General Congress of delegates. They sent this proposition to Boston, 
lu'ging the patriots there to second the proposal. They also sent the 
same to the Philadelphia committee, and through them to the southern 
colonies. There was general acquiescence, and early in Sejitember 
delegates from twelve of the colonies met in Philadelphia and foiinetl 
the J-irst Continentnl Congress. 

This was the beginning of a new era in the world's history. The 
tempest of revolution which the I^ritish king, lords and commons had 
engendered was about to sweep over the English-American colonies, 
and by its energy dismember the British Empire and create a new 
power among the nations of the earth. In the preliminary events 
which ushered in that era the inliabitants of the city of New Vork had 
borne a conspicuous part. They had fli"st ])lanted the seeds of 
democracy in America. fii"st vindicated the freedom of the pi'ess, and 
first suggested the use of three great forces which led in the successful 
struggle for the independence of the American ])eo]ile — namely. Com- 
mittees of Corres[)ondence, Non-importation Leagues, and a (Toneral 
Congress which foreshadowed a ])ermanent union. In that Congress 



34 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tlie city of New York was represented by Jiiines Duane,* John Jay, 
rhili]) Livingston, and Isaac Low — men who took an important part in 
its deliberations. One of tiiem (John Jay), then only twenty -nine years 
of a"-e, wrote the able Address to the People of Great Britain, adopted 
by the Congress, and formed one of those admirable state paj)ers put 
fortli bv that body, concerning which William Pitt saiil in the British 
Parliament : " I nmst declare and avow that in all my reading and study 
of liistory (and it has been my favorite study — I have read Thucydides, 
and liave studied and admired the master states of the world) — that for 
solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, 
under such a complication of circumstances, no nation or body of men 
can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelpliia.*' 

At that time the city of New York contained a population of about 
twenty-two thousand. The city had expanded northward on the 
narrow island. Streets were opened on the west side of Broadway as 
far as Reade Street, at which point had just been erected the New 
York IIos]}ital. It was so far out of town that nobody dreamed the 
little city would extend so far inland within a hundred years. Up the 
Bowery Lane (now the Bowery), then running through the o])en country 
to Stuvvesant's country seat, the streets were laid out as far as Hester 
Street, and up Division Street, then also a coiinti'V road, as far as 
Orchard Street. 

There were three newspapers published in the city at that time — 
Hugh Gaine's Neio York Mercurij, John Holt's New York Journal, 
and James Ri\nngton's New York Gazette. The two fonner were in 
spnpathy with the jiatriots ; the latter favored the ro^'al side in 
political discussions. The Journal was the successor of Zenger's Jour- 
nal, revived by Holt in 1T67. When the war for independence broke 
out, and the British took possession of the city, Gaine and Holt fled, 
the first to New Jersey, the second up the Hudson River to Kingston, 
and resumed the publication of their respective papers at the places of 

* James Duane was liorn in the city of New York, February 0, 1733 ; died in Duanes- 
burg, N. Y., February 1, 1797. He began a settlement in 1765 on the site of Duanes- 
bnrg, a part of a large estate which he inherited. His wife was a daughter of Colonel 
Robert Livingston of the " manor." An active patriot, he was chosen a delegate to the 
first Continental Congress in 1774 ; was a member of the New York Provincial Conven- 
tion, and was on the committee that drafted the first Constitution of the State of Kew 
York. After the British evacuation in 1783 he returned to the city of New Y'ork, and was 
elected the first mayor under the new Constitution. In 1783-84 he was a member of the 
council and State Senator, and was also a member of the convention of the State of New 
York which adopted the National Constitution. Jlr. Duane was tlnited States District 
Judge from 1789 to 1794. 



OUTMNE HISTORY. 1C09-18:{0. 35 

their oxilo. At tliat time .lolm Andeison, ;i Scotcliiiian, was puljlisli- 
iiig a small AVhig iiewspapt'i- entitk'd the CoiiMfidifiiiiitif O'ltztfh. He 
i\vd to C'uiinecticut. Itiviny;ton, wliu had become zealous in the cause 
of the crown, remained. His vigorous, sharp, and witty thrusts at the 
patriotic jjarty so irritated the Sons of Liberty that Istuic Seal's,* in 
the fall of 177."), at tlie head of a huiuh-ed light-hoi-semcn from Con- 
necticut, went to the city at noonday, entei-ed Kivington's printing 
establishment at the foot of Wall Street, destroyed his press, and put- 
ting his type into bags carried them away and made l)ullets of them. 

The Fii-st Continental Congress took a strong position in opposition 
to the obno.xious measures of the British Government. They adopted 
a general non-im])ortation league under the name of " The American 
Association." They denf)unced the slave trade, put foitli some able 
state papers, above mentioned, and sent a cojn' of their proceedings to 
Dr. Franklin, then in England. Vigilance ccjunnittees were appointed 
to see that the provisions of the association were not evaded. The 
Congress adjoui-ned t(j meet again the following ^fay, if public necessity 
should recjuire them to do so. 

The ])atriotic i)aity in the Xew York A.ssembly tried in vain to iiavo 
that botly officially sanction the proceedings of the Continental Con- 
gress. The leaven of loyalty was at work in that body, and there was 
nnich timidity exhibited a.s the great crisis a])proached. Consei-vatism 
was too strong for the patriots in that body to effect more than the 
adoption of a i-emonstrance, but it was so bold in its utterances that 
Parliament refused to accept it. 

"When the assembly adjourned in A])i'il, 1775, it was final. It never 
met again. The i)eople in the city took public mattei-s into their o\\ti 
hands. They had ai)jK)inted a committee of .sixty to enforce the regu- 

* Isaac Sonrs was born at Norwalk. Conn., in 1729; died in Canton, China, October 
28, 178G. He was one o£ the most zealous and active of the Sons of Liberty in New 
York, when the war for independence was a-kindling. When political matters arrested 
his attention, Scars was a successful merchant in New York, currying on trade with 
Europe and the West Indies. Previous to engaging in trade he commanded a privateer, 
lie lost his vessel in IVfil. and then settled in Xew York. In the Stamp .Act excitement 
he became a leader of the Sons of Liberty, and so bold and active did he become that 
he received the name of " King Sears. " The Tories and the Tory newspaper (Biving- 
ton"8) maligned, ridiculed, and caricatured him without stint. Scars retaliated on' 
Rivington. One day in November, 177.5, he entered the city at the head of a troop of 
Connecticut horsemen, and in open day destroyed Kivington's printing establishment. 
He became Geneml Charles Lee's adjutant in 177(!, but did not remain long in the mili- 
tary service. When the war wa-s ended his business and fortune were gone, and in 1785 
he sailed for Canton as a supercargo. Ho sickened on the passage, and died soon after 
his arrival in China. 



3fi HISTORY OK NEW YOliK CITY. 

latioiis of the association. The assembly having refused to make 
provision for tlie ajipointment of delegates to the Second Continental 
Congress, it was detennined to organize a Provincial Cougi-ess. Dele- 
gates from the several counties met in New York on the 2(ith of April 
and ajipointed delegates to the Congress — namely, Phili]i Livingston, 
James Duane, John Alsoji, John Jay, Simon Boerum, William Floyd, 
Plenry "Wisner, Philip Schuyler, Geoi'ge Clinton, Lewis Morris, Francis 
Lewis, and Ef)l)ert K. Livingston. 

TThen news of the conflicts at Lexington and Concord reached Xew 
York, five days after their occurrence, the citizens were greatly excited. 
All business was suspended. The Sons of Liberty, who had gathered 
amis, distributed them among the people, and a party formed them- 
selves into a revolutionaiy corps under Captain Samuel Broome, and 
assumed temporarily the functions of the municipal government, for it 
was known that the mayor was a loyalist. They obtained the keys of 
the Custom-Uouse, closed it, and laid an embargo upon every vessel in 
port. This done, they ])roceeded to organize a provisional government 
for the city, and on the 5th of May the people assembled at the Coffee- 
Llouse, chose one hundred of theii" fellow-citizens for the purpose, 
invested them with the charge of municipal affaii-s, and pledged them- 
selves to obey the orders of the conuuittee. It was composed of the 
following substantial citizens : . 

Isaac Low, chairman ; John Jaj', Francis Lewis, John Alsop, Philip 
Livingston, James Duane, Evert Duyckman, William Seton, William 
W. Ludlow, Cornelius Clopper, Abraham Bi'inkerhoff, Henry Remsen, 
Robert Ray, Evert Bancker, Joseph Totten, Abraham P. Lott, David 
Beekman, Isaac Roosevelt, Gabriel II. Ludlow, William Walton, Daniel 
Phoenix, Frederick Jay, Samuel Broome, John De Lancey, xVugustus 
Van Ilorne, Abraham Duryee, Sanmel A^erplanck, Rudolphus Ritzema, 
John Morton, Joseph Ilaliet, Robert Benson, Abraham Brasher, 
Leonard Lispenard, Nicholas Hoffman, Peter Van Brugli Livingston, 
Thomas Mai-sten, Lewis Pintard, John Iralay, Eleazer Miller, Jr., John 
Broome, John B. ^Moore, Nicholas Bogart, John Anthony, Victor 
Bicker, William Goforth, Hercules Mulligan, Alexander McDougall, 
John Reade, Josepli Ball, George Jane way, Jolm Wliite, Gabriel W. 
Ludlow, John Lasher, Theophilus Anthony, Thomas Smith, Richard 
Yates, Oliver Templeton, Jacobus Van Landby, Jeremiah Piatt, Peter 
S. Curtenius, Thomas Randall, Lancaster Burhng, Benjamin Kissam, 
Jacob Lefferts, Anthony Van Dam, Abraham Walton, Hamilton 
Y'oung, Nicholas Roosevelt, Cornelius P. Low, Francis Bassett, James 
Beekman, Thomas Ivere, William Dunning, John Bennen, Benjamin 



ofTi.iM'; iiisioiiv, 1(10!)- isao. 37 

Ilclino, William W. (iill)tit, ]>;mi(l I)iuiscoiii1h>, JdIiii Lainb, Iiiclianl 
Sliarp, .[(ilm florin Scutt, Jat-ol) \'aii ^'t)<)l•llis. Coinloit Samls. Kdwartl 
Fleinmiiig, Peter Guekt, (ienit Kcttlotas, Thomas JJueliaiiaii. .lames 
Uesbrossos, Petiiis Bwanck, and Lott Kmhree. 

This committee was composed of the leading citizens of New York, 
cngiigcd in various professions and industries, the hone and sinew of 
society at that time. ^lany of them were conspicuous actoi-s in the 
impoitant events whicii ensued ; and thousjinds of citizens of New 
York to-ilay may lind among, and point with just pride to, the names 
of uncestois whicii appear upon that i-oll of honoi-. 

This committee immediately assumed the control of the city, taking 
care to secure weapons for possible use, sending away all cannon not 
belonging to the province, and prohibiting tlic siile of anus t<j pei-sons 
suspected of IxMug hostile to the patriots, and they were many. They 
presented an address to (iovei-nor f'olden explainiiig the object of their 
a])])ointment, and a.ssuring him that they should use every effort to 
maintain jjcace and (piiet in the city. 

It was known that i-oyal regiments were coming to New York, and 
the connnitteo asked the Continental Congress for instructions how to 
act in the premises. They were advised not to ojjpose their landing, 
but not to suffer them to erect fortifications, and to act on the 
defensive. In the Provincial Congress there was a strong infusion of 
Tory elements, and they e.\hil)ited a timid or temporizing policy on this 
occasion. The ti'oops landed ; the Provincial Congress oi>se(juiously 
showed gi-eat deference to crown ofRcei-s ; the ^l-v/V/ man-of-war lying 
in the harbor was allowed .supplies of provisions ; .some of the acts of the 
Sons of Liberty were rebuketl, and there seemed to be more of a dis- 
positif)n to produce reconciliation than to a.ssert the rights of the peojile. 
Edmund Burke, who had been an agent for the pro\Tnce, expi-esseil his 
sui-jn-ise " at the sci-upulous timidity which could suffer the king's 
forces to possess themselves of the most important port in America." 

Wlien, soon after this, the troops were ordered to Boston, the com- 
mittee directed that they should take no munitions of war with them, 
excepting their anns and accoutrements. Unmindful of this order, 
they were proceeding df)wn Broad Street to embark with several 
wagojis loaded with arms, when they were discovered by Colonel 
Mai'inus Willett.* who hastily gathered some of the Sons of Liberty, 

** Maiimis WiUctt was bom at .lamaica, L. I., July 31, 1710, and died in Ncvv'York 
City August 2.1, 1830. He was graduated at King's (Columbia) College in 17I5G. He 
served under Abercroinbie and Tiradstrcet in 1758, and when the quarrel between Great 
Britain and her American colonics began, AVillett was one of the ranst energetic of the 



38 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

confronted the troops, seized the horse that was di-awing the head 
wagon, and stojiped tlie wliole train. "While disputing with the com- 
nvaTuler, the Tory mayor of tlie city came up and severely reprimanded 
Wiilett for thus " endangering the public peace," when the latter was 
joined by John Morin Scott, one of tlie Committee of One Hundred, 
who told him lie was right ; that the troops were violating orders, and 
tliey must not be allowed to take the arms aAvay. The wagons were 
turneil back, and the troops, in hght marching order, Avere allowed to 
eml)ark. 

War had now l)ogun. Blood liad flowed at Lexington. Ticonderogti 
liad fallen into tiie liands of the ])atriots. Ethan Allen hail seized it 
in tlie name " of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." 
Tlie battle of Bunker's Hill soon followed. The anny of volunteei-s 
gathered at Cambridge was adopted by the Congress as a Continental 
army, and AVashington was appointed commander-in-cliief. "With his 
suite he arrived in Xew York on the 25th of June. The royal governor 
Tryon had arrived tlie niglit before and been cordially received by the 
Tory mayor (Mathews) and the common councU. Here were the 
representatives of tlie two great parties in America— Whig and Tory — 
face to face. The situation was embarrassing, and for a moment the 
peo]ile were at their wit's end. The two municipal govermnents were 
hostile to each other. The Provincial Congress tlien in session in the 
city came to the rescue by timidly presenting Washington with a cau- 
tious address, containing nothing that would ai-ouse the anger of the 
Britisii lion. For a moment the patriotic heart of the city beat noise- 
lessly, and Washington ]iassed on, sui'e of the pubhc sym})athy, which 
was only suppressed, and on the 3d of July he took formal command 
of the army at Cambridge. 

The Continental Congress ordered Xew York to raise regiments of 
troops and to fortify the passes in the Hudson Highlands. The Pro- 
vincial Congress directed the great guns of the Battery, in the city, to 
be removed and sent up the river. Tliis order brought matters to a 
crisis. Captain Lamli, with some Sons of Liberty and other citizens, 

opponents of the ministry. A leading Son of Liberty, he was a leader in the rebellious 
movements in New York City. He entered McDotigall's regiment as captain, and partici- 
pated in the invasion of Canada. Promoted to lientemint-colonel, he was ordered to 
Fort Stanwix, in Hay, 1777, and participated in the stormy events of that neighborhood 
daring the summer. In June, 177fi, he joined the array under Washington, and was 
active in the military service during the remainder of the war. At the close he was 
chosen sheriff of the city of New York, and filled the office eight years. In 1807 he 
was chosen mayor of the city. Colonel Willctt was created a brigadier-general in 1702, 
but never entered upon the duties of that rank. 



OUTLINK IIISTOIiV. I(i0!)-1830. 30 

proceeded to execute tlic order on a pleasant night in Aujrust. Wliile 
so enj^aged, :i musket was liieil upon tliein from a liarge belonging to 
the A.sii(. Tlie lire was returned i)y Lamb's party, killing one of the 
crew and wounding several otliei-s. The Ax/'a opened a cann<jiuide 
upon the town, which caused great ccjiisternation antl the flight of 
many of the iidiabitants. Lamb and his men pei-sisted in this work in 
spite of the cannonade, and took away the whole twenty -one cannon 
fi-om the Battery. After that the Aiia was denied sup])lies from the 
city, and Goveinor Tryon, i)erceiving his danger, took c(junsel of his 
leai-s and fled for refuge on boanl a British man-of-war in the harbor, 
where he attempted to exercise civil government for a while. After 
these events the city enjoyed comparative quiet until the f(»llowing 
spring, disturbed only by Sears's raid u^jon Ilivington's printing estab- 
lishment, already mentioned. 



CHAPTER IV. 

A BRITISH annv oommandod by General Howe liad l)een besieged 
in Roston (hiring the winter of 1775-7(>, and in ]\Iarcli was com- 
pelled to fly to Halifax, N. S., by sea, leaving Xew England in posses- 
sion of the " rebels." Meanwhile the British ministry had conceived a 
plan for separating New England from the rest of the colonies by the 
establisiinient of a line of military jiosts in the valleys of the Hudson 
and Lake Cliamplain, between New York and the St. Lawrence. To 
do this New York must be seized. 

Aside fi'oni this scheme, New York appeare to liave been a coveted 
prize for the British, and early in 1TT6 Howe despatched General 
Clinton secretly to attack it. Suspecting New York to be Clinton's 
destination, "Washington sent General Charles Lee thither ; and on the 
evacuation of Boston in March, the conmiander-in-chief marched with 
nearly the Avhole of his anny to New York, arriving there at the 
middle of Ajiril. He ]iushed forward the defences of the city begun by 
Genei-al Loi'd Stirling. Fort George, on the site of Fort Amsterdam, 
was strengthened, numerous batteries were constructed on the shores 
of the Hudson and East rivei-s, and lines of fortifications Avere built 
across the island from river to river not far from the city. Strong Fort 
"Washington was finally l)uilt on the highest land on the island (now 
"Washington Heights), and intrenchments Avere thro\TO up on Harlem 
Heights. In the summer Washington made his headquartei-s at Rich- 
mond Hill, then a country retreat at the (present) junction of Charlton 
and Varick streets. 

On the 10th of July copies of the Declaration of Independence were 
received in New York. The army was drawn up into hollow squares 
by brigades, and in that position the imjiortant document was read to 
each brigade. That night soldiers and citizens joined in ])ulling doA\Ti 
the equestrian statue of King George, which the grateful citizens had 
caused to be set up in the Bo^vling Green only six years before. They 
dragged the leaden inrage through tlie streets and broke it in pieces. 
Some of it was taken to Connecticut and moulded into bullets. 

It Avas while "Washington had his head(iuartei-s at Richmond Hill that 



Ol ri.INK msi<)l;V. Kili'.l 1s;iO 41 

a plot, sufrgostcd, it is said, l»y (iovernor Tryon, tn iiuu-dcr liiiii was 
discovered. One of liis Life (Uiard was luilied to do the deed. IIo 
attempted to j)oi.soii liis general, lie had .secui'ed, as he thought, a 
confeilerate in the pci-son of the maiden who waited upon Wasiiington's 
table. She allowed the miscreant to put the poi.son in a dish of green 
peas she was about to set before the commander-in-chief, to whom she 
gave warning of his danger when she [)laced them on his table. The 
tieachei-ous guardsman was arrested, found guilty, and hanged. This 
was the fii-st military execution in New Voik. 

At the close of June, 1770, a British fleet arrived at Sandy Hook 
with General Howe's army, which was landed on Staten Island, and 
soon afterward the British general, who was also a ])eace c-ommissioner, 
attempted to open a correspondence with AVashington. He addressed 
his letter to " George "Washington, Escp" The latter refused to re- 
ceive it, as the address " was not in a style cori'esponding with the dig- 
nity of the situation which he held." Another was sent, addres.sed 
" George AVashington, etc., etc., etc." This was refused, as it did not 
recognize his public character. The bearer of the letters explained to 
AVashington their purport, which was to "grant pardons," etc. 
AVashington replied that the Americans had committed no offences 
Avhich needed pardons, and the affair was droppeil. Afterward Gen- 
eral and Admiral Howe met a committee of Congress on Staten Island 
to confer on the sui)ject of peace, but it was fruitless of any ajtjiarent 
good. 

Soon after Howe's ti-oo])s had landed tliey v:ere joined by forces 
under Sir Henry Clinton, which had been repulsed in an attack u])on 
Charleston, S. C. Hessians — German mercenaries hired l)y the British 
Government — al.so came ; and late in August the British force on 
Staten Island and on the ships was more than twenty-live thousand in 
nundfor. On the 2.")th of August over ten thousiind of these had 
landed on the western end of Long Island, prepared to attempt the 
capture of New York. AVashington, whose army AViis then about 
seventeen tlioustmd .strong, had caused fortifications to be constructed at 
Brooklyn, and he sent over a gi-eater part of his forces to confi-ont the 
invadei-s. The battle of Lf»ng Island ensued, and was disastrous to the 
Americans. 

AVashington skilfully conducted the remainder not killed or captured, 
in a retreat across the East River, under cover of a fog, to New York, 
and thence to Harlem Heights at the northern end of the island. The 
con(|uering British followed tardily, crossed the East Kiver at Kip's 
Bay. and after a sharp battle on Harlem Plains took ))ossession of the 



42 HISTOUY OF NEW VOUK CITY. 

city of New York, or whjit was left of it. Tlie British liad pitched 
their tents near the city, intending to enter the next morning, and 
were in repose. Suddenly at midnight arrows of lurid tlanie shot 
heavenward fronr the lower part of the town. A conflagration had 
been accidentally kindled at the foot of Broad Street. Many of the 
inhabitants had fied from the citj% and few were left to fight the 
fiames, which, in the space of a few horn's, devoured about five hundred 
buildings. The soldiei's and sailors from the vessels in the river staved 
the flames before they reached Wall Street. The British took posses- 
sion of the city of New York in September, 1776, and held it until No- 
vember, 1783. Ex-Governor Golden died a few days after the tire, 
aged eighty-nine N^eai-s. 

A day or two after the occupation began. Captain Nathan Hale, of 
Connecticut, was brought to the headquarters of General Howe in the 
Beeknian mansion at Turtle Bay (Forty-fifth Street and East River), 
Avhere he was condemned as a s])y. He was confined m the greenhouse 
that night, and hanged the next moniing under the supervision of the 
notorious provost-marshal, Cunningham, wlio behaved in the most 
bmtal manner toward his victim. Hale is justly regarded as a martyr 
to the caase of freedom ; Andre, who suffered for the same offence, 
was the victim of his own ambition. 

New York exhibited scenes of intense suffering endured by American 
prisoners during the British occupation of the city. It was the British 
headquarters throughout the Avar. The provost jail (now the Hall of 
Eecords) was the prison for captured American officers, and was under 
the direct charge of Cunningham. The various sugar-houses— the 
largest buildings in the city — were also used for prisons, and some of 
the churches Avere converted into hospitals. Old liullvs of vessels Avere 
moored in the Hudson and East I'ivers, and used as floating pi'isons. 
There were five thousand Amei-icans suffering in the prisons and prison- 
ships at New York at one time, and they wei-e dying by scores every 
day. Ill-treatment, lack of humanity, and starvation everywhere pre- 
A'ailed. " No care Avas taken of the sick," Avrote one of the victims, 
"and if any died they Avere thrown at the door of the prison, and lay 
there till the next day, Avhen they Avere ]nit on a cart and drawn out to 
the intrenchments, lieyond the Jews' bui-ial -ground [Chatham Square], 
Avhere they Avere interred by their fellow-prisoners, conducted thither 
for that purpose. The dead Avere thrown into a hole promiscuously, 
Avithout the usual rites of se])ulture. " 

The "prison-ships," as the old hulks were called, were, if possible, 
more conspicuous as scenes of barbarous treatment than the jails on 



oiTi.iMC iiis'njaY. Kioo-isao, 43 

slidit'. 'I'lio most laiMous im iiirainous) of these was the Jt'i'Mi/, the 
laijLCi'sl nl' the fi-i'ou|) and tlie l<jii;[^est retained in tliat s<>rvice. She was 
moored at the Wallahout (now the Navv-Vard at Urooklyn), and was 
ealled hy the captives '* tiie liell alloat." Tliese captive American 
sjiiloi-s composed the hiilii ol the piisonei^s. Tlie most wanton <nitiaj;es 
were suffered 1)V the poor victims. For example : " (Jne ni<^lit," sjiid 
one of them who escaped, '* wlide the men were ea<j:eriy pressing to the 
grate at tlie hatchway to ol)tain a breath of pure air while awaiting 
their turn to go on deck, the sentinel thrust his bayonet among them, 
killing twenty-dve ol the number ; and this outrage was fre(|uently 
repeated." The number of deaths in this " hell " from fever, starva- 
tion, and even actual suflocation in the pent-up and exhaustc<l air, was 
frightful ; and every morning there went down the hatchway from the 
deck tlie fearful ciy of " Rebels, turn out your dead !"' Then a score, 
sometimes, of dead bfxlies covered with vermin would be carried up by 
tottering half skeletons, their .suffering com])anions, when they were 
taken to the shore and burieil in the sands of the beach. 

Such was the fate of c/cmi f/ioKsinnf Aimr/can priKiinrr^. The rem- 
nants of their bones were gathered by the Tammany Society of Xev," 
York and deposited in a vault near the entrance to the Navy-Yard, 
with tuneral ceremonies, in 1S(»S. Uy arrangements made by the Con- 
tinental Congress for an exchange ol jHisonei-s, and the humane and 
energetic exertions of Elias Coudinot, commissjuy of prisoners, the con- 
dition of the captives was much ameliorated during the later years of 
the war. Hut the sufferings of the officci's in the provost prison, at the 
liands of the brutal Cunningham, continued. He seemed to be acting 
under direct orders from his government and in(le]x>ndent of the mili- 
tary authorities. In his confession before his execution in England for 
a cajHtal crime, he said : " I sliu<lder to think of the murders I have 
been acce.s.sorv to, trilh mul iiuthoul onJi ri* from ynvenntuut, especially 
while in New York, during which time there were more tlian two 
thousand prisonei-s starved in the diffenMit churches by stopping their 
rations, which I sold !"' 

In July, 1777, the Stall of New York was organized under a consti- 
tution adopted at Kingston on the Hudson. George Clinton Wiis 
elected governor, and continued in tiie office about twenty years con- 
secutively. The tii-st session of the I.egislature was held at Tough- 
kee])sie at the lieginning of 177S. 

In the summer of 177S New York sutTered f rem another great con- 
flagration. About three hmidred buildings were tlestroyed in the 
neisrhborliood ol CniL;er's wharf, on the Ka.st River. It bmke out in 



44 IIISTOHY OF NEW YORK (ITY. 

Pearl Street (then Dock Street), and raged for several hours. The fire 
companies hail been disbandetl, and the soldier's who ti-ied to extinguish 
the rtaraes effected but little, owing to inexperience. 

The winter of 1770-80 was remarkable for intense cold. The suffer- 
ings in the city of New York, especially among the poor, were fearful. 
Sufficient fuel could not be obtained, for the city was blockaded on the 
land side by the Americans. Some of the citizens were reduced to 
great extremities. There were instances of their sphtting u]) chaii-s 
and tables for fuel to cook their breakfasts, and the women anil childi-en 
lay in bed the I'est of the day to kee)) wann. The watei-s aljout the 
city were fi'ozen into a soliil bridge of ice for forty days, and the 
Dritisli sent eighty heavy cannon over it from Xew York to Staten 
Island to repel an expected invasion. 

The arrest and execution of Andre produced great commotion in 
New York society in the fall of 1780. The inhabitants were mostly 
Tories. The Whigs had left the city, and Tory refugees in diffei'ent 
par'ts of the country had flocked back to the city. The Amei'icans 
wer'e anxious to obtain the pei'son of Arnold and save Andre. Clinton 
Avould not give him up, and an attempt was made to seize him. Ser- 
geant Champe pretended to desert from the American ar-raj^ and was 
Avar'mly received Ijy the traitor at Chnton's headquarter's. It was 
arranged for Champe and some comi-ades to seize Arnokl in the garden 
at night, gag him, take him to a boat, and carry him to Washington's 
headciuartere at Tapi)an. ITnfortunately. Champe was or'dered by the 
British commander to go south with the troo]3s on the very daj' when 
the ])lot was to be executed, and it failed. 

On the arrival of the French allies on the banks of the Hudson the 
next year, the Amer-icans jn-epared to attack New Yor-k, but the whole 
for-ce finally mai'ched to Virginia, and in October captm'ed CornwaUis 
and his anny at Yor'ktown. This victory virtually ended the war, but 
13ritisli tr'oo])s continued to occupy New Yor-k for more than a year 
after-ward. It was the last place evacuated by them. Pr-eparations 
for- that event caused a fcar-ful panic among the Tory inhabitants of the 
city, who dr-eaded to face the indignation of their Whig fellow-citizens 
whom they had oi^jn-essed, and who would now retur-n in foi-ce as 
victors. So more tlrari a thousand of them left their homes and coun- 
tr-y, and fled to Nova Scotia in British tr-anspor-ts. The troops left the 
har-bor on the 25th of November-, 1873 — a day yet celebrated in the 
city each year as " Evacuation Day." 

Befor-e the troops left, under the pr-ovisions of an honoi-able treaty, 
thev committed an a<-t riiiwoitliv of tlic Br-itish name. Thev nailed 



OUTMNK IIISI'OUV. lOOn-1830. 4.'> 

their fla"; to tlie staff in Fort (ieorgc, unrccfod tlie halliards, knocked 
otf the cleats, and '• slushed " the pole to prevent Americans ascending 
it and unt'uiling the Stars andStrii)es there before the departing troops 
should be out of sight. They were frustrated by u young American 
sailor (John Van Ai-sdale, who died in is;{(;), who ascended the flagstaff 
by nailing on the cleats and api)lying sand to the greased pole. In 
this way he soon reached the to]), hauled down the British eoloi-s, and 
])laced tho.se of the United States in the jwsition. This was accom- 
plished while the British vessels were yet in the Lower I'ay. 

Now occurred the closing scene of the Kevolution. In the "great 
room" of the tavern of Samuel Fraunces, at the corner of Broad and 
Pearl streets, Washington parted with his otlicei-s on the 4th of De- 
cember, 1783. It was a scene niarkeil by great tenderness of feeling 
on the i>ait of all jnesent. Filling a glass with wine for a farewell 
sentiment, Washington turned to the assembled officers and said, 
" With a heart full of love and giatitude, I now take leave of you, and 
most devoutly wish that your latter (hiys may be as prosperous and 
happy as your former ones have been glorious and honoi-able. " He 
raised the glass to his lips, and continued, " I cannot come to each of 
you to take my leave ; init I .shall be obliged if each one will come and 
take my hand. " They did so. None could speak. They all embraced 
him in turn, when he silently left the room, walked to Whitehall, and 
entered a barge to convey him to Paulus's Hook (now Jei-sey City), on 
his way to Annapolis to surrender his commission to the Continental 
Congress sitting there. What a .sublime leave-taking, under the cir- 
cumstances ! 

New York now l)egan the task of recuperation. The evil effects of 
a seven yeai-s' occu])ation by foreign troops were seen on every side. 
Its buiUlings had been consunieil by fire, its churches desecrated and 
laid waste, its commerce destroyed by the war, its treasury empty, 
its peo])le estranged from each other by differences in jiolitical o])in- 
ions ; feuds existing everywhere, and criminations and i-ecriminations 
])roducing deej) bitterness of feeling in society in general. New York 
was compelled to begin life anew, as it were. The tribute which it had 
paid to tlie cause of freedom was large, but had been freely given. 

The Whig refugees returned to the city, many of them to find their 
dw(>Hings in ruins. There was no change made in the city govern- 
ment. The old charter, the organic law, was resumed, ami in Felnu- 
ary. 17>^-1, James Duane, an anient Whig who had left the city and 
had returned to his farm near (present) Gramercy Park and found his 
hoiiii' bni'iii'd ami his fortune wrecked, was chosen iiiavor. .Mtlmnirh 



40 HISrOKY OF NEW YOKlv LITV. 

the vitalit}' of the city had been paralyzed, yet men — liigh-ininded and 
energetic men, who constitute a state — were left, and their influence 
was soon manifested in the visible aspects of public spirit and a revival 
of commerce. 

Public improvements were soon projected, but not much was done 
before the close of the century. The population numbered about 
23,000, and there was only here and there a dwelling above Murray 
Street on the west side, and Chatham Square on the east side. There 
was not at that time a bank nor insurance company in the city. "Wall 
Street, where they now aljound, was tiien the most elegant part of the 
city, where the aristocracy resided, and yet most of the building-s were 
of wood, roofed with shingles. The sides of many were so covered. 
Brick and stone were seldom used. Between Broadway and tiie Hudson 
River, above lieade Street, might be seen hundreds of cows belonging 
to the citizens grazing in tiie fields. 

The first public improvement begun was the filling in of the " Col- 
lect" or Fi-esh Water Pond, where the Tombs or Halls of Justice, or 
City Prison, now stand. This task was begun about 1790, but not 
com]>leted until the close of the century. Duane and Reade streets 
were o]iened through the southern portion of the district. At near the 
close of the century a canal was cut through Lispenard's meadows from 
the " Collect" to the Iludscm River, along the line of (present) Canal 
Street, forty feet \vide, with a narroAv street on each side of it. This 
accounts for the greater width of Canal Street. This canal was 
s|mnned at the junction of Broadway and Canal Street by an arched 
stone bridge, which was sulisequently buried when the ground was 
heightened l)y filling in, and the canal disappeai'ed. That bridge may 
be discovered in future ages, and be regarded by antiquarians as a 
structure belonging to a buried city older than New York. 

The " Commons" (City Hall Park) yet lay open, and occupietl only 
by the " Xew Bridewell," the " New Jail," and tlic Almshouse at the 
northern part. Between the latter and the Bridewell stood the gallows. 

In 1790 the first sidewalks in the city were laid on each side of Broad- 
way, between Vesey and Murray streets. They were of stone and 
briclc, and were so. narrow that only two persons might walk abreast. 
Above Murray Street, Bi-oadway jiassed over a series of hills, the 
highest at (|iresent) Woith Street. The grade from Duane to Canal 
Street was fi.xed by the corporation in 1797, and when the improve- 
ment was made Broadway was cut through the hill at "Worth (formei'ly 
Anthony) Street about twenty-three feet below its surface. The 
streets were first svstematic.illv iiiiniliercd in 179.'^. 




^^.^^^ 



OUTLINE HISTOUV, KIO!) IWiO. 47 

Dnrinfj tlio delibemtions of the Stato Convention of New York, at 
noiiglikeepsic in tlic suiiinicr of ITs^^, to consider tlio National Consti- 
tution, tiio city was mucii excited i>y tiie discussions of o|j]Mjsin<|; fac- 
tions. On the Stii of July, eigliteen days before tliat instrument wu-s 
ratified l)y tlie convention, a frigate called " The Federal ship llninU- 
A»;*,"' manned by seamen and marines, commanded by (V)inmodore 
Nicholson and accompsinied iiy a vast procession, was drawn Irom tlic 
Rowling (ireen to Uayartl's farm, near Grand Street, where tables were 
spread an<l dinner provided for aiumt five thousand peo|)le. At the 
head was a table of circular form, somewhat elevated, at which were 
seated memi)ei"s of Congress, their principal officeis, foreign andiassji- 
doi's, and other pei"s<^ns of distinction. From this table diverged thir- 
teen otiier taitles, jit which the great concour-se sat. It w;ls the lii'st 
])rocession of the kind over seen in the city. 

Greenleaf's J'litrloflc n<'<i)Kt,i' spoke so Siircastically of this " Federal 
])rocession'" that the friends of the Constitution were greatly iri-itated ; 
and when news came of its ratification, a mob broke into (treenleaf'-s 
office and destroyed the typo and presses. They next attacked the 
house of John Lunb, in AVall Street, wliicli was so well defended by 
tlie owner and some friends below anned with muskets, and by his 
daughter, a mai<len sister, and a colored servant stationed in tlie attic 
with a plentiful supply of Dutcli tiles and broken lK)ttles. that the riot- 
el's soon raised the siege. 

r>y far the most notable event in the liistor}' of the city of New 
York after the Revolution was the orgimization of the National Gov- 
ernment under the new Constitution, and the inauguration of \Vashing- 
ton as the first President of the Fnited States. The National Consti- 
tution, framed at Philadelphia in 17^7, had been duly ratified in 1788, 
and elections for electors of President and for membei-s of Congress 
had been held. The fii-st Congress under the new Constitution was 
called to meet at New York on the 4tli of Ifarcli, 17>>!>. Only a few 
memi)ei-s were present on that day, and it was not until the Cith of 
April that a sufficient number appeared to form a <iuorum. On that 
day the electoral vote was counted, and (ieorge Washington was de- 
clared to be elected President, and John Adams Vice-President. 

Adams arrived first. He was met at King's Bridge, near the north- 
ern extremity of tlie island, on the 21st of Ajiril, by both hou.ses of 
Congress, iind escorted into the" city by several military companies. At 
the City Hall he delivered an inaugural address. Wiishington arrived 
soon afterward. His journey from Blount Vernon had been a continuous 
triumphal iiiarel). lie was greeted by the citizens everywhere with 



48 HISTORY OF NEW YOI.'K ( ITV. 

enthusiasm, and liis rec(>])tion at Murray's wharf in New York was an 
event long to be remembered. He was escorted to his future residence 
in Cherry Street, nesir Franklin Square, and dined with Governor 
Chnton at tlie same house wliere he had parted with liis officers. In 
the evening the city was brilhantly illuminated. On the ;3Uth of April, 
upon the outer gallery of Federal Hall, overlooking Wall and Broad 
streets, he took the oath of office, administered by Chancellor Livings- 
ton in the presence of a large multitude of citizens who crowded the 
two streets in the vicinity of the hall. "When Mi-s. Washington arrived, 
a month later, she was received with a national salute of thirteen guns 
at the Battery. 

The nio.st exciting event in 2s'ew York fi-oui the evacuation of the 
city until the organization of the National Government was a riot 
known as " The Doctors' Mob." It occurred in ITSS. Graves in the 
Potter's Field (now Washington Square) and the negro burial-ground 
(at Chambei"s and Eeade streets, east of Broadway), and in private cem- 
eteries, had been rifled of their contents. The discovery created much 
]niblic excitement. Kumor exaggerated the facts, and every physician 
in the city was suspected of the act. The hospital on Broad^vay, the 
only one in the city, suddenly became an object of horror, as the sus- 
])ected recipients of the stolen dead bodies. One day a student there 
thoughtlessly exhibited a limb of a body he was dissecting to some 
boys ])laving near. They told the story. It spread over the city, and 
very soon an excited nuiltitude appeared before the hospital. They 
broke into the building and destroyed some fine anatomical ])repara- 
tions, which had been imjioited. The terrified physicians were seized, 
and would have been murdered by the mob had not the authorities 
rescued them and jilaced them in tlie jail. The populace, foiled, 
became Cfnuparatively (|uiet, but the riot was renewed with more vio- 
lence the next morning. Hamilton, Jay, and others harangued the 
riotei-s, but were assiiiled with bi'icks and stones. In the afternoon 
raattei's became woi-se, and toward evening the mayor a])|)eared with a 
body of militia, determined to fire on the riotei^ if they did not disperee 
or desist. The friends of law and order tried to prevent bloodshed, and 
begged the mayor not to fire iintil every other measure had failed. 
Again they harangued the mob, and were answered by a sh(nver of 
missiles. The Baron von Steuben begged the mayor not to fire. At 
that moment a stone struck and i^rostrated him. As he was faUing he 
shouted, " Fire ! Mayor, fire !"' The mayor no longer hesitated. 
He ordered the militia to fire, and they obej'ed. Five of the rioters 
were killed and several were wounded, when the rest dispersed. 



Ol'TI.INK IllSldlJV. lOny 1830 49 

\e\v ^'oik \\;is tlic scat of the ColDiiiiil ( iovcrniiicnt until tlic lirvo- 
lution. and fi-om 17>!4 to 17!»7 it was the State capital, wiieii Albany 
became |)ernianently so. Durinj,' tiiat [KTioil two sessions of the State 
Leijislatuie were heUl at I'oughkeepsie, and thi-ee at Alhanv. From 
17!S5 to 17'.Hl it was the seat of tlie National Goveinnient. part of tlie 
time iuuUm' the Coiifeileration, anil a |)ait of tiie thiie under the new 
Constitution. 

During the residence of President Washington in Xew York, from 
April, 17S!i, until the autumn of 17SHI, he occupied fii-st the house of 
Osgood, in Cherry Street, and after Fehruarv, I7'.Hi, a dwelling on 
Broadwav, a little below Trinity Church, which was sui).se(|Uently used 
as a hotel called " The ^Mansion House." His public and private life 
was marked liy mucii simplicity. His house was plainly furnished ; he 
held public recejUions on Tuesdays, had congressional dinner-parties 
on Thui-sdays, and on Friday evenings ^frs. Washington held recep- 
tions. On Saturday he nnle in the country on hoi-seback or in his car- 
riage with the family, often taking the " fourteen-mile circuit" on the 
island. On Sundays he usually attended divine service, and in the 
evening read to his family, receiving no visitoi-s. 

AVashington sometimes attended the theatre on John Street, a small 
Avooden structui-e used In' the British for amateur performances during 
their occupation of the city. It was then called " The Theatre Royal," 
and was lii-st opened by them in January, 1777. Its playbills were 
headed " Charity," and .sometimes " For the Benefit of the Orphans 
and Widows of Soldier.;.'" The British otficei-s were the actoi-s. and 
feminine ])ai'ts were played by young subalterns. When Major Andre 
was in the city he was actor and scene-])ainter. 

The first regular theatre in New York was erected in 1 750, in the 
rear of the church on Nassau Street, late the Post-Office. Hallaiu 
was the manager. When he left it was pulled down. A second was 
built on Beekman Street, near Na.ssau Street, which was destroyed by 
the Sons of Liberty during the Stamp Act excitement. Another wjis 
built in 1767 on John Street — an unsightly object painted red. It was 
used, as we have seen, during the Revolution ; and in it was played, in 
17S(>, the first American drama performed on a regular .stage by a com- 
pany of regular comedians. It was called The Confrnst, and was writ- 
ten by Royal Tyler, of Boston. The first native-born American actor 
(John ^^al■tin) was a New Yorker, and first appeared on the stage in 
New York as Youn-r Norval, in the winter of 170(i. The Park Thea- 
tre, which remained until a comparatively few years ago, was first 
opened early in 1798. 



50 UISTOKV OF >"E\V YORK CITY. 

In tlie last decade of the eigliteenth century Xew York City was 
scourged by yellow fever. It had appeared there in 1742, when many 
died of the disease. It broke out in 1791, near Burling Slip, but it 
■was so late in the season that it was soon checked by frosts. It i-eap- 
peared early in August, 1795, and 792 pei'sons died before frosts ended 
it. It made a more dreadful visit in 179!S, beginning at the latter ]jart 
of Julv and ending in November. About 21UU died in the city, besides 
almost 300 who had fled from it. The population of the city was then 
about 55,00(1. It prevailed more slightly in 1799, 1800, 18o3 (when 
over 600 perislied), 1805, 1819, 1822, and 1823. When the fever 
ai)peared in 1805, so great was the panic that one third of the ]7opula- 
tion, then numbering 75,000, fled to the country. The fugitives were 
mostly from the four lower wards in the city. 

The Frencli Revolution caused the division of the Americans into 
two great ])arties — Federalists, and RepuMicans or Democrats. The 
latter, led by Jeffer-son, espoused the cause of the French ; the former, 
led by Hamilton, o]3])Osed the influence of the revolutionists. Demo- 
cratic societies in imitation of the Jacobin clubs in Paris were formed, 
and in secret jiromoted violent opposition to Washington's administra- 
tion. These politicians encouraged " Citizen Genet" in his defiance of 
our government. He met with an enthusiastic reception in New York. 
The liberty cap was hoisted on the flagstaff of the Tontine Coffee- 
I louse near the foot of Wall Street, tricolored cockades were worn, 
and the '* ]\Iarsei liaise'' was chanted in the streets of jS'ew Y^ork. The 
Federalists denounced the conduct of the French minister. They were 
backed l)y the Ciiamber of Commerce, and warmly sustained the Presi- 
dent's proclamation of neutrality. 

When Jay's treaty was negotiated, the " French party," as the 
Democrats were called, ojiposed it with much \-iolence. An anony- 
mous handbill called a mass-meeting in front of the City Hall in Wall 
Street, on July 18, 179."), to consider the treaty. Both parties attended 
in full force. Aaron Burr was the chief s]ieaker for the Democrats ; 
Alexander Hamilton was the chief speaker for the Federalists. In the 
course of the proceedings a scene of violence ensued. Hamilton 
mounted the "stoop" of a Dutch house at the corner of Broad and 
Wall streets, and began to speak in favor of the treaty. He was 
dragged to the ground by the opposing (larty and i-oughly handled in 
the street. Then the Democrats ran to the Bowling Green, shouting 
and huzzaing, where the treaty was burned under the united folds of 
the French and American Hags to the sound of the Cannagnole. 

These turbulent events in Xew York and elsevrhere, and the support 



OfTMNK IIISTOUV, IflOSt-lHJlO. 81 

given by tlio spcrot Democratic societies to the Whiskey Insurrection 
tiio year hel'ore, caused Wasliington to (h'nounce secret associations as 
(hingerous totiie |)iiiilic welfare. Tlie Tammany 8fK-iety or Coiumiiian 
Onlei', which iiad lnvn I'oi-med at the hejj^inninj,' of Washin/^ton's 
administration as a patriotic iind benevolent institution, regarding itself 
as ])ointed at, and being largely composed of I{e])ublicans or Demo- 
crats, was transfoimed into a political orgiinization in o]>])osition to the 
Federahsts. It still exists, and l>lays an important jiart in tlie ])ohtics 
of the city and State. 

Merchants of New York fonned a Tontine Association and built the 
" Tontine CotTee- House" at the corner oi Wall and Water Streets. It 
was opened in 1T!H as a sort of ^lerchants' Exchange. The shares 
were *-20(t eacli. Each subscril)er might select a nominee for each 
share held by him, during whose lifetime he or she was to receive an 
ecjual i)ro]Kirtion of the net jn'ofits from the investment of the fund. 
When the mnnljer of nominees should be reduced to seven by death, 
the property was to be conveyed to the survivors in fee simple. That 
number was reached in IsTi!. The longevity of the nominees has been 
remarkable. Of the two hundred and three at the beginning, fifty-one 
were h\iug sixty yoai-s afterward. 

On the .south-east side of the Bowling Green a spacious and elegant 
mansion was Ituilt, in 1790, for the purpose of a residence for the 
Presitlent of the United States. It was then sup]iosed New York City 
would be the permanent seat of the National Government. When that 
government was transferred to Philadelphia, this mansion was devoted 
to the use of the governors of the State of New Y'ork, while this city 
was the seat of the State Government. In it Governoi-s Clinton and 
Jaj^ resided. It was known as the Govemment House. It was built 
of red brick, with Ionic columns fonning a portico in front. The 
building was on a slight elevation of ground. 



CIIAPTEK Y. 

AT the beginning of this century the city of New York contained 
ahnost 61,000 inhabitants. The city proper was bounded on 
Broadway by Anthony Street, on the Hudson River by Harrison 
Street, and on the East River by Catharine Street. Within these 
limits the dweUings were much scattered, witii gardens and vacant lots 
between them. Broadway then ended at Astor Place, then the south- 
era boundary of the farm of Captain Randall, afterward the endow- 
ment of the Sailors' Snug Harbor. 

The old Boston post-road turned eastward below lladison Square, 
and running along the Rose Hill fann made its crooked way to Harlem. 
The Rose Hill farm was o\\'ned by General Gates. His house stood 
near the corner of (present) Twenty -second Street and Second Avenue, 
and there he died in 1S06. A weeping-willow tree that stood at the 
entrance to the lane leading to the mansion flourished on the corner of 
Twentv-second Street and Third Avenue until a few years ago. Near 
there a middle road branched off and led directly to Harlem. The 
Kingsbridge or Bloomingdale Road was a continuation of the Bower}'' 
Lane, passing througli JIanhattanville to Tvingsbi'idge, and was the be- 
ginning of the Albany ]iost-road. 

Harlem had been founded by the early Dutch settlors of Manhattan 
Island. There farmci-s seated themselves and i-aised vegetables for 
New Amsterdam, on tlie fertile Harlem Plains. Greenwich and Chelsea 
were two little villages on the west side of the island, which, like 
Harlem, have been swallowed in the voracious maw of the great city. 
On the site of "Washington Square was the Potter's Field, a place of 
sepulture for the poor and strangers. 

Public gardens had now become favorite jilaces of resort, the most 
famous of which were the " Indian Queen's" and " Tyler's" at Green- 
wich, " A'auxhall " at the junction of Warren and Greenwich Streets, 
and afterward " Yauxhall " between Lafayette Place and Fourth 
Avenue, on the site of the Astor Library. Near tiie junction of Broad- 
way and Thirty-fourth Street, on the Bloomingdale Road, Avas the 
" Strawberry Hill House," and at the junction of Charlton and Yarick 



orri.lNK IIISTOUY. l(i()<) 1830. 53 

streets was tlio " liiclmionti Hill" mansion, Ituilt in 177(p, where 
"Wasliington had his quaitei-s lor a while in the summer of 177(i. It 
was tiic property and i-esidenee of Aaron Burr at tlie time of his duel 
with Hamilton, in 18(t4. He sold it to John Jacob Astor, and it was 
converted into a house of summer entertainment and the Kiihmond 
Hill Theatre. The " Chelsea House" was upon elevated ground not fai- 
from the (present) General Theological Seminary of the Protestant 
Episcoj)al Church. 

Pleasjint countiy seats now adorned the island, some of which be- 
came histo.ically famous. On the Incleberg (Murray Hill) was the line 
mansion of the eminent Quaker merchant of the Pievolution, Robert 
Murray, father of the grammarian, whose patriotic wife, by her peisonal 
charms, convei-sation, and wine, detained the British otKcers on the day 
they crossed over from Long Island, long enough to allow Putnam, 
with the remnant of the American army left in the city, to pass bv, 
hidden by intervening Avoods, and s;ifely join the American armv on 
Harlem Heights. A little further up the Bloomingdale Road is" the 
Apthorpe mansion, where "Washington gave instructions to Nathan 
Hale when he went on his fatal errand to Long Ishuul, and where the 
commander-in-chief narrowly escaped capture by the troops whose 
officers were detained by Mrs. ^luri-ay. Near Carmansville is " The 
(irange," the country seat of General Hamilton at the time of his 
death ; and upon Harlem Heights near the High Bridge is the mansion 
of Roger Morris, used as headquartei-s by Washington in 177t). both 
well preserved. It is known as the Jumel estate. 

The hospital already mentioned was the oniv one in the city at the 
beginning of this century. The corner-stone was laid by Governor 
Tryon in 1773. A State prison, the second one built in the United 
States, was completed in 1700. It was a largo stone building in Green- 
wich Village, on the shoi-ps of the Hudson. The only medical school in 
the city was the ]\fetlical Faculty of Columbia College, oi-ganized in 
1708. There was a small city dispensary instituted in 170O and located 
in the rear of the ])resent City Hall, fronting on Tryon Row. 

Of the benevolent institutions in the city at the beginning of this 
century, the most prominent were the Marine Societij, incorpoi-ated in 
1770 ; the Cfutml^r of Commerce, incor|iorated the same year, with pro- 
visions for benevolent work ; the Ihnnane f^orlety, founded in 17S7 ; 
the Manumiismoti Society, established chiefly by the Friends, or 
Quakei-s, in 178.5 ; the Snilors' Snw/ Ilnrhnr, founded by Captain Ran- 
dall in 1801 ; the General Society of MeckanicK and TraJc.sno ii, incor- 
porate 1 in 17!I2, as an almoner for the necessities of the families of its 



54 IIISTOKV OF NF.W VOHK CITY. 

meiiibei'S ; the Tammany Society, or Coluinhian Order, fmiiidod in 
17f:<'.> ; the St. A>i(h-ew''.i! Society, and several Masonic lodges. 

Tlie principal church edifices were the South Dutch Eefomied, in 
Garden Street ; the jMiddle Dutch Reformed, comer of Nassau and 
Liberty streets (late the citj'^ Post-Office), in wliicli the Englisli service 
was tii-st introduced in 1704 ; * the North Dutch Kefonned, on William 
Street between Fulton and Ann streets ; Trinity Churcli, the pi'incipal 
of seven Episcopal churches, the most remote from the City Hall then 
being St. Mark's, at Eleventh Street and Second Avenue, built in 1795 ; 
the Lutheran Church, on the corner of William and Frankfort streets ; 
German Reformed, in Nassau Street near John Street, built in 1765 ; 
Fii'st Presbyterian Church, now on Fifth Avenue; the " Brick Church," 
in Reekman Street, at an angular lot known as " the Vineyard," built 
in 17<i7 ; the Rutgere Street Church, erected m 1797 ; Scotch Presby- 
terian Church, on Cedar Street, built in 1758 ; and the Reformed 
Presbvterian Church, in Chambei-s Street, erected in 1797. 

There were two Baptist churches. The firet erected in the city was 
built of bluestone, in Gold Street near Fulton, in 1790;+ the second was 
in Oliver Street, near Chatham Square, built in 1795. The Methodists 
had three churches -one in John Sti-eet, built in 1768 ; another in 
Foi-syth Street, erected in 1790 ; and a third in Duane Street, Iniilt in 
1795. The Friends had a meeting-house in Greene Street, near Lib- 
erty, which they built about 1703. It was rebuilt on a larger scale in 
Libert}'' Street in 1802, and was afterward transfomied into a seed-store 
by Grant Thorburn. Their second meeting-house was built on Pearl 
Street in 1775, and Avas taken down in 1824. The Moravians had a 
church in Fulton Street, near William Street, erected in 1751, and the 
Roman Cathoheshad one church— St. Peter's — on the corner of Church 
and Barclay streets, erected in 1786. The Jews had a synagogue on 
Mill Street, a lane near Hanover Square, built in 173(\ 

The only pulilic library in the city at the beginning of the century 
was the Society Library, founded in 1754. The Post-Office was kejrt 
in a room of the dwelling of the postmaster (General Theodore Bailey), 
on the corner of William and Garden streets. It contained about one 



* The bell of this church (now used by the Eeformed Church in Lafayette Place) was 
made in Amsterdam in 1731, when many citizens east in silver coins while the metal 
was in fusion before the casting. It was the gift of .\braham De Pey.ster. who was 
'mayor of New York 1691-95, and died in 1728. wliile this edifice was a-building. He 
directed in his will that a bell should be procured for it at the expense of his estate. 

f The stone of this building was afterward worked into the church edifice on the 
corner of Mott and Broome streets. 





^^ 



iiLTLlNE IIISTUHV. KiU'J-lWW. :>:< 

lmii(li>'(l Ixixcs. Three liatiks were in opeiation in tlie city, one < 1' 
w Ineli was a hraneli of the United States lianii, wiioso capital wis 
sl((,(MMi,(iii(i. There were also three insurance coini)anios, and these, 
like the banks, were in Wall Street. Fioni that time ^A'ail Stieet has 
been the linancial centre of the city. There were then seven daily 
newspapers pul)lislie(l in the city of Kew York, one weekly paper, 
two medical journals (one published quarterly and one semi-annually), 
and a ieli<,n(.us weekly jmblished by T. cV J. Swords, who estalilisheil 
the first permanent book-publishing establishment in the city of New 
York. 

The Park Tiieatre was then the only playhouse in the city. There 
wei'e four principal public market-houses and two ferries — one to 
Brooklyn, the other to Jei-sey City. The wells in the city were un- 
wholesome, and water from the " Tea-water Pump," at the corner of 
Pearl and Chatham streets, was cai'Hed about tlie town and .sold for a 
])enny a gallon. The Manhattan Water Com])any was organized at 
about this time, with banking privileges. They erected a distributing 
reservoir on Chambers Street — then "out of town" — ])um])eil the 
water from wells : unk in the vicinity, and distributed it through boicd 
logs. So early as 1774 Christopher Colles had i)ro])osed to bring water 
into the city fiom the Bronx Kiver, in AVestchester Comity, but the 
scheme was not favorably received ; but he was allowed to construct 
water-works at the public expense on the east side of Proadway, near 
Anthony Street, in 177ti. The water was ]nimped from wells and the 
"Collect." The scheme was a failure. These were the forerun neis 
of the grand Croton supply begim in 1S42. 

The corner-stone of the present old City Hall was laid in ISo;^, and 
it was finished in 1S12, at a cost of half a million dollars. ISIeanwliile 
the most im])ortant ])ractical achievement in science and mechanics in 
modern times, in its influence upon commerce and civilization, occurred. 
It was the ])ennanent establishment of naNngation by steam. liobeit 
Fulton and Chancellor Lmngston had constiiicted the steamboat 
Clrntioiit, and early in September, 1nii7, she made a successful voyage 
with jiassengers to Alliany, in s])ite of wind and tide, and continued 
regidar trips thereafter between IS'ew York and Albany. The com- 
mercial value of this event to the city of New York cannot be estimated. 

During the first decade of this century De Witt Clinton was mayor 
of New Yoi-k. aiul under his auspices the initiatoi-y stejis toward the 
establishment of the free ]niblic school system in New York were 
taken. In 18(1.5 the Public School Society, formed chiefly i)y the 
Society of Friends, wa.s incorporated, and ^fr. Clinton was its fii-st 



56 HISTOHY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

presiilent. Tlicii' tirst school was opened on lyfadison Street near Pearl 
Street, with forty pupils, gathered chiefly from the Immble and desti- 
tute families of the city. Many Avere taught free, and othei-s at a mere 
nominal i)rice. This society did noble work in the cause of education 
until 1842, when ward schools were established. This was followed by 
the jiresent public free school system, under a Board of Education. 
Then the Public School Society passed out of existence. Its mission 
was accom])lished. Its one school with forty scholars has expanded 
into almost three hundred schools and a free college, with thousands 
of ])upils. 

Until 1811) the ferry-boats at New York were skiffs <jr row-boats and 
pirogues. In ISl-f the horse-boat — a horizontal treadmill — was intro- 
duced, and the same year a steam ferry-boat was placed on the river 
between 'New York and Brooklyn. It remained the only steam ferr}-- 
boat for many years. The horse-boats disappeared in 1825. 

The cit}^ was now extending gi-adually northward, and streets Avere 
laid orit beyond the Canal Street marsh. The " Collect" was filled up, 
and the citizens began to co\'et residences on the AA'ooded hills beyond 
Canal Street. This movement of the po]uilation Avas stimulated by 
the yclloAV fever, which drove a third of the people of the city to the 
fields and woods north of the " Collect" or Fresh W^ater Pond in 1805. 

From 1811 various causes checked the growth of the city temporarily. 
Embargoes to foi'ce the British Gox^ernment to be just had fearfully 
smitten its commerce. In 1811 a fire occurred in Chatham Street, 
which consumed nearly one hundred houses. In the summer of 1812 
war Avas declared against Great Britain, Avhich gave a check to all 
foreign coinmei-ce, and the chief industry — the mercantile — of the city 
of New York Avas paralyzed. 

From time to time the people Avere excited by menaces of attacks by 
the British forces. They Avere notably so in the summer of 1814. 
There Avas a powerful British force in Chesapeake Bay, and a blnclc- 
ading squadron appeared on the NeAv England coasts. i\Iayor Clinton 
issued a stirring address to the peo])le on the immediate danger of an 
attack, reconmiending the militia to be in readiness, and calling upon 
the citizens to aid in completing the defences of the city. A mass- 
meeting of citizens Avas held in the City Hall Park on August i»th. 
Avhen a committee of the conmion council was chosen, to Avhom Avas 
giA'en ample poAver to direct the inhabitants in efforts to secure the 
safety of the city. To this end men of every class in society worked 
daily in squads, under chosen loaders, on fortifications near Harlem and 
at Brooklyn. Members (A churches led by their pastoi-s, and those of 



orTLiXK iiisToiiV, i«(m-i8so. 57 

benevolent societies anil the various trades with chosen leaders, went 
out in groups to the patriotic task, under a])propriate Ijanners. These 
workers weie designated as follows by the |)oet AV^oodwoith, who was 
a participant in their lalwis : 

" Plnmbers, foumlers, dyers, tinners, tanners, shavers. 
Sweeps, clerks and criers, jewellers, cngmvers, 
Clothiers, drapers, players, cartmen, hatters, tailors, 
Gangers, sealers, weighers, carjieuters, and sailors." 

The zeal of the ]>eople was intense, and very soon New York was 
well defended by fortifications superintended in their construction by 
Jose])h G. Swift, the lirst graduate of West Point Military Academy, 
and by militia, who flocked thither from the river counties. 

Although a large pro])ortion of the citizens of New York were 
opposed to the war at the beginning, once begun their patriotism 
flamed out conspicuously by public acts. At a meeting held in the 
Park five days after the declaration of war, they pledged their " lives, 
their fortunes, and their sacred honor" in support of their "beloved 
country. " They made their words good. Men and money were fi-eely 
contributed to the cause, and four months after the declaration of 
war twenty-six jn-ivateers, carrying 212 guns, all fully manned, were 
fitted out in the port of New York. Throughout the entire war the 
patriotism of the citizens was conspicuously displayed. And when, on 
Saturday evening, February 11, 1815, the British sloop-of-war Favorite 
arrived at New York with the treaty of peace ratilied In' the British 
Government, the unexpected glad tidings created intense joyfulness in 
the city. The streets were soon thronged with the happy peoj)le, and 
as a ])lacard headed " Pkace" was printed at the office of the Mercaii- 
tile A(h'i'i'tisi')- and was thrown out of a window into the street, it was 
eagerh^ caught up and read to the crowd, who received the news with 
shouts of joy. The immediate effect ujwn business was wonderful. 
Coin, which was ten per cent premium, fell to two ])er cent in forty- 
eight hours. Sugars fell from ^20 a hundredweight to §1:2.50 ; tea 
from §2.25 to $1 a pound. 

In 1811 a system of laying out the city above Houston Street was 
adopted, and surveys were begun. The work was somewhat inter- 
rupted by the war. It was completed in 1821. The streets were laid 
out in rectangles above Houston Street. Beginning at one, they were 
numbered upward to the northern extremity of the island. The.se were 
intersected by avenues, numbering westward from the eastern side of 
the island to the Hudson River. First Avenue was a continuation of 



•i8 HISTORY OF XEW YOKK CII'V. 

Allen Street. Between it and the East River were Avenues A, B, 
and C. 

The war created utter confusion among politicians. The men of 
each party, for various reasons, had abandoned old ci'eeds and adopted 
new ones. The most prominent result was the ahnost entire dissolution 
of the Federal party and the breaking up of the RepubUcan party into 
factions. From the election of Madison to the presidency in 1809 the 
Rejiublicans in Xew York were called Madisonians. To this party the 
Tammany Society adhered, and their hall, built in 1811, was the ren- 
dezvous of the Madisonians. At the close of the war the Republican 
party was split into two great divisions, called respectively Madisoni- 
ans and Clintonians, the latter being adherents of De AVitt C^hnton, 
who in ISIS was elected governor of the State of IS'ew York. He 
had pei-sonally urged upon the attention of the people the gi-eat scheme 
for tiie consti'uction of the Erie Canal ; now he brought his official 
influence to bear upon it, and it was completed in 1825. 

The first regular line of packet ships between New York and Liverpool 
was established in 1817 by Isaac "Wright & Son, Francis Thompson, 
Benjamin Mai-shall, Jeremiah Thompson, and James Croppei'. It was 
called the " Black Ball Line," and consisted of four ships. A packet 
sailed the fii-st day of every month. Soon afterward Byrnes, Trimble 
<fe Co. established the '" Red Star Line," of fom' ships, one saiHng on 
the 24th of each month. These were soon followed by the establish- 
ment of the *' Swallow Tail Line," by Fish, Grinnell & Co., of four 
ships, which sailed on the 8th of each month. Meanwhile four ships 
had been added to the '"Black Ball Line," but in 1818 there was a 
fleet of sixteen packet-sliips saihng from New York, with a weekly 
departure. 

The war had left the countiy in an impoverished condition, but its 
recuperation was wonderful. Commerce had rapidly revived. The 
growth of the city and its trade was abnormal, and a commercial 
revision occurred in 1818-11), in which New York merchants suffered 
severel}'. 

The yellow fever appeared in 1819. It soon disappeared, but its visit 
in 1822, and especially in 1823, was very fatal, and produced a great 
panic. Hitherto it had appeared at first in the %icinity of the East 
River ; now it began in Hector Street, on the Hudson River side, 
wliich had always been regarded as a ]\articularly healthy locahty. 
The disease was now regarded witli peculiar consternation. All per- 
sons who were able fled from the city. Tlie town south of the Park 
was fenced off and nearly deserted, and all intercourse with the " in- 



OUTLINK IIISTUUV, 1(!09-1S30. 69 

foctt'd district," as ail witiiiii (liis t('in|i()r;iry wall was culled, was 
strictly forhiddcn. The residents witiiin it who were unwilliiiff to leave 
their homes were forcihly removed i'lom them liy the I3oard of Ili-alth. 
The city became an almost ahsolute solitude, broken oidy by the noise 
of moving heai'ses and «id funeral jMocessions of a few near lelatives of 
the dead. The city government fled to Cireenwich Village (now the 
Ninth "Ward), and there jierformed their official duties. The fields and 
W(H)ds beyond Canal Street and at the ui)])er part of Broadway were 
filled with fugitives, and this jianic materially .stimulated the improve- 
ment of property in that vicinity. The city then contained aliout 
125, (luo inhal)itants. 

In lS2i Lafayette came to the United States as the guest of the 
nation. He arrived at New York in the .ship CiuhnuK, at the middle of 
August. His visit was a great event in the social history of New 
York. He fii"st landed on Staten Island on Sunday, and remained 
there, the guest of ex-Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, until Monday, 
when he was escoiled over the bay by a large naval procession and 
landed at Castle Garden, while peals of bells and booming of cannon 
gave him a noisy but hearty welcome. From the Battery he was 
escoiled to the City Hall, wMiere be w;\s received by the coi-poration 
and welcomed by flavor Paulding. During his sojourn in New York 
he had daily receptions at the City IlaU, where tlK)USimds of citizens 
waited upon him. On the evening of the 8th of September there was 
a grand performance at the Park Theatre in his honor. Some of the 
playbills were printed on white satin. 

The next year New York and its surrounding watere became the 
theatre of one of the most momentous events in the history of the city 
and State. The great Erie Canal, dimly dreamed of by prescient 
minds at the beginning of the century, was com]ileted that year, and 
the event was celebrated with most imjiosing ceiemonies at New York. 
It was the consummation of a scheme to connect the waters of the 
Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean by means of an artificial river 
three hundred and sixty miles in length, and the grand stream of the 
Hudson. The United States Government had been asked to constioict 
it. It refused ; when the State of New York, prompted bv the 
energy and foresight of some of its leading citizens, resolved to do the 
work unaided. The Legislature was induced to ajipoint a board of 
Canal Commissionei-s in ISll, with full pf>wer to act. The war of 1812 
caused a suspension of the scheme. At the beginning of i81(i it was 
revived by a few citizens of New York, among the most prominent of 
whom was De "Witt Clinton, who had taken great iutei-esl in the 



60 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

project from the beginning. They called a public meeting ; "VTilliam 
Bayard was its chairman, and John Pintard its secretary. A memorial 
to the Legislature was adopted, and in April a new board of Canal 
Commissioners was api)ointed, with Clinton as president. A law was 
))asseil authorizing the construction of the canal, and providing fvuids 
for the same. It was vehemently opposed. It was ridiculed, during 
almost the seven yeai-s of its jwogress to completion, as " CUnton"s 
ditch." The ground was fii-st broken on the -ith of Jivl}^, 1817, near 
Kome, X. Y. The middle section was completed in the fall of 1819, 
and the liret boat floated ujion it between Utica and Rome, with Gov- 
ernor Clinton and othere as passengei-s. When the great work was 
com])leted the citj'^ of New York was selected as the place for celebrat- 
ing the tiiumph. An account of that celebration may be found in a 
future chapter. 

The year 1825 was remarkable for other notal)le events in the city of 
Kew York— namely, the introduction of ilhnninating gas, the begin- 
ning of the erection of the Merchants' Exchange, the fh-st appearance 
of the Italian opera and the Sunday newspaper, and the first move- 
ment toward founding the National Academy of Design. The city 
then contained 1(36,000 inliabitants, was divided into twelve wards, 
and had two hundred and forty avenues,- streets, and lanes designated 
by names. It then began to grow at the rate of 1000 or 1 500 houses a 
year. It contained ninety churches (including a Hebrew synagogue), 
of Avhich seventy-one belonged to five denominations. The Presbj-- 
terians had twenty-one, Episcopalians seventeen, Baptists fom-teen, 
Refonned Dutch twelve, and Methodists seven. There -were three 
public libraries, one college (Columbia), two medical colleges, eight 
(almost) fi-ee schools, two high schools, two medical colleges, one 
eye infirmary and a city dispensary, two hospitals and one lunatic 
asylum, one medical society, about twenty-five charitable and benev- 
olent societies, and about twenty societies for the dissemination of the 
Christian religion. There were ten daily, seven semi-weekly, and 
eighteen weekly newspapers ; four magazines (two of them religious 
and one medical), and seven princi])al book-publishers in the city. In 
1825 the first Sunday newspaper jiublished in Xew York was issued. 
It was the Sundaij Courier, published by Joseph C. Melcher at the 
Tontine Coffee- House, on the corner of Wall and Water streets. 

There was, at that time, an Academy of Fine Arts, a Lyceum of 
Natural History, an Athenjeum, a Historical Society (founded in 1804). 
and a Horticultural Society. There were eleven public markets, five 
public i)risons, a State prison, a House of Refuge, and an ahnshouse. 



OUTLINE HISTORY, 1600-ia30. 61 

There were nineteen banks, and ten marine and thirty-two fire insur- 
ance cuinpanies, witii a weil-orfianizcd volunteer fire department. 

The chief pubHc liuiUiiiiys were tiie elegant City Hall in the Park, 
built of marble ; the Masonic Hall, on Bioadway, nearly opposite the 
hospital, anil the Merchants' Exchange, then just begun, on Wall Street 
below William Street. For pul)Iic amusenu-nt the citizens had the 
American Academy of Fine Arts on Bai'day Street, the Rotuiula in 
the Park, where panoramic paintings were exhibited, three nmseunis, 
three public ganlens, two circuses, and four theatres. The connnerce 
and nianufactures of the city were now extensive. The value of the 
total foreign commerce (imports and exports) of the district from ISil 
to 1830 averaged about §;.")S.OOO.O(IO, or 37 per cent of that of the whole 
United States. The distinct embraced the greater portion of Long 
IslantI, Piooklyn, Staten Island, the New Jei-sey shore above Staten 
Island, including Jersey City and the shores of the Hudson River. The 
assessed valuation of projiei'ty in the city of New York in 18:25 was 
above $lOO,OuO,(,iUU, on which a little less than $39,o0(t taxes were paid 
annually. 

Such was New York City at the end of the fii-st cjuartei' of the pres- 
ent century — the dawn of its new era of gi'owth and prosperity. xVnd 
here the nan-ative sketched in brief outline, of its jirogress from an 
obsciu'e Dutch trading-post among barbarians, i)lanted earh' in the 
seventeenth century, to a great commercial metropolis, with a popula- 
tion of ahnost 170,000, is ended. Henceforth the story of that growth, 
until Xew York has become one of the most ])opulous cities in the 
world, and destined to become the metropolis of tlie nations, will be 
told in much gi-eater detail. That story is diNnded into (hcachs of 
yearn, beginning with 1830, the time when the forces back of the 
gi'eat prosperity of the city had g-athered potency and were actively at 
work. 



PIKST DECADE, 1830-1840. 



CHAPTER I. 

IFIIiSr saw the city of New York in tlio year lf^32. It was tlipn 
a uiarvt'llt)us sijj;lit for the eyes of a rustic la<l whose home was in 
a quiet village on the Hudson River about half way between New York 
and Aliiany. 

The city limits wore then (as now) commensurate with the County of 
New York, and c(>m])reliended the whole of Maidiattan Island, which 
is about fourteen miles in length and from one fourth of a mile to two 
and a (piarter miles in breadth. The city jjrojx'r — the more thickly 
inlial>ited portions of it — extended from the IJattery along the Hudson 
River about a mile and a half, and fiom the s;ime point along the East 
River aljout two miles. The city included the several islands in the 
harbor north of Staten Island, and those in the East River. 

Along Houston Stieet on the east and IlaTuersley Street on the 
Avest, the inhaljitants were essentially suluirban. There were about 
two Imndred and fifty streets, alleys, and avenues south of those which 
are designated by numei'als. Many of these streets above f'anal Street 
were very thinly populated. The avenues were then mere prophecies 
of future jMipulation and business. Only tlic Thiid and Eighth Ave- 
nues were ojiened to the Harlem River ; the Fourth, Seventh, and 
Eleventh were not o]iened at all. 

Northward of tiie inhabited portions of the city liTiiits were several 
villages and handets, the most important of which were Greenwich, 
Rloomingdale, and ^lanhattanville on the Hudson River ; Yorkville 
in the centre of the island ; and on the Harlem River was Harlem, the 
senior of them all, for it was planted by Dutch emigrants from New 
Amsterdam (New York below AVall Street) more than two centuries 
ago. They settled there for the iniqiGse of cultivating cabliages and 
other "garden tnick" for the villagei-s at the southern end of the 
island. 

The human population of New York City in 1S30 was a little more 
tlian two hundred thousand in number. Over these citizens and aliens 
presi<led, as their chief magistrate, Mayor Walter Rowne, a thrifty 
hardware merchant in Pearl Street, a gray-haired man of sixty, and 



66 HISTOliY OF NKW VOKK CITY. 

a scion of the Quaker family at Flusliing, Long Island, who entertained 
George Fox, the founder of the sect of Friends or Quakers, late in the 
seventeenth century. 

The half decade of \^ears immediately pi-eceding the year 1830 pre- 
sented in New York City a. most exciting drama to the eye of the 
social pliilosopher. These years embraced the great ti-ansition period 
in the life of that city. They were the closing years of the long-reign- 
ing dynasty of the " Knickerbockers," as the Dutch element of the 
po[)ulation of Kew York was called, and the successful enthronement 
of an energetic cosnaopolitan spirit, which speedily transfoi-med the 
hitherto (|uiet, restful, satisfied, and conservative inhabitants of the 
staid Dutch tt)\vn into a wide-awake, bustling, elbowing, and ever-rest- 
less an»l aspiring multitude of men and women, scrambling for the 
headship of every class in the great school of human activity. This 
change had been largely A\Tought b}'^ the infusion of a new social ele- 
ment from neighboring communities. 

The slumbering city of New Y'ork had been surprised and invaded 
by " Green j\rountain Boys," as aggressive as Allen's ]:)and, and others 
from the granite hills of New England, with some congenial spirits from 
the West. They were all panoplied in the armor of indomitable will 
and abiding faith, with a determination to conquer every difficulty in 
their way, and win fortunes b}' their industry, thrift, \\'it, and skill. 
They infused their own spirit into the life of the conservative dwellers 
in the city, and very soon society became a vast kaleidoscope, present- 
ing at every turn new and startling asjjects in the wonilrous combina- 
tions produced by enei'getic and well-balanced enterprise. The invad- 
ei"s with I'are ])rescience had interpreted the grand ])rophecies of the 
future business possibilities of that island city seated where the Hudson 
jioui-s its flood into the sea — that beautiful river just -wedded, as we 
have seen, to the Great Lakes, with their magnificent dovv-ry of thou- 
sands of square miles of fertile territoiy. 

This Avas the period of the awakening to new and ]irosperous life of 
the M'hole country. Business of every kind had been readjusted after 
the great disruption caused by the second war for independence ; the 
national dci)t had l)een reduced to less than §l«iO,()()0,O0ii before 1828 ; 
the ]iolitical atmosphere was more serene than it had been since the 
creation of the Republic, and solid and ]iermanent prosperity seemed to 
be assured. 

The celebration of the most impoitant and propitious event in the 
history of the city of Ne\A' York — tlie completion of the great Erie 
Canal — deserves more than a passinij- notice. Tt (lecuri'od in thi\ month 



FIUST DECADK. IKjo IHIO. 67 

nf Xovomber, ]s;>.-.. The day fixed lor tlic cclclji-ation in the city <>f 
New Voi'k was tin- 4tli day of that niontli. 

At ten o'clutk on a haliiiy niuniiiig (tlie 2t">tli of October) tlie waters 
of I.ake Krie at lUilfalo H(jwt'd into the ** Dig Uitch" (as it was con - 
tcni[>tuously calleil by douhtci's and its opponents) for tlie lii"st time. 
Till- event was iiaileil with loud linzzas, tlio swinging of hats, and the 
waving of haiidUeivhiefs hy a multitude assendjlcd on the occasion. 

Tlie news of this lii-st intlowing was communicated from Buffalo to 
New York in the space of one hour and thirty minutes. This was 
done long before the electro-magnetic telegraph i)egan its marvellous 
career. The creator of its intelligence was then a portrait painter in 
the city of Xew York. That message was conveyed on the wings of 
sound from booming cannon jjlaced at intervals along the line o( the 
canal and the Hudson River, and a resj^nse was return<>d by the same 
voices and in the .s;ime space of time. 

A Hotilla of ciinal-lMiats, all Ix^antifully decorateil, led by a large one 
named the Sem-i-a C/iirf. left lUiffalo on a journey eastward at the 
moment of the lirst cannon peal. The C'/i/'t^' wns tlrawn by four i-ichly 
cajjarisoned gr.iy hoi'ses. It bore, as passengei-s, (iovernor I)e Witt 
Clinton, Lieutenant-Ciovei-nor General James Tallmadge, Genend 
Stephen Van Kens.selaer, the Albany jxitroon ; General Solomon \'nn 
liensselaer. Colonel William L. Stone,* a delegation from New Yoik 
City, and numerous invited guests and ladies. 

One of tlie canal-lxiats named Xonh's Ark bore a l)ear, two fawns, 
two eaglos, and a variety of birds and " four-footed beasts." with two 
Seneca Indian youtiis in the costume of their dusky nation. 

Everywhere along the route fi-om Buffalo to Albany the jieojile 
gathered in crowds at villages and hamlets, at all houi-s of the day and 
night, to see and greet tlie novel jndcession. At Rochester, where the 
canal crossed the G(>nesee River by an aiiuediU't suppoi-ted by stone 
arches, a little drama was jierformed. A man in a small boat onnlie 

* Willinin L. Stono wns for ninny ypnrs an rniinont joiuniilist in Now York City. Ho 
wna born nt Esopns, N. Y.. April 20, 1792 ; roinovnd to Coopcrstown in ]«0'.». where lie 
asHistcil his fiithtr in tlio i-are of n fiirni, and bccanie a printer. In 1813 he entered upon 
his c-«ri'er of ii ni'wsi):iper editor, iiml pursued it in several places, nud finally became one 
<if the propriit.irs iind editors of the Krw York Cnminfrciril Adcerti.spr in 18;!H. which ho 
eouducted until the time of his death at Saratoga Springs, in August, 1844. Colonel 
Stone was n genial writer. Ho published volumes of Tales and Essays, Memoirs ot lirant 
and Red .Jacket, and had gathered and prepared materials for a life of Sir William John- 
son, which was afterward completed by his son. He published other careful books from 
his own pen. For several years Colonel Stone was superintendent of common schools in 
the citv of New ^'ork. and was an cflScicnt worker in the cause of education. 



68 IllSTOIiV OF NEW YOliK CITY. 

Genesee, stationetl t)stensibly as a sentinel, call('<l out to tlie Seneca 
Chief' as the Hotilla entered the aqueduct : 

" AVho comes there V' 

" Your brothel's from the West, on th(^ waters of tlie (ireat Lakes," 
respondeil a voice from the Vhiff. 

" By what means have they been diverted so I'ai- from their natural 
course V inquired tlie sentinel. 

"Through tlie channel of the grand Erie Canal," answered the 
Chief. 

" By whose authority and by whom was a work of such magnitude 
accomj)lished ?" asked the sentinel. 

" By the authority and by the enterprise of the ]3eo]ile of >,'ew 
York," cried many voices as one from the deck of the Chief. 

At Rochester another canal-boat. The Young Lion of the West, 
joineil the flotilla. It had on board, among other jjroducts of the West, 
two living wolves, a fawn, a fox, four raccoons, and two eagles. 

The flotilla rested over the Sabbath at Utica, where it arrived late 
on Sunday morning. The governor and his company were escorted to 
a place of public worship in the afternoon by a deputation of citizens, 
and early on Monday morning the grand procession moved on down 
the beautiful and magnificent Moha\vk Valley, the natural and the 
artificial river lunning jmrallel to each other for scores of miles. 

At Albany, the State capital and the eastern terminus of the canal, 
the voyagers were met by a large civic and military procession, which 
escorted the governor and other projectors and friends of the enterprise 
to the Capitol, where interesting services ^vere held. People had gath- 
ered in Albany from all parts of eastern and northern Kew York, from 
Vermont, and even from Canada, to witness the imposing sjiectacle. A 
grand public dinner was given by the corporation of Albany, at which 
the Hon. Philip Hone, the mayor of the city of New York, made a 
stirrmg congratulatory speech, and in behalf of the corporation of his 
city invited that of Albany to accompany the voyagers down the Hud- 
son Eiver and accept the hospitalities of the commercial metropohs. 
The celebration at Albany ended with a general illumination of the 
little city of fifteen thousand inhalntants, and an appropriate perform- 
ance at the theatre, m which was exhibited a picturesque and truthful 
canal scene, witli many boats and horses, locks and other accessories. 

From Alimny to Ne\v' York the flotilla of canal-boats was towed by 
Hudson River steamei-s. The Chaneelhr LieiiujHton was the " flag- 
ship" of the fleet, having in tow the Seneca Chief, whose distinguished 
passengei-s were transferred to her escort, and Avere joined by many 



KIKST I)K< ADK, 18:iO-lK40. (JO 

otlii'i-s. Tlicv moved ;it an cai'ly lioiir in the inorninj^. (iniujis or 
crowds of men, women, and eliildien were seen on the shores of the 
Hudson at nianv points, and here and there the ^j^ri-at a(|iiatie |»r<K-ession 
Mas hailed with liuzzas, tlie ttinj^^ing out of banners, and tlie lluinder of 
eannon. It was a sort of gula time in tlie valley of the lower Hudson, 
that dear, erisp, Novendx-r day in ISl'.'). 

Ample preparations had been madt; in the city of New Vork for the 
coiei)ration of this great event. So eai-ly as September 7th the mer- 
chants and citizens of Xew Vork had lield a great meeting in the rcnnns 
of the Chamber of Commerce, in the Tontine Coffee-House, to make 
arrangements for the celeljration. John Pintard was secretary of the 
meeting, and appro))riate r(>soiut ions concerning arrangenunits, emlxMly- 
ing a pi-ogranune, were adopted. They were prepared beforehand i)y 
Pintard. 

IJefore the dawn of tiio morning of November 4tii the great fleet, 
under the conunanil of Charles Khind as admiral, was andiored off 
Greenwich Village, then a sort of suburb of New Yoik City. The sky 
was cloudless, and at sun-rising the day was welcomed In' the ringing 
of the city bells and the roar of cannon. At a signal from the Clion- 
ccilor Livin<ji<t()n flags wei'e run uj) and unfurled all over the city, and 
at the naval anil military jwists in the vicinity. 

A few minutes after this demonstration the large and new steamboat 
WunliiiKjtoti, bearing aloft the great banner of the corporation dis])lay- 
ing the arms of the city on a spotless white field, proceeded to the 
ancliored fleet. On her taffrail was (lis])layed a beautiful design, made 
especially in honor of Washington and Lafayette. In the centre was a 
trophy of various emblems of war and jwace. This wa.s surmounted by 
a bald eagle. On the right side of the trophy was the jjortrait of 
"Washington, and on the left the portrait of Lafayette. The former 
was crowned with the civic wreath aiul laurel, the latter with the 
laurel only. The Genius of America was in the act of crowning "Wa.sh- 
ington, and the incarnated Spirit of Independence, waving a flaming 
torch, was binding the brow of Lafayette. Near each of these por- 
traits was a medallitm bearing emblems of agi'icultui-e and commerce. 
The whole rested on a section of the globe, and the background was a 
glory fi-om the trophy. Each cornc^r of the taffrail was filled with a 
cornucopia completing the whole design, " on which," wmte Colonel 
Stone, the historian of the celebration. " neither ])ainting nor gilding 
had been spared to enhance the effect." 

The WdNhimjton. with a committee of the corporation and the officei-s 
of the governor's guaiil, ])roceedeil to the fleet. "When she camo 



TO HISTOUY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

within hailing distance of the Seneca Chii'f, one of lier ofificei-s inquired 
of the strange craft : 

" Where are vou from, and wliat is your destination ?" 

Tlie reply was sent baciv : 

'■ From Lake Erie, and bound for Sandy Hook." 

The Waahington tlien ran alongside the Chancellor Livingston, when 
the committee went siboai'd the latter ami tendered congratidations to 
the governor in beiialf of the citizens of New York, represented by the 
corporation. Tliese congratulations were presented in a s])eech by 
AUIeniian Cowdiy. lie finally welcomed the governor and his fellow- 
travellei-s, wlio had come all the way by water from Lake Erie through 
the heart of the State of New York. They were tlie pioneers in th;it 
new acjueous liighway of connnerce. 

j\t an early hour the waters at the mouth of the Hudson and of New 
Yoi'k' Harbor were dotted with floating craft of eveiy kind, from the 
stately British sloop-of-war to tlie pirogue and skiff, all alive with 
human ijcings. The fine paclcet-ship Hamlet, pre])ared by the Marine 
and Nautical Societies, and dressed in the flags of various nations and 
])rivato signals, appeared in the Hudson River at sunrise. Commodore 
Chauncey sent an officer and twenty men from the Navy-Yard at 
Brooklyn to assist Captain Collins in the duties of the ship during the 
day. The two societies went on board of lier soon after eiglit o'clock. 

At about nine o'clock the corporations and invited guests proceeded 
to the steamboats Wax/iington, Fulton, and Pfovidence, lying at the 
foot of Wall Street. There was also the steamboat Commerce, with the 
elegant safety-barges Ixuhj Clinton anil Lady Van Jiensselaer. These 
barges had been ]ii-epared by the corporation for the use of invited 
ladies and their attendants. The Ladg Clinton was profusely decorated 
with evergreens hung in festoons, interwoven with roses and otlier 
flowers. In a niche below the upper deck was a bust of Govei-nor 
Chnton, with a wreatli of laurel and roses encircling the l)row. On 
this barge were the wife of tiie governor and a c-rowd of distinguished 
ladies in their best attire. 

The fleet from Albany in the Hudson River, led by the Cliancellor 
Livingston, went around to tlie East River to the Navy- Yard, where a 
salute was fired. The flagship here took on boaixl the offlcei's of tlie 
station with their line band of music, and were greeted by the officere 
from West Point, who had been received on tha Livingston the prexnous 
evening. They also were accompanied by their celebrated band. At 
this time the wharves and buildings and the heights of Brooklyn and 
the shores of New York from Corlear's Hook to the Battei'v were 



FIKST DKCAOE, 1«:10 IH40. 71 

densely crowded with e;i;,'('r spectatoi-s. It was an oiitiKiurin^ of the 
]io|iulati((n suc-li as had iicvci' Ix-cii seen on tlic sliores of tin* East 
Kivcr. 

The fleet proci'eded to tlic waters l)etween tlie Battery and (iovernor's 
Island, where it was jijined hy the gayly-deeorated llidnlit, in tow iiy 
the (Hli'ir KUsmirtlt and Jinlirur. Other steandjoats towed |)ilot ves- 
sels and II small Hotilla belonging to Whitehall boatmen. At that point 
tlie admiral of the fleet for the occasion (^[r. Kliind) signalled the 
ditfereiit vessels to take their ai)iM)inted stations. This was a most in- 
teresting sjK'ctacle, and these movements were continually applauded 
l>y loud huzziis from the crowded vessels of every kind. 

In New York Harbor were two British sloops-ol-war, Su-itllou' and 
Jilii<(p'«/ur. When everything was in readiness, the deet, salute<l by 
the guns at the Battery and of the castle on (Tovernors Island, made 
u sweep toward Jei-sey City around these vessels. The latter siduted 
them with their heavy guns and cheei-s and the tune of " Yankee 
DiMulle." In response to this com|)liment the baiuls on the Chancellor 
L'v'itujxfo)! played " God .save the King." Then the whole prrx^ession, 
led by the LiciiH/ni<in, composed of twenty-nine steam-ves.sels, and sail- 
ing shi])s, schoonei-s, barges, canal-l)oats and sail-boats, moved toward 
Sandy Hook, within which the United States schooner Dolphin was 
moored. As the grand ])rocession emerged from the Narrows after 
receiving a siilute from Forts Lafayette and Tompkins, it was ap- 
proached by the Dolphin^ as a tleputation from iS'ei)tune, to inquire 
who the visitoi's were, and what was the object of their coming. A 
satisfactory answer having been given, the whole fleet formed a circle 
around the schmmer, about tiiree miles in circumference, preparatory to 
the crowning and most important ceremony of the occasion, namely, 
the comminghng of the watei-s of Lake Erie with those of the Atlantic 
Ocean. 

The Si-)i,r<t Chi<f had borne from Bulfalo tw(j liandsonK kegs, 
painted green, with gilded hoops, and having the device of a spread 
eagle carrying in its beak a ribbon on which were the words " Water 
OK Lakk Ekii;.'" One (jf these kegs was taken to the Vhnntdlor Lir- 
iiK/ston and reci'ived by the governor, when Admiral Rhine! addresseil 
his excellency, saying he had a retjuest to make. He was desirou.-., he 
sjiid, " of preserving a portion of the water used on that memorable 
occiusi(jn, in order to send it to our distinguished friend and late illus- 
trious visitor, ifaji^r-Oeneral Lafayette," to be conveyed to him in 
bottles in a Ixjx made from a log of cedar brought fixjm Lake Erie in 
the K/uai ('h/\f. The governor thanked Mr. Uliind for his suggestion, 



'72 HISTOHY ol' NEW YORK (ITY. 

;in<l said tliat a iiiort? pleasing- task could not liaAC been imposed ii|)on 
liiiii. 

Tliere was iu)\v silence and eiiger wateliing among the vast multitude 
floating on the unruffled bosom of the Atlantic Ocean near Sandy 
Hook. It was the supreme moment of the occasion. Governor Clin- 
ton, lifting the keg of Erie water in full vie\v of the spectators, stej^ped 
to the side of the Chancellor Livingston, and poured its contents into 
the sea, saying : 

" This solemnity, at this place, on the fii-st arrival of vessels from 
Lake Erie, is intended to indicate anil conmieinorate the navigable 
conununication which has been accomplished between our Mediter- 
ranean seas and the Atlantic Ocean in about eight years to the extent 
of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, Ijy the wisdom, ])ub- 
lic spii'it, and energy of the people of the State of Xew York ; and may 
the God of the heavens and the earth smile most propitiously on this 
work, and render it subsernent to the best interests of the human 
race." * 

The eminent Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, of New York, who possessed 
water from many countries, concluded the ceremonies on the sea bj- 
pouring into its bosom small vials of water from the Ganges, Indus, and 
Jordan in Asia ; the Xile and the Gambia in Africa ; . the Thames, the 
Seine, the Rhine, and the Danube in Europe ; the Mississippi and 
Columbia of Xorth America ; and the Orinoco, La Plata, and Ama- 
zon of South America. Dr. Mitchill then delivered a long address. 

"While the fleet was here at anchor,"' says Colonel Stone in his 
narrative of the celebration, "a deputation from the members of the 
Assembly from difi'erent parts of the State, who were on board one of 
the steamboats as guests of the cor])oration, preceded by Clarkson 
Crolius, Esq.,f then Speaker, ])aid a visit to the Seneca Chief, to recip- 

* The keg from which water from Luke Erie was poured into the Atlantic Ocean is 
preserved, as a precious memento of the great event, among the collections of the New 
Y'ork Historical Society. 

f Clarkson Crolius, Sr., was born in the city of New York just previous to the 
breaking out of the war for independence —October 5, 1773. His ancestors came from 
Germany and settled at New York at the close of the seventeenth century. They settled 
in the ward (the Sixth) in which he was born, which he represented in the municipal 
legislature, and in which he died. His grandfather established the first stoneware man- 
ufactory in the colonies, and that business was pursued by his descendants for several 
generations. His father was an ardent Whig, and when tlie British took possession of 
the city, in the fall of 1776, he left the city. His property fell into the hands of the in 
vaders, and was not recovered by the family until the evacuation of the city by the Brit- 
ish troops late in 1783. His brother John was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, 
and lived to the ago of more than 80 years, dying about the year 1835. 



FIRST DKCAhK. 1830-lWO. 73 

rooato conp-ratiiliitions with tlu; iJuiralo ri)ininittoo on tlie Complr-fion 
of till- (iiaiid (anal, lo wliidi tlio J.L'gislaturc, of wliicli they were 
nicnihui-s, had made the last and linishiny ai»i»ropiiation." 

Tlu- great fleet, alter several vessels had liied a sidutc, leturncd to 
the city in tiininphal procession, the passengere of the steand^oats jiar- 
taking of a collation on the way. Again the grand flotilla swept 

Jlr. Crolius iiursucil the business of his fntber, the miinafacluriiig of pottery, and 
being of an nctive tpmperamcut and possessed of positive eonviclious, entered the arena 
of i)olitictil strife soon after nttiiining to his majority. He espoused the cause of the 
Deuioenitic (i>r Jiepublican, iis it was called) liarty, founded by JeSerson, and was active 
in the canvass which raised that great Virginian to the Presidency of the Kepublic in 
1801. He was also nn active member of the Tainmauy Society. 

At aljout the opening of the present centnry Jlr. Crolius was elected a member of the 
common council, representing the Sixth Ward, in which he was born. As such he ofiBci- 
ated at the laying of the corner-stone of the new City Hall, in thePields, afterward 
known as City Hall Park, or the Park. In 1842 he was the last surviving member of the 
common council who were present on that occasion. The city was then divided into 
nine wards. De Witt Clinton was mayor, and John B. Prevost was recorder. The fol- 
lowing are the names of the aldermen and assistant aldermen then present : 

Aldenno). — Wynandt Van Zandt, Philip Brasher, John Bogert, John P. Ritter, Jacob 
de la Montagnie, George Janoway, Mangle Jlinthorne, Jacob Martin, Jacob Hansen. 
Assislaiils. — Andrew Slorris, Caleb S. Eiggs, Jacob Le Roy, Robert Bogardns, Clarkson 
Crolius, John Beekman, Whitehead Fish, James Striker. 

Mr. Crolius remained in the council several years. He was the grand sachem or saga- 
more of the Tammany Society in 1811, and as such laid the corner-stone of Tammany 
Hall ; and early in the war of 1812 he was major of the" Adjiilant-General's Regiment." 
He soon afterward was appointed to the same rank in the regular service, and assigned 
to duty on Governor's Island, in the harbor of New York. During the ab.sence of his 
superior officer he held command of that post, also of Bath and Sandy Hook. At the close 
of the war he resumed his business. He was a very popular leader in the Democratic 
l>arty, and for ten years was a representative of the city of New York in the Assembly of 
the State. Mr. Crolius was, with many other members of the Legislature, opposed to the 
Canal scheme, chiefly under a conviction that the State was not then in a condition to 
sustain the expense or to assume the inevitable heavy debt its cnnstrnctinn would create. 
When it was begun he was among the first to join in voting means for its completion. 

Being a favorite with the country members of the Assembly, he was chosen Speaker of 
that body in 1825, by a unanimous -vote, an unprecedented circumstance. He soon atler- 
ward retired from active ])olitical life, but official stations under the city authorities and 
the general government were conferred upon him. He was one of the most active of the 
founders of the American Institute, and was one of its vice-presidents for seven years. 
He died in the city of New Y'ork in the ward in which he was Viorn, on October 3, 1843. 
He married, in 1703, Elizabeth Meyer, who survived him many years. 

As an honorable and energetic business man, a promoter of the best interests of his 
native city, as a patriotic soldier, and as a faithfnl representative of his fellow-citizens 
in the city and State legislatures, Clarkson Crnlins, Sr., was an eminently representative 
citizen. His son. Clark.son Crolius, .Tr., now living in the city, venerable in years, has 
also been an alderman in New York, a member of the State Senate, and ever active in 
the primioticm of measun s for tln' lii-riHtit of his fellow-men. 



74 HISTOHV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

around the British war- vessels, receiving a salute from tliein. Each 
party complimented tiie other with cheers and the playing of " God 
save tlie King" and " Yankee Doodle'' by their respective musicians. 
The passengers were all landed at about four o'clock. 

Meanwhile a vast civic ])rocession, sucli as had never before been seen 
in the city of New York, had been formed and paraded through the 
principal streets, under the direction of the marshal of the day, Major- 
General Flemming. It was composed of representatives of every re- 
spectable class of society, arranged in organized groups. There ap- 
peared the several benevolent and industrial societies, the Volunteer 
Fire Department, the literary and scientific institutions, the membei-s 
of the bar, the officers of the State artillery and infantry in uniform, 
and the membei-s of many occupations and callings not formally 
organized into societies, accompanied by bands of music. 

This procession, six abreast, was formed in Greenwich l)ctween nine 
and ten o'clock in the moi'ning, the right resting on Marketfield Street, 
near tlie Battery. It moved up Greenwich Street (then a fashionable 
place of residence) to Canal Street ; through Canal Street to Broad- 
way ; up Broadway to Bi'oome Street (then the upi)er part of the city 
proj)er) ; u[) Broome Street to the Bowery ; down the Bowery to 
Pearl Street ; down Pearl Street to the Battery ; over the Battery 
to Broadway ; and thence to the new City Hall, in the Piu'k. 
At the Battery the procession was joined by the voyagers returning 
from the ocean — the mayor and common council and distinguisJied 
guests. 

The scene along the line of the pi'ocession presented a most hnposing 
spectacle. Each society seemed emulous to excel in the richness and 
beauty of its banner and the respective badges and decorations. Many 
of the bannei-s displayed exquisite art in design and execution. Many 
of the industrial societies (twenty -two in number) had furnished them- 
selves witii large cai-s, upon which their respective ai'tisans were busily 
engaged in their several occupations. 

The most attractive ])erformance of tiie kind was on tlu^ jjrintei-s' 
car, on which was a printing-press constantly at work striking off 
copies of a long "Ode for the Canal Celebration," written for the 
occasion at the request of tiie printei-s of Xew Yoi'k, and distributed to 
the populace. The following are the opening stanzas : 

" 'Tis (lone ! 'tis done I The mighty chain 
Which joins bright Erie to the Main, 
For ages shall perjjotnate 
The glory of our native State. 



1 




^^■'^^^SP^^fy^^. 



FlKsr DKCADE, 1830-1840. 75 

" "Tis iXoue '. TroHcl Abt o'er Natubb lins prevailed ! 
Genius ami I'eksevehan-ce lifive Micreeded ! 
Though selfish PiiEJi'uifE in strength assailed, 
While honest Prudence jjleadtd. 

" 'Tis done I The nionnrch of the briny tide, 
Whose giant arms encircle Earth, 
To virgin Euuc is allied, 

A bright-eyed nymph of luountain birth. 

" To-day the Sire of Ucenit takes 
A sylvan maiden to his arms, 
The Goddess of the crystal Lakes, 
In all her native charms ! 

" She comes, attended by a sparkling train ; 
The Xiiiiids of the West her nuptials grace ; 
She meets the sceptred Father of the Main, 

And in liis heaving bosom hides her virgin face." 

Some of tlie cai-s wei-e Iteauti fully oriiainented and profusely deco- 
rated with evergreens. Turkey or IJrusscls carpets covered the floors 
of some of tliem, and soitio fairly glittered with gilding in the light of 
the unclouded sun on tiiat fair Novemher day. 

In that ijnx-ession was a|)propriately carried a bust of C'hi-istopher 
f'olles,* an Eiigiishnian who came to New York before the [{evolu- 
tion, and was undoubtedly the liist man who suggested the possibility 
and the advantage of an artilicial water-communication between the 
Hudson River and the Lakes. He leclm-ed on canal navigation in Xew 
York so early as 1772. He actually made a survey of the Mohawk 
River and the country to Wood Ci-eek, tliat empties into Lake Ontario. 
He had been in his grave four yeai-s when this grand canal celebration 
occurred. 

The gallant Cokmcl Stone, the appointed historian of the event, was 
f:o deeply impres.sed with the whole affair tiiat his pen. with seeming 

* Christopher CoUes was bom in Ireland abont 1738 ; studied under Richard Pococke. 
an eminent Oriental traveller, and became an expert linguist and man of science. On 
the death of his patron, m 1765, he came to .Vmerica, and first appeared in public here as 
a lecturer on canal navigation about the year 1772. lie was a good civil engineer, and 
proposed to the authorities of the city of New York schemes for supplying the city with 
pure water. But his projects were never carried out. Colles constructed and published 
a series of sectional road maps, which were engraved by Ins daughter. He was u land 
surveyor, made paper boxes, and a-ssisted almanac-makers in their calculations. CoUes 
also manufactured painters' colors, and at length was made actuary of the Academy of the 
Fine Arts. Eminent men in Xew York City highly esteemed him, but he died in com- 
parative obscurity in New Y'ork in 1S21. Only Dr. J. W. Francis and .John Pintard, with 
the officiating clergj'iiian. Rev. Dr. Cruighton, accompanied his body to its burial in the 
little cemetery on Hudson Street. 



76 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

sjiontaneity, recorded almost grandiloquent ex]>ressions when dwelling 
on tlie subject of the participation of the fairer sex in the uurivalled 
])ageant. He wr'ote : 

'• The eye of beauty, too, gazed with delight upon the passing 
scene ; for eveiy window was thronged, and the myriads of handker- 
chiefs which fluttered in the air were only rivalled in whiteness by the 
delicate hands which suspended them ; while the glowing cheeks, the 
ingenuous smiles of loveliness and innocence, and the intelligence which 
beamed brightly from many a sparkling eye, proclaimed their posses- 
soi-s worthy of being the wives, mothers, and daughters of freemen. It 
was, in line, a ])roud spectacle ; but language fails in attempting its 
description — much more in imparting to ]iaper the sensations which it 
createil. It is not difficult to describe individual objects correctly, but 
it is impossible to portray their general effect when hajipily grouped 
together. It is amid scenes like these— a fain: gleam of which can 
only be conveyed to the futm*e antiquary or historian— that the mind is 
absorbed in its own reflections, musing in solitude, though surrounded 
by the gay and the thoughtless, and literally lost in its own imagin- 
ings." * 

The festivities of the day were closed in the evening by the illumina- 
tion of the ])ublie buildings, the [principal hotels, the theatres, museums, 
and many pi'ivate tlwellings. On several of these were transparencies 
Avitli a])i)ro])riate devices, conceived by good taste and intelligence, and 
artistically executed. The City Hall was the chief point of attraction. 
No ex])ense had been s])ared by the corporation in making its illumina- 
tion and attendant lireworks unsuii3assed in l)rilliancy. There was an 
immense trans])arency on its front, exhibiting views of the canal and a 
variety i)f emblematical figures. The fireworks exceeded the jniblic' 
expectations. The Park was crowded with delighted sjiectators, of 
both sexes and of all ages, from the crowing infant to the tottering old 
man, from eight to ten thousand being the computed number. At the 
Park Theatre an interlude composed for the occasion by M. M. Noah 
was performed, and ehcited great applause. A similar production pre- 
])areil by Sanmel ^Yood worth, the printer-poet, for the occasion was 
pei'formed at the Chatham Theatre. 

On the following day (Saturday, the 5th) committees from the West 
were entertained at a dinner given in their iionor on lioard llic CIkhi- 

* Colonel William L. Stone's narrative; of the celebration, published liy the common 
council of the city of New York, under the title of " The Grand Erie Canal Celebration." 
This wa.s accompanied by a memoir of the great public woik, by Cadwallader D. Golden. 
Stone's narrative has furnished the materials for our sketch. 



FIRST DEIAUK. 18;!0-1»40. 77 

ciUor Lirinffston. Tliey enjoyed tlie hospitalities of the citizens in 
great j)lenitu(le. Tlie pubhc institutions were thrown open to their 
visits anil ins|)eetion, and tliev i-elurned to their respective lioines 
deejjly inipiessed witli the vast ini|)oitance of the Grand Cunai in tiie 
promotion of the prosperity, not only of the city of Mew York, hut to 
the whole State anil the region ilrained iiy the Great Lakes. One of 
them (Di-. Ale.xander C'ovcntiy, of Utica) wrote to the mayor of New 
York in behalf of the several committees, sjiying : 

" The Erie Canal insures to us a reward for industry ; to om- posterity 
an antidote for idleness ; nor is it the least ralualile of our acquired 
])rivileges to have in the future our ))i'osi)erity closely identilied with 
the citv, our connection with which has always ixrn our proudest 
boast." 

The festivities in the city were concluded on Monday evening, the 
7th, by a grand l)all given by the officers of the militia associated with 
a conuuittee of citizens. For that occasion the vast rooms of the 
Lafayette Amphitheatre, in Laurens Street near Canal Sti-eet, was used. 
Tiie hippodrome was Moored over for the occasion, and with the stage 
usihI for dramatic entertainments fonncd the largest ball-room in the 
UnitL-d Stales. It was divided into three compartments, the whole 
being about two hundi-ed feet in length, and from sixty to one hundi-ed 
feet in breadth. The danciiig-iooni was the most spacious of any. At 
one end was an immense mirror, composed of thii'ty ])ier-gla.sses without 
frames and neatly joined together. At the other end of the room, on 
the removal of drapery at a proper time, a beautifully sup|)lied supjjcr- 
room was revealed. From the roof was suspended many chanileliei-s, 
and from it the " Stai-s and Strijies" hung in gay festoons. The whole 
of the interior of the Am])hitlieatre was brilliantly lighted with scores 
of chandeliei's, lamjjs, and candles, and on every side were seen elegant 
and costly decorations. The front of the building was illuminated, and 
across it, over the doois, were the words, " TuicGra-ni) Ca.nal," formed 
by the light of burning lamps. 

A brilliant as.semblage appeared in the Amphitheatre that night. It 
was estnnated that fully three thousand pei-sons were present, among 
them Governor Clinton and his wife. The gallant chronicler (Colonel 
Stone) again grew warm as he descTibed the scenes on that eventful 
evening, and refeired to the ladies. He WTote : 

" But entrancing above all other enchantments of the scene was the 
living enchantment of beauty— the trance which wraps the senses in 
the pi-esencc of loveliness Avhen woman walks the hall of beauty — 
magnitlronce luTself— the brightest object in the mid.st of brightness and 



78 HISTOKY OF KEW YORK CITY. 

beauty. A thousand faces were there, bright with intelhgence and 
radiant witli beauty, looiiing joy and congratulation to each other, and 
spreading around the spells which the loves and the graces bind on the 
breast of the sterner sex. 

To every guest of the corporation of the city of Xew York, both 
ladies and gentlemen, a beautiful medal was ]3resented, bearing on one 
side images of Pan and Xeptune in lo\ing embrace, also a well-filled 
cornuco]iia showing the production of the land and sea, with the words, 
" Uniox of Erie wrrn the Atlantic ;" and on the other side the aiTUS 
of the State of New York — the State which had borne the whole burden 
in the construction of the great work —and a representation of a section 
of the canal, its locks and aqueducts, and a view of the harbor of Kew 
York. On this side were the words, " Erie Canal, commenced 4th of 
July, 1817 ; completed 2Cth October, 1825. Presented by the Crrv 
OF New York." 

These medals were made of white metal. Some were of silver. 
There were also fifty-one gold medals struck and sent to European 
monarchs and other distinguished men. They were presented by a 
conunittee composed of Kecorder Richard Riker, John Agnew, 
Thomas Bolton, and William A. Davis. 

So ended the celebration of the com])letion and opening of the Grand 
Erie Canal. It was the beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy of 
Joel Barlow in his " Vision of Cohunlras,'' pubhshed in 1787, in which, 
alluding to the great discoverer, he wrote : 

" He saw, as widely spreads th' inchannelled plain. 
Where inland realm for ages bloomed in vain. 
Canals; long winding, ope a watery flight, 
And distant streams and seas and lakes unite. 

" From fair Albania, toward the setting sun. 
Back, through the midland, lengthening channels ran ; 
Meet the fair lakes, there beauteous towns that lave. 
And Hudson's joined to fair Ohio's wave." 

It was also the dawning of a brighter day in the history of New 
York — its entrance upon its marvellous career of grouiih and pros- 
perity. The prophecies of the earnest friends of the canal, that the im- 
petus it would give to business of every description in the city and in 
the interior of the State would speedily produce a wonderful increase in 
the commerce and wealth of both sections, was speedily fulfilled, and in 
a measure beyond the expectation of the most s;inguine dreamer. 

In 1812, Avhen the pi-oject had but lately assumed a really tangible 
shape by the appointment of canal commissioners, these men (Gov- 



FIRST DKCADE, 1830-1840. T'J 

crnour >[orris, Stephen Van IJensselaer, I)e Witt C'lintmi, Petei- I?. 
Porter, and others) gave tlie following prophetic utteianci- : 

■• Viewing tiie extent and fertility of the country with which mis 
canal is to ojjcn coinniunication, it is not extravagant to suppose lliiil. 
when settled, its pi'o<luee will ecpial the jiresent export of the I'liitcd 
States [SoS,(i(Mi,()(HiJ. Will it appear improbable that twenty years 
hence [1832J the canal should annually bring down 25ii,<i(i(t tons i" 

Twenty years after the completion of the canal (ls4r.) there came 
upon it to tidewater l,ln7,(MMi tons of produce, valued at $4.j,(«m(,(mi(i, 
and the tolls amounted to §2,r.mt,t«Mi. In 1^72. the year before the 
great panic depresseil business, the value of property tianspoited on 
tliat canal, notwithstanding a three-track railway is laid parallel with 
it, was about slt;8,(i(H»,(i(Xi.* 

In the siime year when the Erie ("anal was completed, and not more 
than a fortnight before the great celebration of the event in the city of 
New York, the tii-st ripple of the tide of emigration from Scandinavia 
appeared. It ccmsisted of a band of Norwegians, o3 in number, who 

* At the time of the completion of the Erie Caiml, Do Witt Clinton was fifty-six years 
of nge, having been born in March, 170i), at Little Britain. Orange County, N. Y., and 
AieiXnl .•Mbany February 11, 1828. He was a son of General James Clinton, and nephew 
ot the eminent first governor of the State of New York, George Clinton. 

He was admitted to the bar in 17HS, but never practised much. For several years he 
was the private secretary of Governor Clinton, and the champion of his administration 
through the imblic press, being a chaste, vigorous, and prolific writer, and a sound states- 
man in early life. For several years he was the leader of the Republican or Democratic 
party in the State of New York. Mr. Clinton was a member of the State Assembly in 
17il7, of the State Senate 1708 1802. of the t'nited States Senate 1802 03, and mayor 
of the city of New York 1803-07, 1809-10, 1811-14. He was also a member of the State 
Senate ISO.'j-ll. lieutenant-governor of New York 1811-13, and being opposed to the 
war of 1812-1.5, was the peace candidate for the Presidency in 1812, He was governor ot 
the State of New York 1817-22 and 1824-27. 

By his wisdom, sagacity, and public spirit, De Witt Clinton did more than any other 
citizen to promote the growth, pro.sperity, and good name of the city and State ot New 
York. He was active and efficient in every good work, whether municipiU, benevolent, 
literary, philosophical and scientific, moral and educational. He was one of the found- 
ers of the American Academy of Fine Arts, of the New York Historical .Society, of the 
public-school system of New York State and city, and was one of the powerful supporters 
of the canal policy of the State from its inception. Ho did more than any other man, 
privately and officially, in the face of fierce oi)]>osition and implacable ridicule, to push 
forward to completion the great Erie Canal, which gave a new birth, as it were, to the 
commercial metropolis of the nation. And yet, while the public parks and squares of 
New York are displaying statues of distinguished Americans and Europeans, no person 
ha.s yet (midsummer of 1883) proposed the erection in the Central Park, or elsewhere, 
of a statue of De Witt Cucton. the brilliant swtesman. the profound scholar, ond the 
munificent benefactor of the commercial metropolis of the nation ! 



80 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

came in a vessel of their own. She was a small craft. They landed in 
New York, and sold their vessel for $700. Like Cortez, who when he 
landed with his followers in Mexico burned tiie ships that brought 
them thither, they came to stay. 

This was the lii"st Scandinavian emigration to our shores, save the 
Swedes who came in the seventeenth century, and there was none other 
until 1836. In the latter year Bjorn Andersen, father of the Nor- 
wegian scholar R. B. Andersen, who was a Quaker, came to New York 
with two shi])loads of coreligionists, who fled from mild persecutions 
in Norway. They proceeded to the Western States. This was the 
beginning of the ever-increasing stream of emigration from Scandinavia 
to Western and North-Western States and Territories of the Eepublic — 
]\[ichigan, Wisconsin, Ilhnois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Dakota— where 
they now number more than 1,500,000 pei-sons. 



CHAPTER II. 



rpilE now social elements whicii had been gradually infused into ■ 
J- life of the city of Xew York for many years previous to tiie cc 



the 
com- 
l»letion of the Erie Canal were much more conspicuously displayed 
immediately after that event, in an energetic and daring spirit of busi- 
ness enterprise. 

That spirit had for its solid basis and wise regulation and restraint 
the conservative elements of the old order of things— the Knickerbocker 
Age, as it has been called— the time when the Dutch spii-it of Ijroad 
charity, thrift, economy, hberal benevolence, and steadiness in all 
thing-s ])revailed. That life was characterized by the practise of the 
sterner viilues : equable lives, conunon-sense, indomital)le persever- 
ance in every undertaking, whether for personal benefit or for the 
))uljlic welfare ; contented industry, the cstalilishment of institutions 
of religion, benevolence, science, art, and literature ; in solid intel- 
K'ctual cultivation, and in (juict dignity, courtliness, and refinement of 
manners on all occasions. 

'• Knickerbocker frugality," says a late writer, •' was a blessing to 
sucli of the present generation who can trace their genealogv on Man- 
hattan Island for a centiuy, while those whose titles date back onlv 
fifty or si.xty yeai-s possess millions of substantial reasons to be thank- 
ful. They have not toiled, neithei- have they spun ; yet while tliev 
have slumbered in idle comfort their inherited acres have changed to 
city lots, and city lots, no matter how situated, represent dollai-s and 
jH'oduce income." * 

The Knickerbocker's Sabbath symbolized in a degree the conspicuous 
characteristics of Knickerbocker life : steady, conservative, dispassion- 
ate, orderly, and devotional. 

The Knickerbockei-s regarded the Sabbath as truly the Lord's Day — 
a day to be devoted spcx-ially to the service of God, and not to temporal 
pleasures and enjoyments — entertainments and mere recreation. In 

* Dayton's " Last Days of Knickerbocker Life in New York." 



83 HISTORY OF XEW Y01!K CITY. 

household affairs as little labor as possible was performed. As a rule, 
the meals on Sunday were cold collations of the baked meats of Satur- 
day, and so the servants were allowed to rest. Attendance upon jiublic 
worship was general and punctual. Three times a tlay were seen staid 
processions in tiie streets of men, women, and children going to or 
returning from ])laces of divine worehip. Friends, when they met, gave 
only a nod of recognition. Few vehicles were seen in the streets, for 
omnil)uses and street-cai-s were then unknown, and coaches were seldom 
out on Sundays. Every precaution was taken to jjrevent disturbance 
of woi-siiippei's l>y noises in the streets. So agreed was public opinion 
on the subject of the hohness of the Sabbath and the necessity for [\a 
religions observance, that the few gay ,young men who disregarded it 
and took rides into the country beyond ilurray Hill and Bloomingdale 
rather shyly avoided the more public thoroughfares. These sinners 
were often the subject of earnest intercession at evening prayers. 

In some churches the methods were as inflexible as cast-iron. There 
were no instrmuents of music heard ; the singing was inharmonious ; 
tlie opening prayers were as long as sermons, and the sermons, were 
rigidly doctrinal, ])rotracted, and tedious. 

The Middle Dutch Eeformed Church (late the city Post-Office) was 
one of the oldest and most noted of the places of pubhc worship on 
Maniiattan Island. Its interior arrangements were in strong contrast 
witli the church edifices of to-day. The i)ulpit was very spacious, 
occupying the space l)etween the two entrance dooi-s to the church. It 
was readied by a Hight of carpeted stall's on each side of nearly a dozen 
steps, witii mahogany balustrades. Over the pulpit was suspended a 
sounding-board to send the voice of the preacher in full force to his 
hearers. Upon the jiulpit was a square cushion of velvet for the Bible 
to rest on, with heavy silk tassels at each corner. The pews, with 
sti-aight, liigh backs and narrow seats, forbade all lounging, or even real 
comfort ; they seemed to have been contrived for doing penance. 

On each side of tlie pulpit in special pews sat the six eldei-s and six 
deacons, in a position to bring the whole congregation under their in- 
spection. "These twelve men," A^Tote a regular attendant on the 
service there sixty years ago, " seemed to the youthful and irrehgious 
portion of the congregation the incarnation of cold, relentless piety, 
deserted of every human frailty. . . . "When one rose, they all 
stood up ; \vlien f)ne sat down, thej'^ all followed suit, as if acted upon 
simultaneously by an electric wire. Their black dress-coats seemed to 
have been made by one tailor ; their white neekciotiis cut from one 
piece of cambric, washed, ironed, and folded by the same laundress ; 



Kiiisr nKfAhK. is:!(» is4(i. 83 

the bow-knots, even, seemed tn Imve lieeii adjusted hy tlie siiine 
Iiimd." * 

Wlien the sermon hef^an tlie twenty-four eyes of tlic dozen eklei-s and 
<h>acons were fixed on the minister, and tlie yomiger portion fif tlie 
eonf,nei,'ation feh a relief, foi- irre^^ularities would not be seen by these 
devout woi-shii»|)ei's while the sermon lasted. •' They sat as motionless 
as statues," sjiys Dayton. "The terroi-s of the bottondess ])it pro- 
elainied by the uneoinproniising I'lownlee ; the beatitude of the blest 
hopefully dwelt on by the gentle Knox ; the pressing invitations U> 
repentance heralded in j)owerful tones by the more youthful and 
impulsive Dc Witt, were alike unavailing to produce the slightest 
variation in the stereotyped countenances of these twelve leading 
dignitaries of the Middle Dutch Church." 

There was no organ. In the space under the jiulpit stocMl the clioiis- 
ter with a tuning-fork, who pitched the tune and led the congregation 
in singing, sometimes twelve stanzas with the Doxology. In that 
ca])acity chorister Earl served the church many years. 

Xow, how changed ! The architecture of the church edifices, the 
sennons, the music, and the Sunday demeanor of deacons and elders 
and other subordinate adjuncts of the diurch service have been ti-ans- 
fonned. As a rule the sennons are short moral essays on the beauty of 
holiness, tlie hjve of God and man, and exhortations to lie more and 
more Christlike in daily life. Dayton may have drawn the contrast 
with a rather free ])en when he wrote ten yeai-s ago : '' Smiling dei'gy- 
nien delight their listenei-s ; smart, dajiper eldei-s and deacons, with 
beaming countenances, ga}' neckties, and jewelled shirt-fronts, are the 
admiration of the young. No chorister and tuning-fork, but instead 
a charming prima donna, sustained by a tenor and basso of ackncjwl- 
edged ojieratic reputation, is hidden from ])ublic gaze by the rich 
curtains of the fugan-loft. Avhere she warbles with excjuisite skill the 
choicest solos of modern art. while tlie new school reclines on velvet 
cushions, so enchanted by the perfonnance that were it not for some 
vague, misty a.ssociations connected with the day and jilace, it would 
be acknowledged by the clapping of jewelled hands and a fior.d 
trilmte." 

Then the psiilms and hymns were so clearly enunciatetl in church 
singing that no listener was puzzled ; now some church choii-s so 
mutHe the words in i)ronunciati(m that no listener can follow tliem in- 
telligently without a book. Was not the e.\as])erated hearer justified 

* Dnyton's " Last Days of Kniektrbocker Lite in Now ^ork." 



84 HISTORY OF NEW VOHK CI IV 

wlien, after trying in vain to folloAv the words so disguised, wrote on 
the fly-leaf of a psahn-book : 

" If old King David shonlil, lor once, 
To this good house repair, 
And hear his psalms thus warbled forth. 
Good gracious ! how he'd swear." 

The Puritanic Sabbath, with all its oi-der and solemn gravity and its 
rigid observances, has also been transfoi-med. To a large jjortion of 
the inhabitants of the metropolis to-day the interior of a cluirch is a 
less familiar jilace than the theatre or concert-room. 

Knickerbocker life was like its Sabbaths : steady, orderly, calm, 
real, devoted to a purpose, and always mark-ed by unswerving observ- 
ance of all ethical requirements. It \vas distinguished by plodding, un- 
tiring industry, accompanied by generous thrift, which always secured 
a comj)etence for the time of old age. Speculating schemes were sel- 
dom conceived or undertaken. Their tastes were sensible, their desires 
were moderate, and their wants were comparatively lew ; and society 
was not made feverish by rivalries in the stracture of mansions or in 
equi]iages and entertainments. The ladies were modestly attired, 
often in rich stuffs, but plainly made up. Indeed, there were not deft 
fingers enoiigh then to have met a tithe of the I'equirements of fashion 
in dress in our generation, for the sewing-machine was not yet. in- 
vented. Only the tiny needle wielded by ex|)ert fingers performed the 
labor on every garment. 

Knickei'bocker life was marked by the best features of genuine iiospi- 
tality, heartfelt, unostentatious, and informal. Hospitality so adminis- 
tered to-day would be regarded as ])arsimonious, if not stingy and 
selfish. While it was on occasion far-reaching, the chief sphere of its 
operations was the circle of relations by blood or marriage. Its princi- 
pal power and Ijeneficence was generated in the home, where the wife 
and mother reigned as queen. In those days homes — genuine homes — 
abounded. Frugality was the; rule, extravagance the exce}ition. 
Frugality was the sceptre that ruled all hospitality, and order, cleanli- 
ness, abundance, and good taste distinguished all entertainments. 
Parental authority \vas sujireine in all things, and filial love and obedi- 
ence everywhere abounded. Overflowing social pleasures were tem- 
pered I)y wise moderation. 

The tables of the Ivnickerljockers were very simple in the variety of 
their viands, but prodigal in (piantity. Generally there was a bountiful 
repast of meats or poultrv, <jr botii. with vegetables. These constituted 



I'-lltST I)KlAl>E, 1K;10-1S1U. H5 

one coiii'sc, and wt-rc t'Dllowcd liy pics, iniddiiifrs, tarts, wine, and I'niit 
— a|)|)les, nuts, and raisins. All of tlii'st' viands wciv in-cpaii'd under 
the direct su|)ervisi<>n uf tiic mistress of the liousehold, for she was too 
well instructed in cookinjj;; niattei's and tiHj jealous uf the good name <jf 
iier cookery to dele/^^ate this Imsiness to hirelings. 

The finest furniture then in general use, in kind and ([Uantity, would 
now lie called mean. There were, of couise, exceptions. The parhji-s 
and drawing-rooms were furnished with stitF, high-ljacked, and ponder- 
ous mahogan)' chairs, upholstered with siiining hair-cloth coverings and 
standing at mea.sured distances along the walls of the I'cctangular 
rooms. There were rocking-cliaii-s of the sjime pattern ; also sofas of 
the same materials, with rounded seats and hard rolls at each end. which 
were dignified with the name of pillows— |)illows of stone ; a high 
mahogany "secretary," with a bookcase with glazed doois standing 
upon it ; a pier-tahle for tlie family Hihle. a commentary, and a psdm- 
and hymn-book ; a jiier (and possibly a mantel) miri-or : a modest 
chandelier for the use of wax or sperm candles (for illuminating gas had 
not yet set the city in a blaze of artificial light);* a heavy and spacious 
mahogany sidel)oai'd, well furnished with dum])y decanters filled with 
^ladeira wine, Santa Cruz mm, and cordials, of which the favorite 
was called " perfect love." These were flankeil by liaskets of dough- 
nuts and crullei-s, fi-ee to all, and svmlMjIizcd the univei-sal hospitality. 
"I went to housekeeping in 1X2'>," raid the venerable John W. I)e- 
grauw, an t)ct()genarian merchant, to the writer, "and tlie lai-gest item 
of our expense in furnishing the building was for a sideboard and an 
elegant collection of cut-gla.s.s to ])Ut on it." A spindle-legged ])iano- 
forte (nearly all /i>rft'), perhaps the most extravagant piece of furni- 
ture in the room, nearly coni])leted the outfit. The windows were 
veiled with green Venetian, inside blinds, and modest curtains, while 
on the walls hung family portraits, a " Sitmpler" from the skilled fingei-s 
of a loving feminine friend or relative, and in the houses of the moi-e 
wealthy one or more fine jiaintings, generally cojjies from the works of 
the old masters ; also a few choice engravings. 

* Illiiminiitinf! gas was first permanently introduced into \e\v York in I82.'j. Its intro- 
duction bad been iinsueccssfnlly attempted in 1S12. The New York Gnu Light Company 
was incorporated in 1823, willi a capital of Sl.OOO.OnO The extent, of its privileges was 
limited to the city below Canal and Grand stroefs. Pipes were first laid nnder Broad- 
way from the Battery to Canal Street. Prejudices had to be encountered, and for several 
years the progress of lighting the city by gas was slow. In IHM) the Manhattan fias 
Light Comjiany was incor)'onited. with a capital of ^500,000, for the purpose of lighting 
the upper part of the city. The method soon became popular. Today almost tho 
entire island has a network of gas-pipes lieneath its surface. 



80 HI^TOUY Ol'- NEW YOHK CITY. 

The fireplaces in tliese houses were bordered by slabs of variegated 
Italian marble, the shelves supporting high silver candlesticks with 
snuffers and tray, and china vases on pedestals filled with artificial 
flowei-s, and sometimes with natural grasses. 

Most of the better class of dwellings were elegantly finislied with 
solid mahogany doors and wainscoted with oak or other woods. The 
ceihngs wore high, the rooms spacious, and even the country-seats that 
dr)tted tiie island here and there were beautifully laid out with well-cul- 
tivated gardens and lawns. A fine house on Broadway could then be 
rented for eight hundred dollars. 

In these houses there ;vas solid ilomestic enjoyment. Great oak or 
hickory logs bm-ned on huge brass andirons in the spacious fireplaces, 
filling the rooms A\ntli a soft and soothing ruddy glow, for anthracite 
Avas not in common use, and few persons indulged in the luxury of 
Liverpool coal. Hundreds of s1oo]k and schoonei'S from Hudson Eiver 
towns and from Connecticut and Long Island, laden with fuel, filled the 
slips in autumn in the North and East rivers, and those who could 
afford it would buy a sloop-load of oak or hickory wood in the fall and 
have it sawed and jjiled in the cellar for the winter. 

It was the habit of many families to have the servant man saw and 
pile the wood, and to give him as a perquisite the proceeds of the sales 
of the ashes, then a considei'able sum. This privilege sometimes quick- 
ened the ambition and cupidity of servants, and impelleil them to make 
ashes faster than a prudent housekeeper would permit. The eminent 
merchant, Stephen B. Munn (who died in ISSO), used to tell the story 
of this propensity in an old negro servant of his. Munn had put into 
his cellar a cargo of fine hickory wood. He was aroused one night by 
a fearful roaring in tlie kitchen chimney. He rushed to the kitchen, 
where he found the old negro fast asleep before a blazing ]iile of wood. 
On demanding what this meant, the dazed old man, suddenly aroused 
from slumber, said, " I— I— Pse maldng ashes, to be sure, master.'' 

The domestic anmsc^ments of the Knickerbockers were simple and 
pleasant. In the sunnner tea-ymrties and quilting-parties, and in winter 
" a]>ple cuts," were the staple domestic amusements of the young peo- 
ple. Assemblies or balls, or " publics," as they were called, held at 
early houi-s, and the theatre and circus constituted their most exjiensive 
anmsements. At their home-parties the chief refreshments offered 
were ajjples, nuts, doughnuts, cider, and mulled wine. 

These simple and lienltlifnl homes— healthful for mind and body- 
liave passed away. 

Some of the solid old furniture vet remains with families of Knicker- 



KIKST DKr.MiE, 1h;jo ls4i) 87 

h(K'k(>r tlcsccnt, Imt it is ^I'licrally I'oncc'jilcd fniiii view in ;rai-rt'ts or 
stori-nxHiis. Its ]>rcsfiKf in tin- cxtnivaffanlly lurnislird aiiai-tnicnts of 
to-tlay would l»i* an unniistakal)le indication that tUere liad been a 
fuiiiili/ \r,\v\i of it. 

Till' iiarrioi-s wliich fi;uarded these homes of more than lialf a century 
afjo iiave lieen broken <hnvn by those twin enemies of domestic happi- 
ness, hixury and pride, and to-chiy few a(hdt jtei-sons in the city of New 
York are hving in mansions wherein tiiey were born. Society lias be- 
come restless and migratory, and eveiT member .seems to be ini|iclled to 
motion by a pei'sistent voice like that forever heard behind the " W.ni- 
dei'ing Jew" — Go on I 

The modest, miostentatious, and true lioine of sixty yeai-s ago lias 
given place to stmctures aiul interior decorations and furnishings wliich 
rival the creations of Aladdin with his wonderful lamp. The fashion- 
alile tpiartei's of the city now present long lines of real palaces — lines of 
marvellous specimens of skilled lalior and artistic taste, without and 
within. Are these stmctures and their furnishings hoimx in the .sense 
of the best meaning of that precious word '. How many families who 
now occupy these palaces — these temples of luxury — will lie their occu- 
pants even at that period in the near future when the resounding liell 
of Time shall toll tlie knell of the departing nineteenth century '. Of 
many residents of the city who were boys in its streets fifty yeai-s ago, 
it might be truthfully recorded : 

" The city, -he snith, is fairer fnr 

Than one which stood of old ; 
It gleams in the light all crimson bright 

With shifting glimmers of gold. 
Where be the homes my fathers Imilt, 

The horjses where they prayed ? 
I see in no sod the ])aths they trod. 

Nor the stones my fathers laid. 
On the domes they spread, the roofs they reared. 

Has passed the levelling tide ; 
My fathers lie low, and their sons outgrow 

The bounds of their skill and pride." 

The chief, indeed the only elegant promenade for the citizens in the 
KnickerlKicker days was the Battery, an irregiilar (in outline) piece of 
level ground fifteen or twenty acres in extent at the foot of Broadway 
and facing the harbor of New York. It was shaded with trees, trav- 
ei-scd liy ii'regular gravelled walks, and beautified by more ii-regular 
plots of gra.s.s. It was furnished with benches along the sea-front and 
oecasionallv in other ] tarts of the groinid ; and there, late on suimnpr 



88 IIISTOKV OF NEW yOKf\ CITY. 

afternoons and early evenings, might always be seen crowds of well- 
dresseil people and flocks of happy children, enjoying social intercourse 
and invigorating sea-breezes on sultry days. It wds a fashionable resort 
and a genuine luxury for all. 

State Street, which skirted the land side of the Battery, the vicinity 
of the Bowling Green and Marketiield and lower Greenwich streets, 
from all of which glimpses of the harbor might be obtained, were the 
chosen places of residence of some of the wealthier and fashionable 
citizens. Mr. Edgar, a famous dry -goods auctioneer sixty years ago, 
built a house on Greenwich Street, a few doors from Battery Place, 
wliicli was admireil b}' all people of taste ; and next to it Luman 
Reed, an extensive wholesale grocer and a great patron of the fine arts, 
erected a splendid mansion adjoining Edgar's. It was filled with fine 
paintings and other works of art. No. 1 Broadway (demohshed in 
1882), a spacious mansion clustered with historic associations of the 
period of the Revolution, was the residence of Edward Prime, of the 
great banking-house of Prime, "Ward & King. Next to it had been the 
residence of Robert Fulton. Stejihen Whitney, a wholesale grocer, 
who at his death left an estate worth several million dollai-s, occupied 
one of a row of spacious brick houses fronting the Bowling Green fifty 
yeare ago. Whitney's was on the corner of State Street. At the other 
end of the row, corner of Whitehall Street, lived John Hone, of the 
great dry-goods auction house of Philip and John Hone. They had 
amassed a fortune and dissolved partnership in 1826, when Philip had 
built a fine mansion on Broadway, near Park Place, and was then, or 
just before, mayor of the city. The whole neighborhood of the Bowl- 
ing (Treen was occupied by some of the wealthiest and most enterprising 
business men in the city. 

On State Street were the fine residences of leading business men of 
the day. No. 6 was the dwelling of Mr. Howland (Ilowland & Aspin- 
wall). Next to it was the house of a son of Bishop Moore. Near the 
corner of State and Bridge streets Washington Irving lived, and at 29 
Whitehall Street was the dwelling of James K. Paulding, a large 
d(nible frame house. At 1 3 State Street was the residence of General 
Jacob Morton, the chief commander of the city militia, and directly in 
front of his house, on the; Battery, was the Hollow — a little shallow 
j)on(l in winter whereon the boys skated, and which was a dry, grassy 
playground in summer. 

General ilorton always reviewed the city troops — the '' Tompkins 
Blues," the " Pulaski Cadets," and others — on the Battery. Indeed 
that little irregular park was a favorite rendezvous for the military on 



FIHST DKlADi;. 18aU-1840. M> 

'• trainin": days" until the AVasliiiifititn I'ai-:i(lc-(;i'i)Uii(l (now Wasliiiig- 
ton S(iuare) was ostaljlislunl. WIrmi (u-niTal Moitun hrcanie too IVrblo 
to mount liis hoi-se lie reviewed tlie troops from his balcony, and on 
these occasions received from them the compliment of a marching 
salute. 

On State Street, near Pearl, in the later days of Knickerltocker life in 
Kew York, was a modest two-storied house, the inn of Peter Bayard, 
himself a pure Knickerbocker of Huguenot descent. For many yeai-s 
it was the popular resort of well-to-do people of the town and country, 
who were always sure of finding there most unexceptional)le turtle-.soup 
and othei- gastronomic delicacies. The house was always full, fcjr tran- 
sient sojourners in New York from distant cities well knew the house 
of Peter P>ayard. 

Castle Clinton (now known as Castle CJarden) stoo<l near the western 
end of the Battery, and was rcjiched hy a bridge. It has undergone 
many transformations, while the Battery has been enlai'ged and is now 
known as Battery Park. At its eastern extremity is a station of an 
elevated railway, a contrivance for rapid transition from one ]iart of 
the city to anotlier which the Knickerbockei-s never dreamed of. These 
will be considered hereafter. 

In the later ilays of Knickerbocker life in Xew York. Broadway, 
fi-om the Battery to Prince Street, was the fashionable street prom- 
enade. Few strolled above Canal Street, for it was then on the north- 
ern border of the business domain. 

Broadway was then a modest, ([uiet lane compared with the great 
bustling and crowded business thoroughfare of to-tlay. "Where now 
commercial buildings from six to ten stories in height rise in splendor 
and grandeur, and are seen miles away, into what was then the green 
and wooded country towanl Bloomingdale, plain brick (and many 
wooden) buiUUngs, the loftiest three stories high, were seen. These 
were not only places for merchandise and traffic. l)ut largely for dwell- 
ings, Tor in those days it was the almost univei'sal practice for the fami- 
lies of merchants to occupy the apartments above the stores, and to 
board the few clerks. These buildings were ornamented only with 
green blinds, and the front door of entrance to the family apartments 
•was garnished with -a huge and shining brass knocker and door-plate. 
The tinkling door-bell was yet an undiscovered luxury. 

Below Park Place were clustered the fa.shionable retail stores of the 
city, distinguished f(jr style and high ]>rices. Among these the more 
elderly reatler will remember the famous furnishing store of Clark it 
Saxton. where only the fashionable young man could be sure of being 



90 HISTORY OF XEW YOHK CITY. 

equipped in an irreproacluible manner with minor articles of his toilet, 
after being clothed in exquisite style at the establishment of Tryon, 
Wheeler & Derby, booted l)y the manufactures of Kimball & Rogere, 
and crowned with a St. John hat. 

Costume in the latter days of Knickerbocker life in New York, say 
fifty yeai-s ago, was so strictly conventional as to modes and color-s that 
any departure from the prescriptions of fashion was regarded ahnost as 
a transgression of the laws of taste. In this matter the inexorable 
tyrant fashion i-uled supreme. 

Black was the prevailing color for men, whether in the counting- 
room, the parlor, or the church ; at dinner, at the theatre, or at a ball. 
In the street the heads of men were covered with heavy, high, bell- 
crowned hats of real fur (the light, shining plush silk hat was then 
unknown), long-napped and abundant. Tlieir necks were encircled 
with broad satin stocks, which tightly inclosed high standing sharp 
linen collars that seemed to support the head by the ears, and were 
jiointed like the cutwater of a steamboat. They wore short-waisted, 
long and narrow-skirted black frock-coats, with high coUars and tight 
sleeves ; black ]«intaloons, skin-tight, the legs kept in place by stra])s 
beneath the boots ; and boots, high-heeled, narrow and ]iointed toes, 
and made so tight that only by the free use of hooks and soaj) could 
they be drawn on. Black kid gloves, and among the extremely fash- 
ionable young men known as " dandies" a small black cane. com])leted 
the co.stume. 

The women were a little less restricted as to color, liut in form wei-e 
no less slaves to the dressmaker and the milliner. They appeared in 
the streets witii a hideous-a])i)earing bonnet with high crown, in sha])e 
not unlike a coal-scuttle, and often trimmed with huge bunches of arti- 
ficial Ho\vei"s, sometimes with a full-blown peony. From their shoul- 
ders depended loose cloaks or shawls whicli effectually hid all charm of 
figure, and under these, plain untrimmed skirts reaching only to the 
anldes. Below the skirts apjieared spotless white hose and black slip- 
pei-s, kept in ])iace l)y black silk strings wound around the ankles. 
Their heads were canojiied with a spacious ]iarasol of silk deeply 
fringed, and with a ponderous carved ivory handle. From their arms 
dejiended bags of richly colored silk embroidei'ed with manv-lnuHl 
beads. In their hands tliey carried a pocket-handkerchief trimmed 
with lace and daintily held at the middle by the forefinger and 
thumli, so that its wliole dimensions and quality might bo seen, for uj)()n 
these M'as often estimated the pecuniary standing of the family. In 
winter their necks were encircled with serpentine rolls of fur called a 




Knc'tTOcif F>ri 



^ '^a-^t^.y^-^-o^C^^i'^-r^^. 



FIKST DKCAUK. IHW IH-JO. 91 

" lioa," witli tlio Idiij; on<ls il;m<;linf;' in frf)nt ; in summer its comple- 
ment was a l<»n<>; tliin scarf. 

InthKHN tlie liclles i)f tliat day appeareil in ratlii-r lnw-necked dresses, 
sometimes fashioned over tlie liust in tlie form of a hodice, still" as steel 
and wlialeljoiie could make it, witii an elastic, steel or hickory " corset- 
l)oai'd."' (ieiierally there was a liroad waist-belt, fastened witli a large 
and sometimes highly ornamented huckle. The sleeves were very 
large, full, and |)ufl'ed above the ell)ows into a ])attern styled " nmtton- 
Icg," which gave undue breadtli to the shouldei's and the a|>i)earance of 
small sjjan to the waist. The " mutton-leg," it is siiid. was intro- 
duced by an English duchess to conceal an enormous wen r>n one of her 
arms. I'elow the elbow the sleeves were very tight. The skirt, as in 
the walking-dress, was short and comiMjsed of ample matei-ials. Flow- 
ing over the shouldei-s was a broad and elaborately wi-ought collar of 
cambric muslin and tine needlework, and the hair was arranged in 
many " putl's" surmounted by a hunch of artificial tlowei-s or a tiny 
lace cap. Around the neck was coiled a massive gold chain, having a 
pendant of sufficient length to secure a gold watch, whjch was slipped 
into the waist-belt. 

In those days Contoit's Garden, on the west side of Broadway, be- 
tween Leonard and Frardvlin streets, was a fashionable resort for all 
reputable citizens of both sexes, young and old. on summer afternoons 
and evenings. The garden was comprised in a long naiTow lot densely 
shaded with trees— so densely that the rays of the sun could i-arel}-- 
enter. It presented a cool retreat on sultry afternoons anil evenings, 
where the most delicious ice-cream in ample dishes and ice-cold lemon- 
ade with |)ound-cake, served by ver\' black waiters wearing very white 
aprons, might be had for a moderate sum of money. It was dindy 
lighted at evening by tiny tapers swimming in sperm oil in hanging 
gla.ss globes, appearing but little brighter than so many fire-Hies on a 
June evening. On each side of the garden were stalls jiainted white 
and green, with a narrow table in the middle of each and furnished 
with seats for four — if ))acked, for six. Contoit's was r<'garded by piai- 
dent parents as an eminently ]iroper resort for young people as well as 
eldei-s to have refreshments, for no liquor v;as sohl there, and there 
were never any naughty scenes enacted there. 

It was at about this time, or perhaps a few yeare earlier, that the 
families of the wealthier and more aristocratic citizens were pushed out 
of Hroadway by the pressure of encroaching business, and ff)und more 
(|uiet residences away from the turmoil of trade and the din of vehicles 
on the cobble-stones. Cedar and Libertv. John and Fulton streets had 



92 HlSTOiiY OF NEW YUHK CITV. 

been given up almost wliolly to Inisiness ; yet in all of these some fam- 
ilies—scions of tiie old ]\niekerbockei- race — still i-eniained, even then 
clinging to homes in AVall Street. The dwellings in Cortlandt, Yesey, 
and Dey streets were rai)idly becoming boarding-houses, while in Park 
Place, Murray, Wan-en, and Chambers streets many members of the 
oldest families occupied fine residences, such as the Crugers, Pauldings, 
Lees, Eayards, De Peystere, Aliens, Clintons, Van Cortlandts, Lau- 
renses, Peekmans, Puanes, and others — men who had assisted in laying 
tire broad foundations of the amazing jirosperity of the city of New 
York since that time. 

Sonre of these men removed farther away from the business j^orlions 
of the city and built fine residences on Leonard, Franklin, and White 
streets, also on St. John's Park, in front of St. John's Chapel. White 
Street was the most direct way from Broadway to the chapel, and very 
soon elegant brick dwelling-houses were built on it. It was for many 
j'eai-s the fashionable part of the cit\'. 

On White Street, near Broadway, lived Francis De]mn, the owner of 
a line of Havre packets, whose wife was Silvie, one of the daughters of 
Count de Grasse. They had a family of most lieautifid daughters. 
One of these manned Washington Coster. She was pronounced " the 
most beautiful girl that ever trod Broadway." 

Hotel and boai'ding-house life for families was almost unknown fifty 
or sixty yeare ago. A family who, from choice and without pressing 
necessity, took up their jiermanent abode in a hotel or boarding-house 
lost caste ; and those who were comjielled to d<^ so by circumstances 
Avere objects of pity and commiseration. The consequence was that the 
few hotels in the city at that time depended for su]iport on tnmsient 
visitors and unmanned men. 

The grandest inn and the most noted boarding-house at that time 
were the Cit}^ Hotel, which occupied the entire front between Cedar 
and Thames streets, and the boarding-house of i\Iiss INLargaret Mann, 
]io]iularly known as " Aunt ]\Iargaret," at (il Broadway. Her house, 
in size and accommodations, might have been called an inn. There from 
time to time distinguished persons found comfortable tem])orary homes. 
Among these were John Sinclair, the famous Scotch vocalist (father of 
]\rrs. Edwin Foi'rest), at his firet appearance at the Park Theatre in the 
fall of 1S3L There, too, Tyrone Power, the inimitable Irish come- 
dian, was a " guest" for a time, when he fii-st appeared in America, in 
the summer of 1833. " Aunt Margaret" will be rememl>ered by some 
of the older citizens as a driving business woman, masculine in appear- 
ance and mannei"s, thick-set and stout, but nimble of foot and more 



I'lltsr KKCADK, ls;i() IHIO. 'X^ 

niiiililo i)f tongiii' wlion it Wiis IodsctumI by pi-ovoc-atiitti. liiit iiiiilcr 
lior roujrli oxtcrioi- was ooncoalcd as kindly a li(?ai't as cvpi- tlirohlxMl in 
till' hrcast of woman, and tliosc wUd l.new licr Ijest resjM'ctwl licr 
niitst. 

Tiic City Hotel was a ])lain liricic sli-uctuif four storios in lici-rlit. and 
pioired in front l)y nearly forty wii\dows. It was tlic most noted hotel 
in tiio I'nion, and magnates from everywhere visitine; the city found 
an agreeable honu' there. It was almost without adornment, inside and 
outside. Tight inside shutters at the windows cxeluded light and air, 
the furnitui'e was jjlain but sul)stantial, and the taiile was always a 
model of cleanliness and alnmdance. While Jenningrs and AVillard 
were its proprietoi-s the City Hotel was the theatre of ]nil>lic l)an(|uets, 
receptions of distinguished jjci-sons, the fashionable lendezvous of 
dancers at balls or assemblies, an<l conceits ; indeed it was a focal 
point of i)ul)lic entertainments outside the theatres. 

DanciTig was indulged in to a very moderate extent in the later days 
of Knickerlxx'ker life in Xew York. It was discountenanced by the 
Church, was considered almost improjjer.by fastidious ])eo))le, and plain 
cotillons and even the more exacting Spanish dance were ivgarded by 
the gayer ])eople as too tame to bo very attractive. 

At that time John Charaud was the great " dancing-master" in the 
city, and taught the art to uiany of the elderly men and women of 
to-day who were natives of Xew York. lie used the ladies' dining- 
room of the City Hotel for giving instructions in dancing, and there, 
with its eminently resjiectable surroundings, he gave '* puiilics," or 
gjitherings of the parents of boys and girls who were his pupils, at 
stated times, to witness the scientilic movements of their childivn. 
Charaud used this room until ho built his famous ball-room in "White 
Street, between Church and Chapel streets. He lived until he was 
about foui-score and ten, and danced until the last. He had lived to 
see the best jiopulation of the town flee before rapacious business, miles 
to the noilhwai'd and yet within tho thronging city, and his famous 
ball-room Ijocame a dog-pit, where tho dregs of society herded. 

The ladies' dining-room of tho City Hotel was hired for concert \n\v- 
|H)ses by foreign artists who came to Xew York. A little later than 
the time wo are considering, IltMiiy Kussell, an English vocalist, sang 
in that room, and there he first introduced to the public (ieneral 
^lorris's famous song, *' "Woodman, Spare that Tree." 

Rus.sell, though regarded by educated miLsicians and musical critics 
as an inferior artist, became quite a "lion" in Xew York. He and 
the author of " "Woodman, Spare that Tree," often met in social circles. 



B4 HISTOKV OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

It is related that on one ol' these occasions, when Captain Marryat, the 
eminent Enghsii novehst, was of the company, Russell was invited to 
sing the poi)ulai" song. As he was singing the closing stanza, Marryat 
ap])roached the piano and laid before the vocalist the following para- 
phrase of the fii'st stanza, written in pencil : 

" Lady, give me tea, 

And I will make a bow ; 
In youth it pleased me, 

And I do love it now. 
'Twas luy old mother's hand 

That poured it from the pot ; 
Pray, lady, let it stand, 

For it is too d— d hot !" 

Eussell sang the paraphrase amid great merriment, in which the 
author heartily joined. 



CHAT'l'KIJ III. 

THE metbcHls in the conduct of funerals in the Knickor))ocker era 
were peculiar. The religious ceremonies were usually poifonned 
at the home of the deceased, where, after they were ende<l, li(juoi"s were 
disjiensed to the whole company in attendance. Those who for want 
of room were compelled to remain outside the house, were served hy 
colored waiteis with towels on their arms, and bearing filled dccantei-s 
with glasses on a sidver. These li(|Uors were generally cordials, which 
exhilarated iiut did not intoxicate. 

The graveyards were usually not far from the dwellings, and instead 
of employing a heai-se the coffin was carrieil on a bier, on tiie siioulders 
of four men. while the pall-beai'crs walked alongside and held the black 
tassels of the ])all. Each of these ])all-bearei's. as well as the minister 
an<l the physician, was furnished with a fine white linen scarf having 
sufficient material to make a shirt. This fashion of furnishini,'- scarfs 
became an arbitrary custom, which often bore heavily upon the 
i-esouix-es of families in moderate circumstances, ilanv worthy peojile 
were sorely pinched to provide this a])parently necessjiry mark of 
respect foi* deceased relatives. 

At length mend)ers of the old Tontine Association — tlie most re- 
spectal)le society in the city — resolved to relieve the comnumity of this 
bunlen. Some prominent member called a meeting at the old Tontine 
Cotfee-IIouse, in Wall Street, to discuss the subject. Xetirly two 
hundred jjci-sons were present — men of weight in social infiuence — and 
the.se all signed a pledge that they would abstain from the cu.stom of 
supplying scarfs at funerals, except to the clergvman and attending 
physician. Their action was immediately felt in a rajiid decline of the 
custom, and a ha]i]n' relief of the community from a grievf>us burden to 
many. 

Restiiunmts (tlien called " enting-houses") were idiiio.-;! unknown 
even in the later days of Knickerbocker life in New York. They 
were among the earlier indications of " foreign influence" in the .social 
system of the city, which has transformed home diners at noon into 
absentees fiiim the mid-dav meal. At the tables of these "eating- 



96 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY, 

houses" a curious collection of men, young and old, might be seen. 
The spruce merchant's clerk, neatlj' attired, sat silently by the side of 
a drayman in coai-se blouse or a begrimed street laborer in overalls. 

For a long time these -places were shunned by the conservative and 
home-loving Knickerbockei's as ATilgar ; and so thej'^ Avere. !No re- 
spectable woman was ever seen entering their dooi-s. She would faint 
with hunger before she would risk the social stigma. Even so late as 
1835, when James Thompson opened a " saloon" at 117 Broadway for 
tiie sale of cakes and other delicacies for the special accommodation of 
ladies out a-shopping, and presented delicious temptations in his 
windows, shop])ers were seldom beguiled into the attractive room, 
altiiough the sisters of the proprietor, middle-agod women, were in 
atteiulance. Society said it was not ])ro]3er ; but society, like an 
individual, changes its o])inions. Thompson, after patient Avaiting in 
faith and after preparing a palace, richly decorated, up Broadway, near 
wlieie Contoit flourished, found society yielding.' The tahon was 
graduallj^ removed. Society said ladies and gentlemen, and even ladies 
alone, might with ]3ropriety enter and partake of good things offered. 
Knickerbocker fastidiousness and shrinking modesty gave way. 

After a while, wlien families left apartments over stores and moved 
up town, dining-i'ooms for gentlemen became popular. Among the 
earlier of these was that of Clarke & Brown, near the junction of 
Maiden I>ane and Liberty Street. It became a daily resort for mer- 
chants and ]irofessional men. For a long time it was visited almost 
exclusively hy Plnglishmen, who there found their favorite rare roast 
beef, steaks bai-eiy warmed through., plum-puddings, and " Burton's 
stock ale," though lirewed by Mr. Vassar at Poughkeepsie or at Phila- 
delphia. The Knickerl)ockers did not take kindly to this fare. They 
were accustomed to tlioroughly cooked food, and did not like the crim- 
son juice as a substitute for gravy. But after a \vhile Knickerliocker 
))rejudice gave way ; Knickerbocker taste changed, and the dining- 
rooms of Clarke (fc IJrown became a cosmo])olitan resort for hungry 
men. 

Meanwhile a thoroughly American restaurant, which was dignified 
with the name of the Auction Hotel, was opened in Water Street, near 
Wall Street. It derived its title from its proximity to the great auc- 
tion rooms of Ilaggeity & Sons, Wilmerding & Co., and other famous 
auctioneei-s. The ]>roprietor had been a merchant, failed in business, 
opened this restaurant, and was very prosperous. One day he invited 
all liis creditors to a bountiful rei)ast. The table was spread in an 
upper private room. In tlie napkins placed before each guest was 



FIRST DKCADK. 1830 1840. 97 

found a sealed onveli)]io, whic li when opened was found to contain a 
clieok for the principal and interest of tlieir resi>ective claims. This 
honest act l)rouglit to the propi-ietor tiie substantial reward of vastly 
increased business, and lie died a ricli man. 

At about this time a colored man named Downing became famous 
among lovei-s of oy.stei-s — and wlio is not a lover of oysters ? — because 
of his i-.irc skill in jn-eparing tiiem for the table. Downing's " oyster 
cellar" consisted of the basement of two small buildings in Broad 
Street, near Wall Street. It became the favorite it'sort of meichants, 
bankeis, brokei-s, lawyei-s, and politicians — a .sort of social exchange. 
Downing llonrislied, was called '" Pi'incc Saddleback," accumulated a 
fortune, and at a riiw old age left tiic establishment and its *' gtxul 
xyill " to his son, George T. 

Another famous restaurant-keeper was Edward Windust. who occu- 
pied a basement (jn Park Row, near the old Park Tlicatre. It was a 
favorite resort of theatrical and literary peo])le of every degree. Be- 
tween tiie plays at tlic Park it was always crowded with jolly fellows. 
The walls were adorned with (|uaint and curious remini.scences of the 
dmma: musty oUl theatre bills, a piece of some ancient wardrolie, a 
fi-aino with a lock of Shakesjieare's hair, a sword used on the stage by 
Gan-ick, on a shelf a rare volume of plays and other antiquated arti- 
cles familiar to jtlayei-s. It was an actor's museum. 

At Windust's half a century ago, or even within a generation, 
actors and literary magnates met nightly in social intercoui-se. There 
might have been seen, fifty or more years ago. Cooper. Edmund Kean. 
Junius Brutus Booth (father of Edwin Booth). T. G. Ilamblin, the 
Wallacks (Henry and James), Henry Placide, Simpson, the manager of 
the Park ; " Old Barnes," and a score of lesser tlieatricnl lights, with 
leading men in the realm of literature and art in the city at that time. 

Windust became inch, and with riches came undue ambition. He 
left his famous basement in Park Kow and opened the Atlienneum 
IIot(>l. on the comer of Broadway and Leonanl Street, where his beau- 
tiful daughtei-s and nieces might Iiave been seen flitting through the 
halls and uj) the staircases. AYindust had entered watei"s too deep 
for him, in trying to keep a hotel. The Athenanim was .soon closed. 
He went back to his basement, but its jire.stige had departed never to 
return. 

These were the principal restaurant-keepers in New York half a cen- 
tury ago, and were participants in the S()cial transformation to which 
allusion has been made. 

Another fr>;itn'-(" of tills snciid t rniisfonnation in X(>w "^'oi-k ai)peare<l 



98 HISTOKV OF NEW VOHK CITY. 

more than fifty yeai-s ago, when Delmoiiico and Guerin established 
cafes — a purely European innovation. They were the pioneers in the 
business in New York. They began on a small scale. Delmonico's 
establishment was in a small store on WiUiam Street, opposite the 
North Dutch Church. It contained a half-dozen jMne tables, and 
wooden chaii-s to match, and on a board counter covered with snow- 
white napkins was i-anged the scanty assortment of delicacies to be 
served. He had earthenware cups and saucers, two-tined forks and 
knives with buck-bone hantUes, common " blown"' glassware, and a 
large tin coffee-pot. His tiny biU of fare contained the mysterious 
words now so common — "filets," "cafe," " chocolat," "macaroni," 
" i)etit verne," and other French names. These were served by Del- 
monico in pei-son, who was chstinguished by a white paper cap and 
apron. Ilis courteous manner and his novelties soon attracted the 
young Knickerbockers, who acknowledged his cookery to be superior 
to any known in the city. But these 3'ouths made their visits at in- 
tervals, generally indulging in the pleasures of the cafe on a Saturday 
afternoon, when two or tlu'ee would agree to meet there, but in a 
secret ^vay, for it seemed to them as almost forbidden ground. 

The customei-s of Delmonico gradually increased until his little shop 
became too small for their acconmiodation, and he removed to Hanover 
Square, wliere, in the great conflagration, his continually growing 
estabhshmont was licked up by the rapacious flames and disappeared in 
smoke. Phoenix-like, it arose from the ashes rejuvenated, and on tiie 
corner of William and Beaver streets he built a spacious restaurant, 
where he and his brothers, with their sons and nephews, accumulated 
fortunes. "Delmonico's" to-day is the most extensive, magnificent, 
and expensive cafe on this continent. 

Delmonico's rival at first was Francis Guerin, a Frenchman, wlio 
opened a cafe on Ih-oadway, opposite the City Hotel. His shoji- window 
was a most inviting temptation to the palate. There was pastry of all 
kinds, French confectionery in handsome boxes, bottles of cordials, 
and all kinds of fruit in their season. Inside, on a long table, were dis- 
played tarts and confections in abundance. Sandwiclies, sardines, and 
the sweet things just mentioned were the sta))lo offerings of tiie estab- 
lisiiment to its cu.stomers. It was never a real cafe, thougli a little 
coffee and chocolate were furnished in a small room at the rear of the 
store ; and there, in summer, ice-cream might be procured. It was 
never entered by ladies, and it finally degenerated into a cosmopolitan 
drinking-saloon. As such it became very popular, and (nierin soon 
made a fortune. 




^ / 




FIRST PKCADE. 1880-1840. 99 

Di'liiKHiico WHS a gciu'itjus. I'litcrprising Italian, who startcil on a 
fixed plan, and adlieivd to it; a sound, inti'lligout man. wiio aimed to 
pliMse l)otli the eve and i)alate. and hved U> liiitl liis fame cstahhslied 
all over the United States, and even in EiirojJe. (iiierin was a penuri- 
ous Kivnehman. without pei-sonal ambition, who aecuumlated an im- 
mense estate, hut left no iword of how he lived or how he died. 

It was at near the close of the lvnitkerl)ocker era in New York that 
the convenient oninihus was lirst introduced into the city hy a shrewd 
Connecticut man (Humphrey I'hclps), who afterward became quite an 
extensive map imblislier in the metropolis. He was the driver of his 
own vehicle. The hint was instantly acted upon, and when the sys- 
tem was fairly inaugurated thoi-e were three rival lines, and Plu'ljis left 
the field to his coni])etitois. Before the advent of these vehicles citizens 
who could not afford to own a coach (lepcnded on their own natural 
jiowei-s of l(Kn)motion. 

The Hist omniinis aijpeai-ed in 1830. It traversed Broadway, from 
the Bowling (4reen to Bleccker Street. In stormy weatlier, or when 
there was a lady among the jiassengci-s, the obliging driver would go 
as far as the Kip mansion, on the site of the New York Hotel. 

The omnibuses were few in number. They were finely decf)i-ated, 
and bore the names of distinguished American citizi'iis emblazoned 
on their sides. There was the " Lady Washington," the " Lady 
Clinton." the "George "Wa.shington," the " De "Witt Clinton," the 
" Benjamin Fmnklin." the " Thomas Jeffei-son," etc. These vehicles 
were drawn by four matched horses. 

The rival lines of stages were owned respectively by Abraham 
Brower, Evan Jones, and — Colvill. Brower's "stables" were mere 
sheds, on Broadway, opposite Bond Street ; Jones's were on White 
Street, and Colvill's on Grand Street, just ea,st of Broadway. The 
fares (one shilling each) wei-e collected by a small boy who stood on 
the step at the entrance to the omnibus. 

Very soon a fourth line of omnii)usos was established by Asji Hall, a 
hatter on Dey Street, which started from the comer of Pine and Nas- 
sau streets, went up Broadway to Canal Street, thence to Hudson 
Street, and by the green fields and g:\rdens until it reached the village 
of Greenwich, the tenninus of the route being diresent) Charles Street. 
The fare was twenty-five cents each. This afterward famous " Green- 
Avich Line" of stages Hall sold to two enterjirising young men. Messrs. 
Kip and Brown. They made money rapidly. Kip became the soul of 
enterprise and good dee<ls in Greenwicli Village. The business of the 
rout" was finally i-uined by the building of the Eighth Avenue Rail- 



ICO IIISTUKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

road. Kip lost his fortune largely in litigation with the huge monopoh', 
and ilied jjoor. 

In those days the livery business was so risky that its acconinioda- 
tions were lew. If a gentleman desired to take a lady on a ride out of 
town, and did not possess a carriage of his own, he was compelled to 
search the city for a nice one, and give a day or two's notice in order to 
secure it. 

Society, so called, near the close of the Knickerbocker era in New 
York, was not subdivided as now. Business was open, straightforward, 
truthful, and sincere. Men made fortunes by industry and thrift, and 
kept them by the exercise of prudence and sounil judgment. They did 
not, as a rule, retire from business to live an idle life, imless compelled 
to do so by old age or sickness. There seemed to be no royal road to 
wealth or distinction. Tlie road to these acquisitions was the old 
i)eaten track, and pursued by men of every degree. Fortunes were not 
made and lost in a day. Gambling in stocks was unknown. Credit 
\vas based more upon jiei-sonal character than upon estates. 

There were few overshadowing fortunes in those days. Eich men 
(then so esteemed) did not, as a rule, possess more of an estate in value 
than the sums now annually spent by many men in meeting the 
expenses of their respective princely habitations. Every man who paid 
his debts j)unctually, thrived by frugality, and rigidly conformed to tlie 
requii-eraents of social ethics, was thorougldy respected by all classes, 
whether he was a professional man, a merchant, or an artisan, for it 
M^as the pi-evailing sentiment in society that 

" Worth makes the man, the want of it the fellow." 

Dinner and evening parties were not frequent, even among the rich, 
and stated reception days or evenings were not known, for calls or 
visits were acts of genuine friendship, and not of mere cei'emony, as 
now. There was always a warm welcome for aU. proper visitoi"s, and 
the recipient of guests was not "put out" 1)V an unceremonious 
call. 

On particular occasions, like that of a wedding, cards of invitation 
were sent out ; outside experts were employed, and much ceremony, 
as in the olden time, was observed. About 1830 a colored man named 
Jackson, who lived in Howard Street, was the renowned caterer on 
such occasions. He was the final um]iii"e in all cases, excepting when a 
juiy of old ladies, who.se youth had been spent in the last century, de- 
cided otherwise. He was pomixjus and fussy, and was seen at all the 



FIUST DEr.VDi:. lH:iO-1840. 101 

great wedding- paitics. Tho wedding-cake in tliose days was almost 
invariably made \>y good Katie Ferguson, a eoloi'ed woman in Wan-en 
Street, wlio organized the lii-st Sunday-scliool in tiie city of New V(jrk. 
Tlie cake was made at tlie home of tiie hride, anil Katie was sent for 
from all (juartei's to su])erintend its com])ositi(jn. 

At tlie wedding feast everything bore tiie features of solidity, though 
dainty delicacies were not wanting. Abundance wiis a consjiicuous 
feature. Hams, chickens, turkeys, sometimes game, home-made |)re- 
.serves, i)randy-j.)eaches, nuts, lady-ai)j)les, oranges, grapes, and raisins 
were seen in high ciiina di.shes. A towering form of ice-cream from 
Contoit's graced tlie table and gave promise to the palate of delicious 
enjoyment. C'iianipagne was seldom used, l)ut port, sheiry, and 
Madeira always enlivened the marriage-supper. Wherever in the room 
a silver candlestick could be placed, wa.\ candles added theii' soft, mel- 
low liglit to that of astral lamps. 

Social evening gatherings were preceded in' invitations " to tea'' or 
"to spend the evening." In either ciLse it was undei"stood that the 
guests were to afipear as eai'iy a.s seven o'clock, and I'etire not later 
than ten o'clock. To " spend tlie evening" implied engaging in 
simple social enjoyment, untrammelled by coilventional rules. Their 
enjoyment consisted in dancing, singing, a (]uiet game of whist l)y the 
eldei"s, and '• plays," such as " button, button, who's got the button ?" 
" hunt the slii)])er," "pawns," etc., by the young people. Only the 
modest cotillon and sometimes the ancient minuet were allowed, for 
New York had not yet consented to let its sons and dauglitei-s engage 
in the round dances or the excitiuir waltz. Refreshments were handed 
round by waiters. 

At *' tea" everything was informal. The mistress of the household 
presided at the table. The family silver, china, and cut-glass ware 
were displayed, and there was a bountiful provision of shortcake, bis- 
cuits, preserves, dried beef, sweet-cake, and tea and coffee. At these 
evening gatherings of friends, the majority of the company were of the 
gentler sex. 

Pubhc " balls" or •' assemblies" at the Apollo It(X)ms, in Broadway 
near Canal Street, though conducted with great jiropriety, were 
regarded as indelicate if not vulgar by the staid Knickerbockeis, and it 
was not until balls, disguised under the name of " reunions," conducted 
by the reigning jirince of dancei-s, Charaud, were held at the City 
Hotel that Knickerbocker fastidiousness consented to give free i-ein to 
the inclination of the young jieople in tiiat direction. Charaud had 
tauffht their mothei-s and even srrand mot hers the art of dancing, and 



103 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

he. as floor manager, stamped these " i-eunions" with the seal of pro- 
]iriety. 

The (h'ama, presenting the great mjisters in literatm-e and the histri- 
onic art, was always a fascinating and instructive amusement ; but the 
theatre was not generally ])opukir among thoughtful Knickerbockers, 
because of its shortcomings in intellect and morals, until tlie judicious 
manao-ement of the Park Theatre, by Price and Simjison. overcame all 
serious objections. More and more frequently Knickerbocker families 
of influence (excepting church -members) were seen in the dress-circle at 
the Park, and it was admitted that the playhouse so conducted was 
highly reputable. 

The Park Theatre was built in 179S. It was destroyed by fire and 
rebuilt in 1S21, and its auditorium was so extensive that twenty-five 
iiundred ^jcreons might be comfortably seated in it. The scenery was 
mostly ])ainted by the skilful hand of John Evei-s, one of the founders 
of tiie National Academy of the Arts of Design, yet (18S3) living at 
Hempstead, L. I. Its interior decorations were attractive, but its 
front, on Park Row, was so ])lain that it might have been mistaken for 
an old-fashioned ilethodist meeting-house, had not a wooden statue of 
Shakespeare, standing oVer the main entrance, proclaimed it a temple 
of the histrionic muse. 

The entrances to the Park Theatre were narrow and dark, the utter 
blackness being subdued by the feeble light of oil lamps. The lobbies 
were dingy and dirty, and as plain as the mason and carpenter could 
make them. The auditorium consisted of three tiers of seats and the 
])it. now styled the jiarquet. In the former were settees, with backs 
covered with dark maroon. The ]>it, wholly occupied by men and bo\'s, 
was entered by a subterranean passage. The benches were with- 
out cushions, with barely enough room between them for persons to 
crowd by. 

Such was the " finest playhouse in America'' luilf a century ago. 
Between 1821 and 1830 eminent actors (chiefly English) trod its boards 
— Matthews, Cooper, Cook, Edmund Kean, Macready. Junius Brutus 
Booth, the excellent ^Mi-s. AViieatley, and several young aspirants for 
Thcs])ian fame who afterwai'd became bright luminaries in the theatrical 
firm.iment. It was at the Park Theatre, on the evening of November 
12, 1S26, that tiie beautiful domestic drama entitled Chiri, the Maid of 
Milan, written by our countryman, John Howard Payne, was first 
performed in America. It was operatic in style, and contained that- 
]iatiietic song, *' Home, Sweet Home," which gave the author immor- 
tality in the world's literature. The music of the play was written by 



(•lUST I)K( ADE, ISIiO 1840. 103 

Sir Henry IJisliup, wlm loniiMiscd a lai-gi: |Mirli(iii nf tin- music for 
Modio's Irisii iiK'liMlics. tin; air l«'inj^ suggi'sted hy I'ayiio iiiiiisolf.''' 

Xe;ir the cicjso ol" the KiiiL'lveil)()ficc'r ei"<i tiie Italian <)|K"ra was 
lii-st inti'udnt'i'd into New Vdi-Ic Iiy Sifrnor ^fanuel (iarcia. an eminent 
tenor from Italy. He and his troupe were l)i'ou<j^ht t(j tiiis eountiy hy 
Dominiek Lynch, a wealtiiy New York wine-merchant. This novel 
IHM-formanee — ^novel to most Americans — began at the Park Theatre 
on the 2'.ith of November, 1Sl>.".. and was given two nights in each 
week as an ex|KM"iinent. Tiie opera wa.s Rossini's Barber of Serilh'. 
The leader of the oreliestm was I)e Leon. 'There were seven violins, 
two tenoi-s, two basses, three violoncellos, two flutes, two clarinets, 
two horns, two trumpets, one bassoon, and one kettledrum. The cast 
was as follows : 

CovNT .\LMA^^^^ Signor Garcia Florello Signor Crevilli 

Doctor Bartolo Signor Rosich Fioabo Signor Garcia. Jr. 

Basiuo Signor Angriiiani ' Rosina Signorini Garcia 

Basta Signora Garcia 

The house was thronged in every i)art with the most brilliant assem- 
blage ever seen in an American theatre. The receipts were §2980. 
The next morning one of the city news]iapei"s contained the following 
remai'ks : 

" The re])eated plaudits with which the theatre rung were unequivo- 
cal, unaffected bui-sts of rapture. The signorini [Garcia's daughter] 
seems to us a being of a new creation. . . . The best compliment 

* The history of this song is interesting. At abont 1822 or 1823 Charles Kemhle, then 
the manager of Covent Garden Theatre. London, engaged Payne, then in Paris, to write 
a i>Iay for him. He translated the play of AmjioMta. It was accepted by Kenible. Imt at 
that juncture it was brought out at a rival theatre. Thereupon Payne slightly altered 
the plot, introduced several songs and duets into the piece, and transformed it into an 
oi)era under the title of Clnri, the Maiil nf Milan. The song of " Home, Sweet Home' 
was introduced in the second act, and was sung with great pathos by a sister of Ellen 
Tree (afterward Mrs. Charles Kean) as Clari. the heroine of the play. The opera, first 
produced in Hay, 1823, was a wonderful success. Payne had written to Bisbnp from 
Paris before the opera was produced that he had not " time to polish the songs," but 
thought " ' Home. Sweet Home,' as a refrain, would come in nicely." When the song 
was published one hundred thousand copies were at once disposeil of. and the profits of 
the publishers two years afterward, it is said, amounted to $10,000. In these profits 
Payne did not share. 

.John Howard Payne was born in the city of New York, at No. 'S'.i Broad Street, ni ar the 
corner of Pearl Street, on .June 9, 17'.)1. He wns a precocious youth, and inclined toward 
the stage. His father tried to prevent his pursuing this inclination, but failed. He 
began his dramatic career when he was only sixteen years of age. He first appeared at 
the Park Theatre, He went to England, where he obtained the title of the " American 



J04: HISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

lliat ciin 1)(> paid to the company was tlie unbroken attention that was 
yielded tln'ouglunit the enth-e ]?erfoi'raance, except that it was now and 
then interrupted by judiciously bestowed marks of applause, which were 
simultaneously given from all parts of the house." 

The singing of Signorini Garcia produced a new sensation in the 
city. She pei'formed at the Bowery Theatre (then just opened) the 
next year, when she received $10,000 for seventeen nights' perform- 
ance. But the excitement in the pubhc mind was only temporary. 
The attendance feU off, and at the end of two years the troupe aban- 
doned tiie enterprise and returned to Europe. In 1832 Dunlap wrote : 

" We doul)t not but those patriots [citizens who had been active in 
procuring the presence of the troupe] who introduced the Italian o])era 
into America will be iramortahzed in the history of the march of mind." 

Garcia's was a florid style of singing. His voice Avas exquisite, and 
he gave unl)ounded ])leasure. Angrisani's bass was deemed almost 
miraculous. It was unequalled in depth and sweetness. 

Garcia's daughter, Signorini Maria Felicite, was a marvellous 
singer. Her voice was what the Italians call a contralto. In person 
she was about the middle height, plump, eyes dark and expressive, and 
a sweet smile was almost constantly upon her lips and in her eyes. In 
March, 1826, while at the height of her brilliant career, she married 
Eugene Malibran, an aged and wealthy French merchant of New 
York, and expected to retire from the stage. In this matter she had 
yielded her own inclinations to the will and commands of her father. 
The brilliant vision of wealth that dazzled the eyes of Garcia were iUu- 
sor^'. Misfortune overtook Malibran. He became a bankrupt, and she 
was compelled to resume her profession for her own support. She 
sang in old Grace Church, on the corner of Broadway and Thames 
Street, on Sundays. Eai'ly in 1S27 she appeared at the Bowery Theatre, 
and in October of the same year she bade farewell to the American 
stage as the Princess of Navarre in John of Paris. In November .she 

Eosciiis." He was cortlially greeted in Paris by the great tragedian Talma. For nearly 
twenty years he jjnrsueil a career of varied siiccess as actor, playwright, and manager, 
and returned to the United States in 1832. In 1841 he was appointed American Consul 
at Tunis, where he died April 9, 1852. At the suggestion and at the expense of W. W. 
Corcoran, of Washington, his remains were brought to the United States, and received 
with public honors at his native city, on March 22, 1883. Tlience they were conveyed to 
Washington and interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, District of Columbia. Tho 
tombstone, of white Italian marble, which was originally placed at tho head of his grave 
in a cemetery at Tunis, bearing the erroneous inscription, " He died at the .Vmerican 
Consulate, in this city [Tnni.s], April 1, 1852. He was born in the city of Boston, State 
of Massachusetts, June the 8th, 1792," was also set up at the place of his new interment. 



FIHST HKCADF;, 1830 1840. 106 

sailed for Europe. s;inf; with jiiciit ;ii»|)l.iusc in I.ondfin ami Paris, ami 
fioin tliat time ivmaiiu'<l tin- unrivalled (Juih'U of Sung. As Madanu? 
Maliliraii slic filled all luirojie with hef aihnii'crs. She had priK'ured a 
divorce i'roni her hushaiul s<«ju after her leturn to Euro]ie. and liestowcd 
her hand upon the man of her choiee, De l?enot, the celebrated vocal- 
ist ; but she ever afterward retaine<l the name of Malibrau |irofession- 
sdly. She died of a nervous fever at Manchester, England, when she 
was only twenty-eight years of age.* Her generosity was unbounded. 
A gr(>ater ]>art of her enormous earnings were lavished on her relatives 
and various objects of charity. 

The favorite ilrives into the country for sporting charactei"s and 
fashionable young men half a century ago was to Burnham's, on the 
Hudson River side of the city, and to Cato's, on the East River side. 
To those citizens who indulged in long walks, a stroll out to Corporal 
Thompson's cottage, which stood on the site of the Fifth Avenue 
Hotel, was a favorite resort. There the young men returning from the 
more distant points of a drive usually stopped and enjoyed rollicking 
fun, sometimes until late in the evening, when they were compelled to 
gi'ope their way slowly along the dark road that led into the city. 

Thompson's was a diminutive tavern. It was a cottage built by Mr. 
^fildei-berger, a leather-merchant in Yandewater Street, for a country 
residence. He had bought several acres of ground near the junction of 
Broadway and Fifth Avenue for the pur])osc. He afterward built 
himself a fine lirick mansion on the south-west corner of Fifth Avenue 
and Twenty-third Street, and rented the cottage toTliompson. When 
the streets about !\ra(lison Scpiare were graded, Corporal Thompson's 
little yellow tavern remained standing upon a bank several feet above 
the general level, as long as possible. 

Cato's was the special favorite resort of young <haractei"s now known 
as '' fast" young men. His place was not far fi-om tiie old Beekman 
mansion, near Turtle Bay, on the East River. It was in a shaded 
huie running east from Third Avenue (then a famous trotting road), 
about three fourths of a mile to the Ea.st River, near the lofty shot- 
tower. Cato was l)lack — very black. He had been a slave. Inter- 
course with white people and his natural bent made him a gentleman, 
and he was greatly respected by all who came in contact with him. He 
kept the choicest licjuoi-s and cigars, and his barroom au<l small sitting- 
room adjoining were models of neatness. Cato sold real cigare " five 
for a .shilling." and \mvo bnindy " si.\|)ence a glass." He was always 

• See "Records of '1i'> Vo"- York Stage," by Joseph X. Ireland. 



106 HIS'IORY 01' NEW YOliK CITY. 

jiolite, kiiul-hearted, and obliging — too obliging sometimes for liis 
own interest, for some of his " fast " custoraere, scions of wealthy 
families, borrowed considerable suras of money of him, and forgot to 
refund. 

The Hazard House, on Yorkville Hill, through which the railway 
tunnel was jiierced many yeai-s ago, was another famous sto))ping-i)lace 
in the rural regions of Manhattan Island fifty or sixty yeare ago ; but 
a place more famous than all, and near the northern limit of the 
" drives," was the Red House, on the verge of Harlem Plains. It had 
been the mansion of . the McGowan family. It was reached by a 
shaded lane at about One Hundredth Street, running westward from 
Third xV venue (the fii-st cut through to Harlem Eiver). 

The Red House was a spacious residence suri-ounded by several acres 
of grountl, in which was a well-kept half-mile trotting-coui-se. It was 
a place of great resort for the owners of fast trotting hoi-ses. There 
might have been seen, almost anj'' fine da}^ a peculiar person well 
known in the city about fifty years ago. It was Henry Carroll Marx, 
of Hebrew descent. He was a man of much intellectual force and fine 
accomplishments, but because of his peculiar st^de of dress antl deport- 
ment was styled " Dandy Marx," the representative of the New York 
" exquisite," who was generally accounted as lacking common-sense — 
a class Miiich passed away many years ago, but has been replaced in 
our day b}' a more silly class called '' dudes." 

Marx lived a bachelor, with his mother and sisters, at (573 Broadway. 
They possessed an ample fortune. Mr. Marx affected the European style 
in ever\'tliing — dress, equipage, and speech. He wore a cai-efully 
waxed mustache, such as was seen on the lip of the Emperor Kapoleon 
III. in after years, and this was an abomination to the Knicker- 
bockers. His style of dress was English in the extreme. His speech 
had the peculiar drawl of the London cockney, and his dogs and horses 
were of the liest blood. Marx was reticent, seldom mingled in social 
life in the city, dressed his servants in livery, had a variety of car 
riages of English styles, drove a splendid team of horses — sometimes 
four-in-hand, and was seldom accompanied by any one but his sister, 
who was a very expert hoi-sewoman. All the fasliionable tailore in the 
city were anxious to have their handiwork dis])layetl on the pereon of 
" Dandy Marx." 

]\Ir. Marx was not at all effeminate. Wiiatever he undertook he 
jiersisted in witli extraordinaiy perseverance. He joined a fire hose 
company. One night, while at an entertainment at Xi bio's, there was 
an alarm of fire. Marx rushed to the hose-house in patent-leather 



KlIiST DK ADK. IS '0 1840. 107 

l)(M)ts. wliito kid ^IdVcs, iiiid (Ii-cssimI mi \\\o cxticiiii' of fasliion. It liiul 
niiiu'tl licuvily. anil tlic streets weiv filled with mud. lie sei/.e<l tiie 
riipe.s, ran " with the niaehine" htmi Meix-er to liroatl Street, and 
worked as hard a.s any one in extinguishing thi' fire. His costunn? Wiia 
ruined, hut he had done his duty faitiifully. At tlie cost of thousiimLs 
of dollai-s he got up the famous Uu.ssiir regiment, one of the most 
attractive military corps in the city. To prepare himself for the com- 
mand he went to Canada, mixed with the cavalry corps then in the 
service of young Queen Victoria, studied their tactics for seveiiil months, 
and so .secured success. 

Wall Street, at the closing period of Knickerhoeker life in \ew ^'ork, 
was not the seething caldron of stock-gambling and the arena of 
financial IniU-Ijaiting and hear-tighting it is now. Although Wall 
Stieet in IS:'!! was a far-famed marl for hankers, lirokeis. underwritei-s, 
and stock-johbei-s, and the focal ])oint of commercial enterprise, where 
speculation of every kind was planned and executetl. and for five hours 
each day was a scene of hurry and hustle and anxiety nowhere else to 
he seen on the continent exhibited in such a degree, it was a (juiet, 
sober street ccnnjiared with "Wall Street since the Civil War. There a 
few ]irivate dwellings yet lingered, and several kinds of business beside 
monetary affaiis were carried on. 

Let us stand at the head of Wall Street, in front of Trinity Church, 
and take a glance at that famous thoroughfare from Broad Street 
toward the East River. On the right you see a neat white marble 
building, the front like a Grecian temple. That is the Pluenix Bank. 
The stately building of granite, with a towering dome utkI short sjiire, in 
the middle distance, is the ^lercluints" Exchange, completed in 1827. 
Hetween the Pha?nix Bank and William Street you see three brick 
buililings, thi-ee stories in height. They are occupied l)y the Manhat- 
tan Fire Insurance Company, Peter Mesier's spacious boolcstore (for 
the time), S. W. Benedict's watch and jewelry establishment, and the 
exchange edifice of R. L. Nevins. The families of Mesier, Benedict, 
and Nevins live in the a]iartments above. 

You see the large building on the next comer. There ilapes (fe 
Wal<h-on (the former the father of the late Professor JIai)es) had their 
establishment as merchant tailoi-s, hut it is now the office of the New 
York AriH'rii-iin Ailvocate ; and Ijetween that and the offices of the 
Sfaniltinl and Aincrirnn you see the offices of three fire-insurance com- 
panies. Next to the Exchange is a small confectiojiery slio]) ; and 
below the Exchange, on the corner of Hanover Street, are the offices of 
the Atlantic and other fire-in-;uranci> companies. .\t the foot of the 



108 HISTORY OF NKW YORK CITY. 

street, en(lin<( at the East Rivei', voii see the sliip])ing in Coffee-House 
Slip. 

On the left side of the street the Tontine Coffee-IIouse looms up, at 
the corner of Pearl Street, and as your eye passes westward you per- 
ceive bank buildings, insurance offices, and the place of business of the 
Morris Canal Company. But nearly all the banks and insm'ance com- 
panies then in the city could now be accommodated in one of the mod- 
ern edifices in New York. 

At that period, and even so early as when Ilalleck wi'ote of the 
father of his " Fanny," Wall Street seems to have had some features 
of its ethics to-day. The poet wrote : 

" For Rumor (she's a famous liar yet — 

'Tis wonderful how easy we believe her !) 
Had whispered he was rich, and all he met 

In Wall {Street nodded, smiled, and tipped the beaver ; 
All from Mr. Gelston, the collector, 
Down to the broker and the bank director. 

" A few brief years passed over, and his rank 

.\mong the worthies of that street was fix'd ; 
He had become director of a bank 

And six insurance offices, and mix'd 
Familiarly, as one among his peers, 
With grocers, dry-goods merchants, auctioneers, 

" Brokers of all grades — stock and pawn— and .Tews 

Of all religions, who, at noonday, form. 
On 'Change, th.it brotherhood my moral muse 

Delights in, when the heart is pure and warm, 
.\nd each exerts his intellectual force 
To cheat his neighbor — honestly, of course." 

At the period we are considering transactions in securities were few 
and insignificant, mainly for investment. " The greed for specula- 
tion," says ilr. Dayton, " had not tainted the plodding habits of busi- 
ness men, wrap])ed up as they were in their peculiar calling, satisfied 
with limited credit, and contented with moderate gains. The railway 
and mining mania was unborn. The stocks and mortgage bonds, 
which now form the sta]ile of the gigantic operations which daily, nay 
hourly, make and unmake scores of desperate sjieculators, were not in 
existence ; they had not ch-awn into the seething caldron of Wall 
Street wealth from every corner of the civilized globe. . . . Thou- 
sands of well-to-do men lived and died without ever puzzling their 
brains about the ups and downs of tlui stock hst. " 



CHAPTER IV. 

BKroRE t lie year ls:!(i Ni-w York liad ac(|iiirc(1 tin' tliaracti-r of 
' iR'iiig the k'adinjj^ city in the Ilopuhlic in all that constitutes 
desii"ii)le metropolitan life. Ilardie wrote in iSiiT : 

" The city of New York, from its ra])id growth, conmiercial chai-ac- 
ter, and unrivalled prosjjerity, has justly been called tiie London of 
America. JUit it is now high time to change the appellation. The 
extensive ])atronage extended to the liberal arts and works of taste, the 
unexamjiled increase of public anmsenients, with the conseciuent prog- 
ress of morals and refinement, hav(> at length rendered New York the 
Paris of America. Like that gay and splendid envporium of fashion 
and literature, Xew Yoi'k is constantly filled \vitli strangei's, who are 
drawn hither by the celebrity of our institutions, our commerce, opu- 
lence, and nniitiplied sources of rational pleasure. Our fame in these 
res|)ects has gone abroad to the remotest corners of the Western liemi- 
sphere, and is rapidly spi-eading through every part of Chi-istendom." * 

The staid inhabitants of New Yoik, especially the Knickerlioiker 
element, may not have considered every point of this view its compli- 
mentary to the city, yet it was un<loubtedly true. Soeietv in almost 
every feature was changing its tone and hue in many things, from 
causes already alluded to. Existing institutions — benev(jlent, charitable, 
scientific, literary, artistic, and religious— were feeling the electric thrill 
of new life, and in this inspiration commerce and manufactures, and all 
the varieil iTidustrial interests of the ra]>idly growing city, participated. 
Let us briefly consider the ]iublic institutions in the city of New Yoik 
which were in existence in the half decade before the year ls;^(). 

Those institutions which most largely minister to the physical well- 
being of society are regarded as most worthy earliest and gr.tteful 
i-ecognition. To provide for the wants of the jwor and destitute, who 
suffer most from misfoilunes. accidents, and diseases, is the prime object 
of a larger jiortion of the |)ublic benevolent institutions of the city. 

The hospital is the rich fruit of the teachings of Jesus the Christ. 

» " The Description of the City of New York." by Jumes Hardie, A.M., p. 339. 



HO HISTOHV OK m:\v VOUK CII'V. 

His great lesson of the Good Samaritan preligimMl the divine mission of 
tlie liospital. tlie intlucnce of wliich is jxTmeatini^' liumai^ society evorv- 
wliere. 

Tlie })agan nations looivcd witli contempt upon playsical wealcness, 
and made no provision for tiie care of the wounded, the sick, and the 
infirm. With the dawn of the new ei-a began the practical observance 
of the Golden Rule, and provision for the weary and Avorn first ap- 
])eared as places of refreshment foi" travellers. These finally Ijecanu" 
ti-ansformed into refuges for invaliils. 

At the period we are considering, the city of New York was 
provided with two hospitals (the (-^ity Hospital and the Bellevue Alms- 
house and Asylum) ; also a city dispensary, an asylum for the insane, 
an eye infirmary, a l^ang-in hospital, an. institution for the instruc- 
tion of the deaf and dumb, so called, and several minor charitable 
associations. These institutions — those fountains of untold blessings — 
are all in active operation now in the midst of scores of others engaged 
in the same holy cause. 

Thk Xkw York City Hosi'it.\l was the generous offspring of Jhe 
active brain and sympathetic heart of Dr. John Bard,* an eminent 
New York physician. At the first medical graduation at King's (now 
(]ohun])ia) College in the city of New York, in ilay, 1769, Dr. Bard 
delivered an address, in which he so ])athetically and earnestly set 
forth the necessity and utility of a pul)lic infirmary that Sir Henry 
Moore, then governoi- of the province, who was present, immediately 
started a subscription for that purpose, to which he and most of the 
gentlemen ]iresent liberally contributed. The sum of $o5(in was soon 
obtained, and the governoi- (who died the next autumn) warmly urged 
the Provincial Assembly to render the proposed institution liberal 
jiecuniary aid. The corjjoi'ation of the city soon afterward appro])ri- 
ated 815,552. Contributions were also received tVom London antl 

* John Bard, JI.D., an eminent physician, was born at Burlington, N. J., in February, 
1716. His family was of the Huguenot refugees who fled from persecution in France. 
His father was a privy councillor and judge in New Jersey. John was educated in Phil- 
adelphia, where he was a surgeon's apprentice seven years, and formed a lusting friend- 
ship with Dr. Franklin. Bard established himself as a physician in New York in 1746. 
and very soon took a front rank m the profession. In 1750 he assisted Dr. iliddleton iu 
the first recorded dissection of the human body in America. During a portion o'. the 
British occupation of New York he withdrew from the city, but returned after the Revo- 
lution. Bard was the first president of the New Y'ork Medical Society in 17S8. 'When, 
in 17!)5, yellow fever raged in New York, Bard, though eighty years of age, remained 
at his post. He gave up practice in 1798, and died at his country-seat at Hyde Park, 
Dutchess County, N. Y., in March, 1799. 



FIKSr DIH'ADE. 1h:J() 1K4U. IM 



otlior parts of Great P.i'itaiu, on tlic earnest solieitations of Drs. Fotlier- 
^\\\ and Sir William Dunean. 

The foilowin-,' year (ITTn) Di-s. Banl. MicUileton. ami Jones pet:- 
tinneil Lieuteniint-Govenior ('olden to grant a ehai-ter for a hospital. 
This was tlone the following year l>y Lord Diinniore, then governor of 
the ])rovinee. That charter, dated June i:i, 1771, heai-s tiie names (.f 
the mayor of New York, the recorder, aldermen and assistants, the 
rector of Trinity Church, one minister of each religious denomination 
in the city, the president of King's (now f'olundtia) College, and a 
numher of the most respectable citiy-ens as membei-s. They were 
incorporated with the title of 77i<' Soricfi/ of t/ie Ifoxpltnl in th, I'Uij 
of X>ir Yorl\ hi AiiK-n'rd. This title was altered l»y the Legislature, 
in :Xrarch, isin, to that of T/o- Sociitij of tlw Xiu' Yo,l IIosj,',hil* 

The charter limited the numher of govemoi-s to twenty -six. In 177-2 
the Legislature granted the institution an annuity of s:i(Mi(i for twenty 
veai-s, and the building was soon afterward begun on five acres of 
ground on the west side of Broadway, b-tween (present) Duane and 
"Worth streets, which the governors had purchased. The corner-stone 
was laid on July L'7, 177?>. Just as the building was completed, a tire 
accidentallv lighted laid the most of it in a.shes. That was in Feb- 
ruary, 177-"). It inflicted ujjon the society a loss of 817,r)(i(>. The 
Legislatui-e generously came to their relief, and gave the govornoi-s 
$lii,(t(H) toward repairing their loss. 

Another and more discouraging calamity now fell ujion the institii- 
ti<m. Th(> war for independence began, and filled the land with con- 
fusion. The rei)aii's of the building were nearly completed, when it 
was recpiired foi- the use of sick and wounded Continental soldiei-s. 
When the P.ritish t(M)k jiossession of the city, in 177«">, tiieir troops oc- 
cuj>ied it for the s;ime purpose, and wounded British and Hessian sol- 
diei"s tilled it. 

It was over four years after tiie I'>ritish foi'ces left the city, in 17^3, 
before the society were able to resume work on the buikling. The 
Legislature of the State of New York directed (March 1. 17SS) S2(iO<» 
annually to be given them for four yeai-s, but such was the dreailful 
state of aflfaiis in the city for several years after the war that the 
building was not ready to receive patients until 1701. 

In 1702 the Legislature granted the hos]iital ;S.")(i(in a year for five 
years. This act was sus])ended. in 17'.>.">. by anothei' granting ftln.iioo 

*Thc first liosiiitiil on Manhattan Island \vn.s rstablisbfd l>y tlio l)iit.-h. It lia<l tho 
capacity, it is said, of "fivo houses," and stood near the fort, at tho southern extremity 
iif the island Ii "iw il.mnHslipd aftrr tin- English look jiossession r>( tlio crvnntry. 



112 HISTORY 01' NEW YORK CITY. 

a year for five yeai-s. In 1795 an additional grant of $2500 a year 
was made, making the whole annual sum 612,500. 

The govenioi-s now aj)propr'iated the sum of §500 for the fountling of 
a medical library for the use of the hospital. To this generous dona- 
tions were made, and in 1S30 the library contained over six thousand 
volumes. The hospital contiiuially enjoyed the bounty of the State 
Legislature and of the citizens of Xew York. 

In the year 1S08 the first building ever devoted to tlie care of the 
insane in the State of New York was erected on the hospital grounds, 
and opened with sixty-seven patients. For the accommodation of the 
increasing number of such patients, a new asylum was established at 
Bloomingdale, a i-emote suburb of the city, in 1821. Then the old 
quartere were remodelled as a hospital for seamen, and called the 
" ilarine Building," and in 1825 it was devoted exclusively to their 
use. It was so occupied for a quarter of a century, Avhen it was 
demolished, and a more commodious ])uilding was erected on its site, 
and firet occupied by them in 1855. The Marine Building, which had 
been furnislied with wings, had also been remodelled, and was much 
inq)roved in 1850. 

At an early date in its history the hospital became known at home 
and abroad as an almost unrivalled school for teaching the practice of 
medicine and surgery. In his history of the institution, publlshefl in 
1856, Gulian C. Verplanck, who had served as one of its governors 
thirty-five years, said : '• The New York Hospital has now become the 
most extensive school of practice in the country." 

The annual grants of the State Legislature had been increased to the 
sum of $22,000. The term of this grant expired in 1855, and was not 
renewed, yet some aid was given to the hospital by the Legislature 
from time to time. Owing to various causes the institution became 
crippled with debt dui-ing the Civil War, notwithstanding the gov- 
ernors liad paid out of tiieir own ])ockets $72,000 to support its vitality. 
They were compelle(l to restrict the admission of charity patients. 
That service was supplemented, in a degree, by Belle\'ue, and by other 
institutions which had sprung up. 

An attempt was made to relieve tiie society of debt, but failed, and 
in 1868 it was resolved to lease the whole or a part of the Broadway 
lots. This proved to be a fortunate measure, for the property finally 
yielded an annual income of $150,000, which was allowed to accumu- 
late. The modest old imilding of gray stone, its green lawn shaded 
with stately elm trees, was demolished in 1869, and commercial estab- 
lishments soon occupied the space. 



KIUST DKCADK, 1H:!(»-1840. 113 

Resolved to ostulilisli a liospital within the city limits, the govcrnnrs 
purchased lots on West Fifteenth and Sixteentii streets in 1S74, and 
the next year the govoinois resumed charitahle work Ijy openinj; a 
House of IJelief on Chaiuhei-s Street, to which place the library was 
tiien reuioved. The new ijuilding was begun in the spring of IsT.'i, 
and was completed and formally openeil in March, 1S77. 

The hospital building is jirobatily the most luxurious and best 
e(|uip|ied in the world. It is seven stories in height, including the 
basement ; has a frontage on Fifteenth Street of one hundred and 
seventy-live feet, and a Mansjird roof ; extends through the block to 
Sixteentii Street, and is heated and ventilated scientilicaily. The 
front of the hospital faces the south, admitting the full light of the sun 
through its numerous and generous windows. Two steam elevators 
give ease to the internal travellei"s from basement to roof, and it has a 
ca|)acity of one hundred ami sixty-three beds, exclusive of the chil- 
dren's waitls. 

At the top of the building is a spacious hall, separated from the sky 
oidy by a translucent canopy of glass. This room is sixty-four feet in 
width, ninety feet in length, and of an average height of eighteen feet. 
There the convalescents may enjoy an invigorating sun-bath, in a 
temperature of summer heat or upward, at any season of the year. 
I'he room is fuinished with native and exotic shrubs and Howering 
])lants, little gurgling fountains, and curious acpiariums with salt and 
fresh water. In this Elysium the |)Oorest patient may enjoy luxuries 
seldom vouchsafed to the rich. 

Thenund)erof patients treated in the hospital during 1SS2 was 3i>8;3. 
The number treated in the House of Relief, or Chambers Street Hos- 
pital, tiie siune year, wa.s 1S28. The numi)er of out-])atients treated 
by the hospital staff was 4400, and the nund)er of visits was 25.71s. 
In the corresponding tiepai'tment iit the House of Relief the number of 
l)atients treated was 0(i.50. 

These statistics show the immense benefits bestowed upon the jioor 
anti unfortunate by the Xew York Hospital and its annex, the House 
of Relief in Chambei's Street. 

Tni-: ni,iMiMiN(;i)Ai.K Asymm ki>k tiii: Ixsaxk was opened lor the 
rece])tion of jiatients in June, IS-Jl. It was the result of a communica- 
tion to the governoi-s of the New York Hospital by Thomas K(\d\\ a 
well-known philanthropist, in April, ISl."), in which he set forth the 
advantages of monif trmimenf for the insane patients in that institu- 
tion, and proposing that a nundiei- of acres near the city shoulrl be 
]iurclia.sed and sui(abli- buildings be erected for I lie !ihii»ik4. The gov- 



114 lilSTOKV OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

emore acted promptly on the suggestion, and the Legislature of Xew 
York granted the hospital an additional sum of $10,f)(»0 a year until 
1857. The govei-nors first bought a little more than seven acres front- 
ing on the Bloomingdale Koacl (now One Hundred and Seventeenth 
Street, between Tentli and Eleventh avenues), seven miles north-west 
of the City Hall. It is on elevated ground, commanding beautiful and 
extensive views in every direction, and the buildings are about a 
fourth of a mile fi'om the Hudson River, which it overlooks. More 
gi'ound was jjurchased, and the domain now includes between forty and 
fifty acres. The farm is highl\' cultivated, cliiefly for the production 
of vegetables and hay, and also ornamental shrubboiy. It has many 
noble shade-trees. 

The corner-stone of the Bloomingdale Asylum was laid ^lay 7, 1818, 
and the main building was completed in 1821, after designs by Thomas 
C. Taylor. Extensive additions have since been made. 

The system of moral treatment of the insane has ever been pursued 
with great success in the Bloomingdale Asylum. The patients are 
arranged in classes according to the form which their mental ailments 
have assumed, whether mania, monomania, dementia, idiotism, or 
delirium a potu. Harsh treatment and all needless restraint are 
avoided, and even confinement to the rooms is seldom resorted to. 
Many patients are allowed to work on the farm or in the garden, are 
taken out to ride, and permitted to participate in social enjoyments. 
There is a library of several hundred volumes, an ample supply of 
magazines and newspapers, and the patients are diverted by lectures 
illustrated b}' the magic lantern, and other entertainments. 

The estate and all its interests are under the care of six of the gov- 
ernors. A warden and matron have charge of the household depart- 
ment. Xone but pay patients are admitted, unless by express direction 
of tlie board of governors. According to the annual report of the 
Bloomingdale Asylum for 1882, the whole number of patients admitted 
since the spring of 1821 was 7500 ; whole number discharged and died, 
7277 ; whole number recovered, 3121 ; whole number improved, 1869 ; 
whole number not improved, 1271 ; whole number died, 1008. The 
greatest average number in the institution during one year was 233 (in 
1882), and the greatest number of recoveries was 46 (in 1881). 

At this time (1883) the President of the board of governors of the 
hospital and Bloomingdale Asylum is William H. Macy ; vice-presi- 
dent, James M. Brown ; treasurer, George Cabot Ward ; and ;:eci-e- 
tary, David Colden Murray. 

Bellevue HosprrAL, the great pauper asylum of the city originally, 



FlUSr PKCADK. 18:i0 tni(i. 115 

owes its existence chiefly to tiie exertions of that eminent physician, 
Dr. David Uosuck. It is one of the noblest nioiuuiients of iiiiiiiiei|Kil 
l)en<>volence in tlie world. The story of its oi'igin inay he hrieHv told. 

In the year 1820 Dr. Ilosuck wa.s the resident pliysician of the 
Health Department of the city, and in that capacity he had been 
brought into contact with many of the sick poor, whose wretched con- 
dition excited his warmest sympathy and commiseration. He found 
several sick with typhus fever crowde<l in small, ill-ventilated apart- 
ments, and forming nui-series of infectious and contagious diseases. At 
his request an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Health was 
called, July '2~, 1820, to whom he made a statement of the condition 
of the p(M)r, and declared that humanity to the indigent as well as care 
for the health of the city imj)eratively i-equiretl that some provision 
should he made for the removal of the sick poor from their unhealthy 
dwellings to some airy and well-ventilated place. At a subsequent 
meeting a committee, of wliich Ilosick was one. was appointed to take 
into consideration the expediency of such an establisliment. and to 
ascertain where a ])roper site might be found. A majority of the com- 
mittee opposed the measure, the chief objection being the expense. 

Dr. Ilosack, deeply impressed with the necessity of such an institu- 
tion, pei-severed. In the ensuing autunm he addressed the students of 
the Medical Society, in the presence oi many citizens and members of 
the Board of Health, on the subject, urging the necessity of a fever 
hospital — a jilace where contagious fever ])aticnts might be receive<l and 
find benetit. The lectui-o was imblished. and much interest was excited 
in the public mind. But apathy succeeded, and it was not until yellow 
fever, like a malignant demon, ravaged the city in 1822 that the city 
authorities were induced to approve the founding of a fever hospital. 
Stephen Allen was then mayor. The Legislature was a|)])ealed to, and 
granted S2."),()0() for tlie ]iui'pose. A beautiful and salubrious site on 
the banks of the Ea.st River l>clonging to the city was .selected, and 
there a building one hundred and eighty feet long, fifty feet wide 
(excepting the centre, which is fifty-eight feet), and four stories in 
height, was com])leted in 1826. It was built of blue-stone, from a 
quarry on the premises. This building was dedicated with appio])riate 
ceremonies in Xovember, 1S2<5. It has since Iieen extended not only 
on the front, but in dejjth of wings, and is now three hundred and fifty 
feet in length. The grounds in front are laid out in beautiful lawns.* 



* David Ilosuck, JI.D., LL.D.. n .skilful and beneficent pbysiciun in New York nearly 
forty years, was bom in that city in Antfiist. ITllil. lie was a son of a Scotch artillery 



IIU IlISTOUY Ul' NKW VoHIv CITY. 

This institution was at lirst Imowii as the Bellerue Ahushoiise. In 
1848 tlie jjaupers were all transferred to Blatkwell's Islaml, and the 
whole spacious building was appropriated to the uses of a hospitid, 
with ample acconimodations for twelve hundred patients. It has eight 
liuudred beds. This hospital is a department of the City Almshouse, 
and is under the charge of the Commissioners of Pubhc Charities and 
Correction. Its support is derived from the city treasury. 

Bellevue Hospital now holds a front rank as a school for meilical and 
surgical instruction, and the nuinber in daUy attendance upon the 
clinical lectures, admitted free, Is very large. 

In 1866 two new features were added to BeUevue Hospital, namely: 
a bureau of medical and surgical relief for out-door poor, and a morgue, 
or a i-eceptacle for the unknown dead. Patients who are able to pay 
are admitted at the maximum charge of §3.50 a week. The cost of 
sustaining the institution is about $100,000 a year. 

Belle\Tie Hospital is not onty a blessing to the suffering poor, but an 
efficient agency for diffusing widely over the land sound and scientific 
medical and surgical knowledge. 

TuE New Yokk Crrv Dispexs.uiy was founded in 1791. At a lueet- 
mg of the Medical Society of the City of New York, in October, 1 "90, a 
committee was appointed to digest and publish a plan for a tlisjjensary 
for the medical relief of the sick poor, and to make an offer of the pro- 
fessional services of the members of the society to carry it into effect. 
Eloquent appeals were made to the public through the city newspapers, 
and on Januaiy 4, 1791, thei'e was a meeting of a number of respect- 
able citizens at the City Hall convened to effect an organization. It 
was done, and lion. Isaiic Roosevelt was chosen president, and Drs. 
Richard Baylev and Samuel Bard were chosen senior physicians. The 
dispensary was then established on Tryon Street (afterward Tryon 
Row), which extended along the north-eastern side of the ( "ity Hall 
I'ark, between Chambei's and Chatham streets. 

officer at the capture of Loiiisburg, in 1758. He stuilieil medicine ami surger}- with Dr. 
Richard Bayley, and completed his medical education under the most distinguished pro- 
fessors in Edinburgh and London. In ITO-t he returned to America with the tirst c.iUec- 
tion of minerals ever seen here : also a collection of specimens of i)lants. The next 
year he was appointed professor of botany in Columbia College, and from 179t> to ISOO 
lie was a professional jjartner with Dr. Samuel Bard. In 1707 the chair of mateiia 
medica was also assigned to him, which, with that of "ootany, he held nntil 1807, when he 
accepted that of materia medica and midwifery in the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons. Meanwhile ho had established the Elgin Botanic Garden (the second founded in 
the United Statcs\ noticed in a future chapter. A catalogue of the plants he had brought 
together gave him a high position as u botanist. r>r. Ilosack, in connection v.ith his 



I'IKST DKi'ADt:. lH;iO IKIO. IK 

111 17'."1 tlio (lispcnsaiv was iiicorporati'il l)y tlio Lcgislatuiv of New 
Vnik". In l^ii,') ii uiiiim was etlfi-tcil ln-twci'ii tlie <Us|K'nsiirv :inil tlie 
■■ lviii(|)nx Institution," which liad l»eeu cstahhslied tlii-«'u years pi-e- 
viously tor tlio imrpose of iiioeiilatiiig or vaccinatin^f tlie p(M»i- with 
eow-|)ox instead of siiiall-|iox. 

In ISKi tlie city coi-poratioii gaA'e the disi>cnsary a lot ot lan<l on 
Tryon Street, afterward Tryon Uow. The number of patients so 
ra])idly increased in 1S2S (Iii,(mm) in that year) that tiie trustees were 
compelleil to seek larger space. They pnxjured from tlie city autiiori- 
ties the gift of a lot at the corner of Centre and White streets, and 
there was erected a hrick building three stories in height, which was 
fii-st occupied in l^ll'.). The first floor was used by the dis|)ens;irv ; the 
two uppei" floors and the basement wcro rented for business i)Ui|M)ses. 
On that spot is still (1SS3) the home of the disjiensary. 

During the first year of tlio occupancy of the new buihling the num- 
li;n' of patients treat(?d wa? nearly 18.(i(H». The medical staff consisted 
of ten attending physicians and eight consulting physicians. These 
gentlemen were faithful and .self-sacrificinif. It is said that during the 
cholera season ot is:',:i tlie dispensary physicians '" were found in every 
(|Uiiter of the widely extended city, breathing the atmosphere of 
death, and stopping, as far as they were aljle, the ravages of tlR' uU 
devouring element.'' 

According to the ninety-second annual report ot the New York 
Dispensary (January i, f 882) the number of cases treated that year 
was 2.'>,171, and the number of ])rescrii)tions furni.shetl was -itN'.ts.'i. 
The number of ])ei'sons treated from the org;inization of the <hs])cnsiiiy 
t.) January, 188'_>, was 1,8(!(),4S.-). 

The di.stricts of the dispensary extend on the north to Fourteenth 
Street, on the north-west to Spring Street and Broadway, on the noith- 
e;vst to First Avenue, Allen and Pike streets, and on the east, south, 
and west the district is bordered by the East and Hudson rivei-s.* 

papil. Dr. J. W. Francis, conducted tue American MeOiciil mid I^liilusophical JinjixltruiioMt 
lour ycnrs -1810-H. He remained a member ot tlie facnlty of the College of Physicians 
,>nrt SnrReons until 182li, when with Drs. Macneven, Slott, Godman, Francis, and (iriscom. 
ho assisted in the establishment of Rutgers Medical College in New York, and rctiiimd 
his connection with it until its demist', in IbSO. He iilled various medical offices in 
liosi>itals, asylums, ami public institutions in the city of New York and for the city in 
general, and was actively engaged in literary and ])hilosophical institutions. He was 
one of the originators and for twelve years president of the New Y'ork Historical Society, 
and was a fellow of the Eoyal Society ot Great Rritain. Dr. Hosack died in December, 
183."). Ho was the author ot several scientific works and a life of De Witt Clinton. 

* Tlio presidents of the New Y^ork Disnensan- from its organization to the year 1882 



118 HISTORY OF NEW \0\lK CITY. 

Till-: Nkw York Asylim for (destitute) Lyixg-in Women was 
founded in 179S, after the city had been scourged by the yello\v fever. 
In October of that year Dr. David Hosack, ah'eady a successful young 
physician, and noted for his benevolent impulses, started a sul).scri])tion 
for the jmrpose, and .soon raised the sum of S50(»0. An appropriate 
building was procured in Cedar Street, and there, in the winter of 
17'J8-J>it, this noble charity was inaug-urated. A committee of manage- 
ment was appointed, consisting of Thomas Pearsall, Eobert Lenox, Dr. 
Ilosack, and other good citizens. It was agreed that every person who 
should subscribe 82<l should have the privilege of recommending a 
])atient for the institution, if approved by the visiting committee. 

The asylum was incorporated in 1799. It soon became evident that 
the interest of the society's fund was inadequate to meet the exjjenses 
of the establishment, and an arrangement was made with the New 
York Hospital to receive that interest, on condition that the governoi-s 
should provide a lyiiig-in ward. By this means the noble charity was 
perpetuated until, i)y appropriations, subscriptions, and bequests, the 
institution was enabled to reorganize, and work independent of the 
New York Hospital. That point was reached in 1S27, when it secured 
a charter as an independent institution. It is now in the eighty-first 
year of its age, tliough it is only fifty-six years since it became an 
independent association. 

This institution has done a vast amount of substantial good work, 
and is now (1883) as active and benevolent as ever. It has adtled to its 
regular benefactions instructions in practical lying-in imrsing, so essen- 
tial for every midwife. The beneficiaries are of various nationalities. 
Of those cai-cd for in 1883, 29 were from Ireland, 12 from England, 
and 20 were American mothers.* 

The New 'i ork I.xsTiTrrioN for tue Ixstructio.v of the Deaf and 
Dime dates its origin from the later months of the year 1810, when a 
few benevolent and professional citizens matured a ])lan of such an 
institution and ])roceeded to put it into pi'actical operation. The most 

have been : I-5aac Roosevelt, 1791 ; Rev. -John Rodgers, D.D., 1794 ; General Matthew 
Clarkson, 1810 ; John Watts, 1821 ; General Edward Laight, 183G ; George T. Trimble, 
185-2 ; James T. De Peyster, 18G1 ; Adam Nonie, 1874 ; William M. Halsted, 1882. The 
officers in 1882 were ; Adam Norrie, president ; Benjamin H. Field, vice-president ; D. 
Golden Miin-ay, treasurer, and Robert B. Campbell, secretary. 

* The officers of the institution for 1883 are : llrs. Thomas Addis Emmet (the first), 
Mrs. Charles A. Morford. Sirs. Stephen Tyng, Jlrs. Beverly Robinson. Mrs. Frederick 
Jones, Mi-s. John H. Mortimer, directresses ; Mrs. J. R. Xevins, treasurer ; Mrs. Henry 
H. Anderson, secretary ; Mrs. Hope, matron ; Stanton ^Ulen, M.D., resident physician. 
There is a board of managers, consisting of nineteen ladies. 



FIHST PKrAPK, l^l;!0 1H40. 119 

pminiiKMit inon in tlio inovomont were Dr. Siiniuol L. '^^itc•llill,* Rev. 
John Stanford, anil Dr. Sannn'l AUcrly. To tlie latter gentleman lias 
been awardiMl tlie crotlit of liaving been instiuniental in the llrst estab- 
lislinient of two of the noble eharities of Xew Yovk, the institute.s for 
the i)enelit of the deaf and dnnib and blind. 

AVith the exception of the abortive attempt of one of the Braidwood 
familv, of Kngland, who a few year.s before had opened a school for 
the instrnetion of the deaf and dumb in New York, this movement in 
ISU; was the lii-st effort of the kind in that city, and it was successful. 
There wa.s not at that time a single school for the deaf and dumb in 
America. 

So little was the importance and necessity of an institution for the 
instruction of the deaf and dumb appieciated or understood in the city 
of Xew York, that it wa.s supposed the school which was about to be 
opened in Hartford by Jlessi-s. (iallaudet and Clerc, who had lately 
returned from France, would be large enough to accommodate all the 
deaf unite pupils in America. This fallacy was soon exposed by care- 
ful inipiiry. It was ascertained that at that very time there were more 

* Snmncl Latham Mitohill, JI.D., LL.D., was a very prominent citizt-n of New York 
during the tir.st quarter of the present century, as a scientist and an active participant in 
every good work. He was born at North Hempstead, Long Island, in August, I'Ct. He 
was n student with Dr. .John Bard. He also studied law. In 1788 be was a cummis- 
sioner to treat with the Indians of New York State for the purchase of their lands. He 
was a meiuber of the State Legislature in 1790, and in 1792 became professor of chem- 
istry, natural history, and philosophy in Columbia OiUege. With Chancellor Livingston 
and others Mitchill founded in New York the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, 
Manufactures, and the Useful .\rls. His published account of a tour along the Hudson 
established his fame abroad as a scientific and very entertaining writer. In 1797 he 
with others established the Medical Repnsilory (ipiarterly), which he edited sixteen years. 
He was again a member of the New York Assembly, and in 1801-04 and 1810-13 he was 
a member of Congress. Sleanwhile (1804-00) ho was United States Senator. From 1808 
to 1820 he was professor of natural history in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of 
boUiny and materia niedica 1820-20, and in 1820 30 was vice-president of the Rutgers 
Medical College in New York. Dr. Mitchill, with Drs. Hosack and Hugh Williams, 
founded the New York Literary and Philosophical Society in 181.5, of which De Witt 
Clinton was the iirst president. 

Dr. Mitchill had a verj- retentive memory, which was stored with a vast amount of 
learning. He extended the bounds of science, was an efficient friend and helper of Ful- 
ton and Livingston in carrying forward to success their plans of steam navigation, 
was among the passengers on the Ptrmuml on her first trip from New York to Albany, 
and was a member of many literar*- and scientific societies in Europe and his native 
country-. He was also a prolific writer on scientific subjects. He published anony- 
mously a little work entitled '• A Picture of New York." which, it is said. sugge.stcd to 
Washington Ir\ing his " Knickerbocker's History of New York." Dr. Mitchill died in 
Pfpt. i.il.jr. 1S31. 



120 HISTORY OF NEW YOliK CITY. 

tlian sixty deaf and dumb ju'i'sons living in the city of New York, the 
})01)ulation of which was less than 12(i,000. And it was found that 
most of these were children of poor parents, who could not afford to 
send them to Hartford to be educated. The necessity for such an 
institution in the city was consequently api)arent. A society was 
formed, and was incorporated by the Legislature in i\.])ril, 181 7, with 
De AVitt (Clinton as president, and a school with five pujiils was opened 
in ]\Iay, under the charge of the Rev. A. O. Stansbury. Ignorant of 
the fact that yesture is the natural language of deaf mutes, Mr. Stans- 
burv labored to teach them articulation, and failed. After a year or 
two the effort was abandoned.* 

In 1S31 the late Dr. Harvey P. Peet, who had acquired much repu- 
tation as a teacher and a man of executive abihty, was called to the 
head of the institution, lie swayed its destinies for more than thirty- 
six years, and Ijuilt up a gi-and model institution. 

During the fii"st eleven years the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb 
was accommodated in one of the public buildings. In 1829 it was 
established in the buildings on Fifteenth Street, afterward occupied by 
Columbia College. In December, 1856, it took up its abode in a 
beautiful house at Fanwood, on Washington Heights, about nine 
miles from the City Hall, where, surrounded by about thirty-seven 
acres of land, it pursues with great success its benevolent work, under 
the guidance of Lewi.s P. Peet, LL.D., son of Dr. Harvey P. Peet. 
The ]irinci])al Iraildings are of brick, four stories in height, and planned 
to accommodate more than four hundred pupils of both sexes, with 
teachei"s and employes. When Dr. Peet took charge, in 1831, there 
were eighty-five pupils ; when he relinquished it, in 1807, there were 
over four hundred ]iupils.+ During the year 1882 there were five 
hundred pu])ils imder instiniction. 

This institution was at first supported by private benevolence, but it 
was soon taken undei- the ])atronag8 of the State. It derives its 
income, excepting from occasional donations and legacies, from four 
sources : Fii-st, from direct ajipropriations for the su])])ort of State 

* The first officers of this institution were : De Witt Clinton, president ; Richard Variclc 
and John Ferguson, vice-presidents ; John Slidell, secretary ; and John B. Scott, treas- 
urer. There was a board of directors, consisting of twenty jjrominent citizens. 

t Harvey Prindle Peet, LL.D., was born at Bethlehem, Conn., in 1794, and was grad- 
uated at Yale College in 1822. He was associated with the late Thomas H. GaUaudet, 
LL.D., as instructor in the Hartford Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb from 1822 to 1831, 
when he was called to the principniship of the New York Institute for the Deaf and 
Dumb, in which position he spent thirty-seven of the remaining years of his life. The 
value of Dr. Peet's services to the cmnmunity cannot be estimated. Dr. Peet died in 1873. 



riKsT hkcadk, isao-HMo. Ul 

lii'iu'lk-iarics ; strond, from ]):iyiiionts from tlio countios for deaf iimte 
cliildnMi ttM) young t(j Ix' ])lacM'(l cm tlie State list '; tliird. payments 
from tli<! State of New Jeisev for a certain numljer of |)Ui)ils who are 
henel'uiaries from tliat State ; and fourtii. payments on aec-ouul of 
j)U|>ils wiio lieioni; to families in easy circumstances. 

The regular term of instniction is eight yeai-s. All the onlinary 
English branches of learning are taught. They are all accustomed to 
lahor : the girls in plain sewing and lighter household duties, and the 
l)oys ar<' instructed in gardening, cabinet-making, shoemaking. tailor- 
ing, and ])rinting. Ilund-vds of former pupils su])port tiiemselvcs, and 
in many cases dependent families in' their own labor. 

Isiuic Lewis Peet. LL.D., is jiresident of the educational department, 
assisted by twenty ])rofessoi-s and teachers, one half of whom are 
women ; matrons for the several departments, and a foreman for each 
of the seven industries carried on in the in.stitution.* 

TuK Xkw Vokk Evk and Eau I.mmumakv was founded in ISiiO. 
Four yeare ))reviously, two young medical students wiio had graduated 
at the College of Physicians an<l Surgeons of Xew York City, and who 
had spent the previous year together in the Xew York Hospital, one iis 
house physician and the othei- as hou.se surgeon, sailed for Europe 
together, for the purpose of increasing their knowletlge of the profes- 
si<in. Having been diligent attendants on all the lectures in the city, 
they believed them.selves as well ('(piipped as any of their fellow- 
students for the duties of the professif)n. They had l)een taught, with 
other l)ranches of surgery, something of the treatment of diseases of 
the eye, and had seen them treated in private practice by their pre- 
ceptors. They felt competent to treat these diseases themselves, and 
with this self-satisfaction they arrived in Loudon, there to pursue tiieir 
studies. 

Among other medical charities in the great city was an eye infirm- 
arv, recently established. Tliey entered the institution as jmitils, and 
s(X)n 7nadc the important discovery that they were ])rofoundly ignorant 
of the surgery of tlu> eye, and that what tiiey had ijeen taught on that 
sultject was almost of no value. Tiiey drew the logical inference that 
ophthalmic surgery was almost unknown in America. With the ardor 
of youth they devotetl themselves to this new Itranch of knowledge. 
On their return home, in 1S18, they resolved to establish in Xew York 

♦ The officers of the institution tor the yenr 1883 were : Hon. Ernstns Brnoka. presi- 
dent ; Hon. Enoch L. Fancher, LL.D., first vice president ; Kev. Charles .\. Stoddard, 
D.D., second vice-president : floorge A. Rr.1.1)ins, treiisnrer ; Thatcher M. Admn.s, soc- 
r.liirv, and Trtiue-i C. C.usr.n. M.n . ..superintendent. 



ItZ UlSTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

au infirmary for curing diseases of tiie eye. These two young men 
were Di-s. Eilward DelafieUI and J. Kearney Rodgers. 

Young, witli small i)ecuniary means, and without reputation, but 
assisted by the sanction of those with whom they had been educated, 
and the influence of tlieir names, they hired two rooms in the second 
story of a building in Ciiatliain Street, and with a few necessary imjile- 
ments they founded tiie institution now grown to be the famous New 
York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Some students of medicine volunteered 
to perform the duties of ai)othecary, in rotation, and the man from 
whom they hired the rooms acted as superintendent. They made it 
])ublicly known that any one applying at No. 45 Chatham Street at 
certain houi-s on certain days, having diseases of the eyes, would be 
treated gratuitously. In a single week it was evident that the enter- 
prise would be successful. That was in August, 1820. In a period of 
less than seven months from that time no less that four hundred and 
thirty-six patients had been treated at the infirmary. It proved a 
great ])ublic boon. Persons totally blind received their sight, and 
those who were languishing in hopelessness were encouraged, and 
found themselves on the way to perfect cure. Drs. Wright Post and 
Samuel Bowne, two of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in 
the city, gave the young men their names as consulting surgeons. 

On the 9th of March, 1821, a large meeting of citizens was held at 
the City Hall for the purpose of " adopting the means for jierpetuating 
the infirmary for curing diseases of the eye." A committee was 
appointed to solicit subscriptions for the infirmary. Succeeding in 
securing sufficient means, a society of the subscribers was formed, with 
over two hundred members. They convened on the first of Ajiril, 
and organized by the election of William Few as president, and other 
usual officei-s. It was thus establislied by leading citizens of New 
York, but its means being small, it continued to occupy its original 
rooms, at an annual rent of ^150. Tlie society was incorporated on 
March 29, 1822, and the next year the Legislature granted the institu- 
tion $1000 for two years.* 

In 1864 the charter was amended, and the institution received the 
title of " The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary," with authority to 
" treat and care for indigent persons affected with deafness and other 
diseases of the ear." According to the sixty-second annual report, 
October 1, 1882, there had been treated in the institution during the 
year 14,221 patients, of whom more than 10,000 were treated for dis- 

* See address of Br. Kdward Delnfield, April 25. 185G. 



KlIiST DKCADK. \WM) 1H40. 1"-'!' 

oases of the eye. < H' tlic wlmlr niiiiiher, nearly 8000 were natives of 
the United States. The total nuiiii)ei' treated since the hiundalion of 
the Inlinnary was 2T+,so2.* 

This institution now occupies a spacious huilding on the corner of 
Thirteenth Street and Second Avenue, which was completed in the 
autumn of 1855. The iniii-mary has an efficient surgical stall in each 
department — ophthalmic, aural, and throat. 

* The officers of the institution in 1882 were : Royal Phelps, president ; Benjamin H. 
Field, first vice-president ; .\braham Du Bois, il.U., second vice-president ; John L. 
Riker, treasurer, and Richard H. Derby, II.D., secretary. 



CHAPTER V. 

ONE of the still thriving, active, and useful cliaritable institutions in 
the city of New York, having its origin in the closing ])eriod of 
Knickerbocker social rule, is the Hebkkvv Benevolent and Oevhan 
Asylum Society, founded in 1822. It held its serai-centennial celebra- 
tion in 1872, at which tirae Chief- Justice Daly, one of the speakers on 
the occasion, gave a most interesting account of the first appearance of 
Jews in tlie city of New York (then New Amstertlam), where now 
(1883) they constitute nearly one fourteenth of its population, and 
nearly one fourth of the Hebrew population in the United States. 

Judge Daly said, in sul)stance, that after the successful revolt of the 
Netherlands, and William of Holland had proclaimed freedom of con- 
science in his dominions, expatriated Jews from Spain settled in the 
free cities, especially at Amsterdam. By their industry, integrity, 
and thrift tliey became within fifty years the most influential citizens 
of Amsterdam, and there they erected the first synagogue. 

Tiiese people became large stocklioldere in tlie conunercial operations 
by which New York was founded. Cura^oa, which then, as now, 
belonged to the Dutcli, had many Hel)rew merchants. Jewish emi- 
grants from botli that country and Holland came to New Amsterdam 
(now New York) and craved citizenslii]i, but the sturdy old churchman 
Governor Stuyvesant looked upon their advent with great disfavor. 
Among these immigrants were Abram Costa, Jacob Hendricks, Isaac 
Meza. ilelhado, Abram Lucas, and Asher Levey. All but the last- 
named were of Spanish or Portuguese origin. These were the fii-st 
Jews seen on ilanhattan Island. 

Govei-nor Stuyvesant wished to exclude these Hebrews, and Avi-ote 
to Holland requesting that they be not allowed to enter and dwell in 
the province. The home autliorities answered that his request was 
inconsistent with freedom and justice. 

Stuyvesant i-efused these innuigrants jiemiission to have a place of 
theii- own wherein to bury their dead. They were heaWly taxed, and 
when two of them remonstrated witli the governor, he said, " If you 
are not satisfied, go elsewhere." 



i'"iusT i)i:f.\l>i:. iM:m isjo I'^O 

Stuvvesant's liai'sli trcatiiuiit, <>t llicsi; .)('vvs in every [xjissiUle way, 
wlieii reiHU-ted to tlie lioine aiitliorities, bioufrlil anutlior letter, wliicli 
coininamled liiiri to allow tlie llelmnvs liie privilege of quiet habitation, 
snl)jeet to no condition save to take caii- of their |Mjor. whieh they have 
always done. 

Melliado now puieha.sed some land, Imt the jrovernor would not 
allow him to have a deed of it. A jietition <jf tlie Jews for ei|uality in 
taxation and the rights of trade with other dweUei-s in A'ew Amster- 
dam was answered only hy permission to have a liurial-ground. An- 
other and a sharper letter came to Stuyvesjint from Holland, which 
resulte<l in placing the Jews on an etiuality with otliei-s as to civil and 
religious rights, and these they enjoyed so long as the Dutch bore rule 
on Manhattan Island. 

In Iti'.Hi there were twenty Jinvish families in New York. That 
year they built their first synagogue, in which a merchant named 
Samuel JUown orticiated as rabbi. This synagogue Wius removed in 
17-_'S to Mill Street, a narrow, irregular lane that extended from Stone 
Street to Broad Street. 

Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist who visiteil New York twenty 
yeai-s later, wrote : " The Jews an^ many : they have large stores and 
country-seats, and enjoy equal privileges with their fellow-citizens."' 
The last remark could not then have applied to any other country in 
the world. 

AVhen tlu- Jews built their first synagogue in New York and num- 
bered about one hundred .souls, the city cijiitained a population of eight 
thou.sand ; now (ls,s.]), when that population is ]irobably one million 
four hunilred thousjind, the Jews number fully ninety-five thous;in<i, 
and have twenty-six synagogues. Of these the finest is Temple 
Emanu-el, on Fifth Avenue. And it mu.st be conceded by all olxserving 
men that the Jews in the city of New York, as a class, rank among 
the best citizens in all the qualities which i)eitain to good citizenship. 
Thev are honest, industrious, and thrifty. They aiv lovei-s of peace 
and their families. They support their own poor. They are obedient 
to the laws, and they are jirovei-bially temi)erate in all things. They 
contribute absolutely nothing, as it were, to the burdens of pau|»erism 
and crime which bear so heavily upon the city. Indeed, so far as the 
Jews are conceraed, there seems to l)e no u.se for almshou.ses and jaiLs. 
As a rule, they seem to obey the voice of Hillel : •• AVhat is noxious 
unto thee, do not unto thy neighbor." 

The origin of the Hebrew licnevolent and Oqihan Asylum S.Kiety 
of the ritv of New Y'ork was in this wise : 



1-^G lllSTOliV OK .NEW V()|;K citv. 

In the spring of the year lS2i> ;i Jew wlio had been a soldier in 
the American war for independence was brougiit in a critical state 
to the City Hospital. He had no friends nor money, but expressed 
a wisii that, being- a Jew, some of liis co-religionists might be sent for. 
John J. Hart, Josepii Davies, and others visited the sufferer, and 
collected mone}'^ for his support. He died soon afterward. Aljout 
$300 of the money collected was left. The question arose in the 
minds of the custodian whether it would not be advisable to form 
a benevolent society by which relief might be given to Jews in time 
of need, as well as to others. It was done. On April 8, 1S22, the 
following named gentlemen formally associated themselves under the 
title of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of the City of Xew York : 
Daniel Jackson, Joseph Jackson, Josejih Davies, John J. Hart, 
Abraluim Collins, Rowland Davies, Simon Myers, Abraham Mitchell, 
Chai-les J. Hart, and Joseph Samuel — all merabei-s of the Jewish 
Church. Daniel Jackson was chosen pi'esident, and Charles J. Hart 
secretary. 

The lii-st anniversary of the society was held at Burnett's Hotel, on 
the Bloomingdale Road. The supper was cooked by the memliei-s 
themselves, and tlic sum of 8-^9 was collected. Another banquet was 
given at the Botanic Garden in 1826. The society worked on, with 
ever-increasing membei'ship and funds, until 1832. wlien the Legislature 
of ]S'ew York gave it a charter of incorporation. Bequests and gifts 
followed. Finall}^ in February, 1859, the Hebrew Benevolent Society 
and the German Hebrew Benevolent Society were united for the pur- 
pose of establishing an orphan asylum and home for aged and indigent 
Jews. In April the consolidation was effected. Their united funds 
amounted to about $25,000. 

This union was hailed with pleasure by the Jewish community. A 
new charter, with enlarged powere, was obtained, and tiie city authori- 
ties were authorized to ai)propriate land for the building of an asylum. 
Meanwhile a house was rented in "West Thirty-ninth Street, and thirty 
orphan childi'en were placed in it. That was in 18(50. Demands 
upon it increased, and the trustees, having procured the donation of 
a lot on the corner of Third Avenue and Seventy-seventh Street, and 
an additional grant of $30,000, proceeded to the erection of a substan- 
tial building. The corner-stone was laid in September, 1863, and 
the building was completed and dedicated in November, 1863. 
Among other measures for increasing the funds of the institution, 
the great Hebrew Charity Fair, lield in 1870, in connection with its 
twin sister in charity, Mount Sinai Hospital, was very successful. The 



^t^' 





i^^-s^^^^^— . 



KIUST l»Kl'.\l>K, l^taO-ltHU. 1-.J7 

slian' i)f till' |)ri)(rc(ls wliiili I'lll In tlic iisyliiiii iiiiiniiiitcd tn lu-aily 

iS.'t'.tJHMI.* 

'IMu- sot'ii'tv luis in oixTatioii iiii cxcollcnt systtMii fit' pthic:itit)i) lor 
orplians. Tlicrc is ii Ikiiiic school, in wliidi tlic Hebrew lan^uajfo, 
n-iijrion, and liistury are tau;;lit. Tiiero is also an incidental school, in 
which trades are taught to the hoys and sewing and domestic service to 
the girls. Tiiis .^Ioi)artnK'nt is self-snpporting. The girls readily Hnd 
])lacos in the hest of families or in commercial houses when they leave 
the asylum. There is a steam pi-inting estalilishment at the indu.stri.al 
.school, which does all Uinds of work in the printing line. A large 
portion of the orphans attend the ])ul)lic schools. 

In IssiJ there were thret* hundred and thirty-seven inmates of the 
asylum. Provisiim has been made f<jr the erection of a new orphan 
asylum, laud having been purchased between One Hundred and Thirty- 
si.xth Street and One Hundred and Thirty-eighth streets and Tenth 
Avenue, on the Bloomingdale Road. 

The olficei-s of the society in 1SS2 were: Jes.se Seligman, president ; 
Henry Rice, vice-president ; M. Rindskopf, treasurer, and Mycr Stern, 
secretary. The Helirews of the city of Xew York have several other 
charitable and benevolent institutions which have been established since 
the one above con.'iidered. 

There were several minor charitable, benevolent, and friendly tussoci- 
ations in the city of Kew York during the half decade before the yciir 
ls:5i>. The principal of these were the following : 

Thk IIirsi.vNK SociirrY, founded by a few benevolent ]ieisons near 
the close of the last century. Its primary object was to afford relief to 
distressed debtoi-s in i>rison. The scoi)e of its efforts was enlarged in 
ISuC so as to include resuscitation of jiei-sons apparently dead from 
<lrowning. The swiety was incorporated in 1S14. It afforded sujiport 
and clothing to poor debtors in prison, secured the liberation of prison- 
ei-s who were entitled to a discharge, distributed soup to the poor in 
general, and rcsiLscitated persons who were ajiparently drowned. They 
also took niea.sures to suppress street-begging. The society established 
a soup-house at tlie eastern entrance to the City Hall Park. It was 
supported by occasional donations and annual sub.scriiitions. 

TuK AoKii iNnicK.N'T FioM.M.K SoinKTv was composed entirely of 
wonuMi associated for the jmrposc of affording relief to res])ectable indi- 
gent and aged women. It was instituted at the beginning of the year 
1S14, and on ^^larcli li>, isl"), the Legislature of New York pas.sed an 

* Sec ncldress of Jlr. Myer Stem (then president of the socictyi. on the fiftieth anni- 
veriiiirv celelirntion. in 1872. 



138 IIISTOHV OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

act incorporating it, to continue fifteen 3'eai-s. It was allowed to hold 
an estate to the value of S;l(»(t,oOO. 

TuK Femalk Associatiox was a society composed entirely of young 
women who belonged to the sect of Fi-iends, commonly called (Quakers. 
The object of the society was the visiting of the sick poor, and obtain- 
ing instruction for the children of such persons as were not ])rovided 
for, oi- who did not belong to any religious society. It was chartered 
March 20, 1813, to continue twenty yeare, and it was allowed to hold 
■pro])er'ty to the amount of $40,000. Membership was obtained by the 
payment of §5. By a special clause in the act of incorjioi-ation the 
society was entitled to a share of the State school fund. 

Tni-: SociKTV fok tuk Relief of Poor AVidows with S.m.\i.i. Cmildren 
was founded in 1797 by Isabella Graham and a few other benevolent 
women, for the laudai)le puqjose of affording aid and comfort to such 
worthy and respectable widows, with little children, as could not pro- 
vide the means of obtaining even the necessaries of life. It was incor- 
porated in 1802, and by its charter it was allowed to iiold jiroperty to 
the amount of $50,01)0. Material aid, timely words of encouragement, 
judicious counsel, assistance to get employment, the education of the 
children, and every other good the managers can bestow were included 
in the list of their benefactions. Money is seldom bestowed in the way 
of relief, but such necessaries of food and clothing as the object stands 
most in need of. The chief efforts of this society are directed to find- 
ing employment for those who are able and willing to labor. 

The operations of this society have been carried on in the most 
economical manner. There are no salarietl agents to consume the 
funds contriiaited. Tiie city is divided into districts, and a manager 
appointed for each. The condition of becoming a beneficiary of the 
society is to be " a widow with two small ciiiidren under ten yeai"s of 
age, who is wilhng to exert herself for lier own support, and is not 
receiving aid from any almshouse." The funds of the society are 
(lerived ciiiefiy from donations and subscriptions. In 1803 Mr. Chaun- 
cey Rose gave the society $10,000, with a re(|uest that it should not 
form a ])art of any invested fund, hut lie used as the wants of the 
society required. 

TuK Femamc Assisiaxce Society was an association foi'med by some 
benevolent women for the relief of sick poor women and children. It 
was incorporated in April, 1817, to continue until November, 18.")t). 
Its fund-, were limited to s3ooo. 

The Widows' I'\-m) Sornnv was incorporated on March 10, 1815, 
and allowed to hold funds to the amount of $2.'')0o a year. Its object 



KlUST DECADE, isyo l«4ll. 129 

was till' relief nl' tlio wiilows and cliildicn of deceased clergymen of the 
Ki't'ornu'd I'mtestant Dutch Cliurcli in llu- United States. 

TnK A.<sisiAM i; Sociiiiv was lii'st oiganizxnl in I8118 fur relieving and 
advising sick and poor pei-sons in the city. It was charteic<l in Feljru- 
arv, ISld, by whidi peimission was given it to hold real and peisonal 
pi-operty to the aniuunl of 82.">.<i(io. Its charter expired in December, 
ls2r>. 

Thk ri{()vii>F..\T SociKTY was estal)lislied for the ]iur])ose of jirovid- 
ing a fund to support inlirni mendjeiN, and their widows and ciiildren 
on tlieir decease. Their ca])ital was limited to sl((,(Mi(i. liy the same 
act tliree other charitable institutions were incorjwrated for a similar 
])urpo.se. and with tiie hke limited capital. These were The ^Iltlal 
BiiMCFrr S.KiKTV, Tni; Bknkvolknt Sociktv, and Thk Amjion Bkxevo- 

I.KXT SlK'lKTV. 

These seveivd societies have nearly all disappeared, as distinct organ- 
izations. They iiad their origin in the noljlest em(jtions of tiie human 
soul— desire to conform to the golden rule of life. They were the 
compar.itively feei)le efforts of large-hearted, broad-minded men and 
women — the foreshadowings of the magnificent institutions establisiied 
and cari'ied on vigorously in the city of New York in our day for the 
same holv purpose— the purpose that animated Ben Adhem and caused 
his name to lead all the rest on the list of the recording angel, because 
he " loved his fellow-men." 

Among the benevolent institutions which existed in the city of New 
York Ijefore is.Sii, The Sailors' Sxio IIakbok holds a most cons|)icuous 
place. Before its establishment there was a Marine Society, having in 
view similar ol)jects. This society was founded in 177n, the funds of 
which were limited to S15,0(»0 a year. Its inunediate objects were the 
improvement of maritime knowledge and the relief of indigent masters 
of vessels, their widows and children. The funds of the society were 
limited to $;1.'>,U(I0 a year. Its affaire were managed by a committee 
composed of merchants, niiigistrates, and managei-s, and it was sup- 
]X)rted by an annual sui)scri|ition from each member of ^-2. 

In the summer of ]S01 Captain Robert Richard Randall, a son of 
Captain Thomas Randall, one of the founders of the Marine Society of 
Xew York, and himself a merchant and shijnnaster, by his will, bearing 
date June 1, after making some s])eciKc bequests, de\-ised the residue 
of his estate in trust to the chancellor of the State of New York,* the 

* A new Ctinstitution of the State of New York, nilopteil in 1846, abolished the oflBco 
of chancellor after July, 1847. Since that lime the board has consisted of seven members. 



130 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

mayor and recorder of the city of New York, the ])resident and vice- 
])resident of the Marine Society of the city, tlie senior minister of the 
Ej)isco|)al Chui'ch m the city, and tlie senior minister of the Presby- 
terian Ciiurch in tlie same city, for the time being, and to their succes- 
soi's in office respectively, to "receive the rents, issues, and profits 
thereof," and to ajiply tiie same " to the erection, in some eligible ])art 
of the land whereon the testator then lived, of a building for an asylmu 
or marine hospital, to be called ' The Sailoi-s' Snug Ilarlx)!'. '" The 
object was to jirovide for the maintenance of aged, decrei)it, and woi'n- 
out sailoi-s. 

These trustees a])]ilied to the State Legislature for a charter of incor- 
]ioration. It was granted, and the charter bears date February 6, 
ISdO. In 1814, doubts having been expressed as to who, in the con- 
tem])lation of the testator, were to be considered the " senior ministers"' 
of the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in the city of New York, 
the Legislature, by act passed March 25, 1814, declared that the rector 
of Trinity Church in New York and the minister of the Presbyterian 
Church in Wall Street should be considered trustees of the corjioration. 

The property devised by Captain Randall for the Sailors' Snug Har- 
bor consisted of Land h'ing in the Fifteenth Ward (between Broadway 
and the Bowery and Seventh and Tenth streets), comprising little more 
than twenty -one acres, four lots in the Fourth Ward, three and six per 
cent stocks to the amount of little over B^'^Od, anil fifty shares of the 
stock of the ^lanhattan Bank. 

The ra]3id growth of the city and advance in the value of ])roperty 
within its Umits caused the trustees to ask the Legislature to authorize 
them to erect the pro]iosed buildmg elsewhere, and regulate and 
improve the land in the Fifteenth Ward, and lease it. This authority 
was granted in 1828, and in 1831 the trustees purchased a farm of one 
hundred and thirty acres on the north shore of Staten Island, to which 
twenty acres were afterward added. 

For iuan>' yeai's ]>ersons claiming to be heirs of Cajitain Randall con- 
tested his will. The (juestion was settled in favor of the trustees, by 
the Supreme Court in 1830, when the land wtxs divided into lots con- 
formable to the plan of the city streets, and leased for the tenu of 
twenty-one years. The corner-stone of the Sailoi-s' Snug Harbor was 
laid on October 31, 1831, and on the firet of August, 1833, the chief 
building was completed, and the institution was formally opened with 
religious and other ceremonies. The remains of the founder were soon 
afterward deixjsited beneath a white marble monument in front of the 
building, bearing the following inscriptions : 



FIRST DKCAKK, lt«0 1840. ];.] 

Xortli Side. 

" The Trustees of the Sailors' SniiK Hnrbor erected this Monun out 

To the Memory of 

RoBEitT RicnAiii) Randall, 

By whoso munitirence this Institiition was Founded." 

t>int ShU. 

" The Humane Institution of the Sailors' Snug Harbor. 

Conceived in a Spirit of Euliir){ed Honevolence. 

With an endowment which time has proved fully udcfinate to the objects 

of the Donor ; 

And organized in a manner which shows 

Wisdom and Foresight. 

The founder of this noble Charity 

Will ever be held lu grateful Remembrance 

By the partakers of his Honnty." 

South Side. 

" Charily never Faileth. 
Its Memorial is Immortal." 

West Side. 

" The Trustees of the Sailors' Snug Harbor caused the Remains of 

Robert RtciUKD Randall 

To be removed from the original place of Interment 

And deposited beneath this Monument, 

On the -ilst of August, 1834." 

In the hall of the centre Imildinj,' may be seen a marlile bust of Cap- 
tain Rjindall. The buildings consist of a centre edifice, with two 
\vings, a dining-hall buildino;, a hospital, and cliapel. 

S^o enomiously lias the value of the real estate in the city increased, 
that the income from it provides ample supjjort for the institution. 
The annual income in ISOO was $4243 ; now (1883) it is about 
$250,0(10. The delay of almost thirty yeai-s in putting the institution 
into ojieration was occasioned by the very limited income of the estate, 
and sul)se(|Uontly Ijy the unsettled state of the trust : by the great 
expenses incurred in defending suits brought agtiinst the trustees, and 
liy heavy a.s,se.ssments for regulating the lots. But for fifty years this 
great charity, so ap]iropriate for a great commercial city, has been <lis- 
l^nsing blessings to a class of useful men who have lieen too much, 
neglected by sfieiety at large. 

The Snug Harbor has an average of fully five hundred old or dis- 
abled seamen under its charge, who are comfortably fed, clothed, and 



132 HISTOHY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

lodged, have all necessary wants supplied, and religious instruction 
attended to, while perfect liberty of conscience is granted. 

The o-overnnient of the institution is under a governor, a chaplain, a 
physician, an agent, and a steward. None but those Avho have served 
"before tlie mast," and free from contagious disease, have not ade- 
quate nieans for self-support, and who have sailed for five years 
under the United States flag in the naval or merchant service, are 
admitted. 

Before the trustees of the Sailors' Snug Harbor had made their final 
arrano-ements for building on their land on Staten Island, a successful 
effort had been made (1830-31) for establishing a Seamen's Retreat 
and Hospital. 

In 1754 tiie inunicii)al authorities of New York (then containing a 
population of about Sddd) adopted quarantine measures for the protec- 
tion of the health of tlie city. They imposed a tax upon all persons 
entering the port of New York, both seamen and passengers, and with 
the fund thus ])rocure(l they estal^lished hospital accommodations, first 
on Governor's Island, and then on Beilloe's Island. After the Revolu- 
tion laws were enacted by the State Legislature for regulating a proper 
(juarantine, and in 1796 a quarantine hospital was established on Staten 
Island. The taxes collected from seamen and passengers was paid into 
a joint fund, Avhich was under the control of the "commissioners of 
health" of the city of New York, and was called the Mariners' Fund. 

This fund was appropriated to defraying the expense of buildings at 
Quarantine, to the aid of the " House of Refuge for Juvenile Delin- 
quents," the endowment of dispensaries from year to year, and other 
things, and the reniiiinder, if any, was paid into the State treasury. 
A vei-y small amount of the money collected by these taxes was used 
for intended [)ui'poses, for only hospital accommodations were provided 
alike for passengers and seamen, and were afforded but for four months 
of the year, at the IMarine Hospital. 

This manifest injustice to seafaring men aroused the attention of 
commercial men in 1830, and at the session of the State Legislature in 
1831 a law was passed which repealed all former laws relating to the 
collection of the quarantine tax from masters, mates, and seamen, and 
created a board of trustees, who were charged with the collection and 
use of the funds so procured. It was ascertained that up to that time, 
after deducting all that had been expended for board, nursing, and 
medical attendance for seamen, there remained in their favor, apart 
from what had been paid by passengers and exjjended for them, the 
sum of S341.000. 



niisr dkiadj:, isio 18-«o. i:}3 

Till' l)()aiil of trustees named in the uet of April 22, is.Tl. were 
autliori/ed to receive from tlie comptroller of tlie State the unexpeniled 
balance of the joint fund in his hands, which then amounted to .^I2,l'.t7, 
and were also authorized to <'stai)lish with this fun<l a hospital foi' the 
exclusive use of seamen, tin- (piarantine tax on seafaring men to l)e 
appropriated for its siii)|M)rt. On the '.•th of May, ls31, the fii-st meet- 
ing of the l)oard was held at the office of the mayor. The hoard 
consisted of Walter Bowne, mayor and j)resident ; Captain .lohn 
Whetton, president of the ^larine Society ; Captain Alexander Thomp- 
son, i)resident of th(> Nautical Society ; Xajah Taylor, president of th(> 
Seamen's Savings Bank, and Dr. John S. "Westervelt, health officer 
and acting sccivtary. At that meeting Cajitains James Morgan, James 
Wehl), J. R. Skiddy, Henry Russell, and Reuben Bnunley were 
elected assiwiate trustees. Dr. Peter S. Townsend, of Xew York, was 
subsequently elected resident physician to the institution, which was 
denominated TfiK Si:.\me.\'s Rktkkat IIosi'rrAr.. At a subsequent 
meeting Sanuiel Swartwout, collector of the ]K)it, was chosen presi- 
dent, and Captain ^forgan ajijiointed secretary. 

The trustees bought forty acres of laiul on the north side of Staten 
Island, on the road between Clifton and Stapleton, on which wa.s a 
farndiouse, for $!l(>,n(»0. In that farmhouse the fii-st patients were 
cai-ed foi", but it very soon was entirel}^ inadeijuate, for all seamen then 
in the Marine IIos]>ital at Staten Island and in the City Hospital in 
Xew York, at the charge of the health commissionei"s, were to be sent 
to the retreat. A building was speedily erected, and yet there were 
inadequate accommodations for the continually increasing applicants, 
and the corner-stone of a new building AViis laid on July 4, 18:^4. In 
1S42 the erection of another building was begun, and the imposing 
structures now seen there were soon com])letod. 

There was in the retreat a circulating library of many hundred vol- 
umes, and the American Bildc Society furnished Bibles and Testaments 
in almost every written language. There thousiinds of seamen, di,s;ibled 
by age or disease, found a home. If any ])referred it, he Avas trans- 
ferred to the Sailors' Snug Harbor, or sent, at the expense of the 
trustees, to his home and friends, however distant. At the western 
end of the gi'ounds was a cemetery, where the wearied bodies were laid 
at rest forever. 

The Hon. Clarkson Crolius, Jr., was, for nearly thirty yeai-s, an 
active trustee of the Seamen's Retreat, and was its last president. 
The retreat was closed, by oiiler of the Legislature, on July ;^.l. 1SS2, 
because the hospital was not self-supporting. On the grounds is the 



134 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Marinei-s' Family Asylum, which is continued. The hospital property 
is valued at 82<iO,"00. The proceeds of its sale are to be equally 
divided between the Family Asylum, the Marine Society of New York, 
and the Seamen's Orphan Society of New York. " Sammy," the old 
gatekeeper, who had been at his post for forty-three years, was sent to 
the Sailoi-s' Snug Harbor, and the patients to other hospitals. 

In 1828 an important movement was made in New York, in the 
interest of commerce, moi'als, and humanity. So much does the safety 
of property committed to the care of seamen depend upon their moral 
character, that the merchants and othei-s perceived, with ever-increas- 
ing anxiety, the low state of morals among that class of men, then so 
numerous in connection with the mercantile marine of New York. 
Society was to blame for their degradation, for society almost entirely 
neglected them. In 1828 a SEA>rEx'8 Friend Society was organized in 
New York, the avowed object of which was " to improve the social 
and moral condition {>f seamen by uniting the efforts of the wise and 
good in their behalf ; by promoting in every port boarding-houses of 
good character, savings banks, register-offices, libraries, museums, 
reading-rooms, and schools, and also the ministration of the gospel and 
other religious blessings." * 

Early in 1825 the Rev. John Tniax began the publication of the 
Mai'iner''s Mayazwe in New York. He atlvocated the formation of a 
national societj'^ for the benefit of seamen. This led to the assembling 
at the City Hotel (October 25, 1825) of clerg\nnen of the various 
churches in y^ew York, and a large number of other citizens — mer- 

* So early as the year 1812 a Society— probably the first in the world— was formed in 
Boston, called " The Boston Society for the Religious and Moral Improvement of Sea- 
men." In 181G meetings to consider and provide for the spiritual wants of seamen were 
begun in New York, in the Brick (Presbyterian) Church, then occupying the point of land 
at the junction of Nassau Street and Park Row, and subsequently in other churches. 
In 1817 a " Marine Bible Society," designed to furnish sailors with the Scriptures, was 
formed, and the next year the " Society for Promoting the Gospel among Seamen in the 
Port of New York," more familiarly known as " The Port Society," was formed. 

Under the auspices of the last-named society was erected the first Mariners' Church 
ever built, it is supposed. It Avas in Koosevelt Street, near the East River, and was dedi. 
cated in June, 18'20. Rev. Ward Stafford, its projector, was its pastor. In 1821 " The 
New York Bethel Union,' ' with the good Divie Bethune as its president, was organized. 

Almost simultaneously with these movements in New York for ministering to the 
spiritual and intellectual wants of seamen, similar organizations were effected at Phila- 
delphia (1819), at Savannah (1821), Portland and New Orleans (1823), New Bedford and 
Norfolk (1825), and at other places. So early as 182.5 there existed in the United States 
seventy Bethel Unions, thirty-three Marine Bible Societies, and fifteen churches and 
floating chapels for the benefit of seamen. The Bethel flag had circumnavigated the 
globe. 




ngrsved try Geo E Pontic .jficr ^ r ^ina: dr8van^.i ly J I Giiw 



FIRST I)E "AUK, 18aO-lS40. 135 

cliiints iuid otlifi-s. ( »tlirr iiu'ctinjjcs were held, and tlio subject Cdiitiu- 
ucd to be (bstussed, wlien, on -May ;">, ls;is, Tm: Amkkhan Skamkn's 
Kkikm) SocifcTv was orji^unizetl, with the lion. Smith Tlionipson, 
ex-8ecretarv of the Navy, as president ; Kev. Ciiarles P. Jlcllvaine 
(afterward Itishop of tlie Diocese of Ohio), correspondin/f secretary ; 
Piiihp Flaj,dei', recoi'(Ung- secretary ; Silas Holmes, treasurer, and Kev. 
.losiiua Leavitt, j^enera! agent. 

The institution of foreign agencies was ahnost imme(hately l)egun, 
and now tliey e.xist in ahuost every important seajjort in tiie world. 
The first agent sent to China was the Rev. David Abeel, and at about 
the same time agents were sent to the Sandwich Islands, France, and 
elsewhere. The jSai/vrs" Mayaz'nte (yet published) was started the 
Slime year. In 1829 a seamen's savings bank was started, and the 
same year a home for colored seamen was estabUshed. The s(jciety 
was incoipor.ited in 1S33. 

In 1842 a home was oi^ened for white sivilors, at No. lltd Cherry 
Street, and there many thousjind seamen have found the comforts 
which its name implies. It has a go(xl reading-room and nmseum, 
bathing facilities, and excellent sleeping-rooms. There is a clothing 
store in the basement, and a seamen's exchange near by. This home 
and the legal lestrictions which now hedge the s<iilor Ijoarding-houses 
have transformed these traditional dens of nu)ral pollution and financial 
swindling into comparatively decent houses of entertainment. During 
the year ending May, 1882, it had accommodated one thou.sand nine 
hundred anil fifty -eight boardeis. From the date of its opening there 
had boarded and lodged there one hundred thousand seven hundred 
and ten seamen, and the amount saved by it to seamen and their rela- 
tives whose funds had been cared for was, during the thirty-nine yeare, 
more than iS1,.")(i(»,(HKi. There shipwrecked sailoi-s are cheerfully pro- 
vided for. 

The fifty-fouith annual report of the society (May. 1^^82) exhibited 
the institution in a healthful state, and vigorously engaged in its noble 
work, with an efficient corps of officei-s, composed of the Secretary of 
the Navy, admirals, commanilei-s, and captains of the United States 
Navy, clergymen, and othei-s.* 

The society has now active agents in the Bennudas ; at Bangkok, 
Siam ; Bon Esperance, on the coast of Labrador ; Honolulu ; ports in 
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark ; Hamburg, Antwerp, Mai-scilles, 

* The officers for 1H82-8.3 are : Richard Buck, president ; Homce Gray, Henry A. 
Hnrlbert, and twenty-four others, vice-presidents ; Rev. Samuel H. Hall. D.D., secre- 
tary ; William C. Sturges. treasurer, and L. P. HubbiirJ. financial agent. 



136 mSTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Geneva, Naples ; Yokohama, Japan ; A'alparaiso, Chili ; and at tlie 
principal Atlantic and Pacific seaports of the United States. 

For a quarter of a century the society has furnislied pi-ivate and 
national vessels with loan hbraries for the use of seamen. These con- 
tain about thii'ty-six volumes each, a few of them in the Danish, 
Frencli, Spanish, and Italian languages. During tlie year ending 
May, 1SS2, there had been sent to sea from the rooms of the society in 
New York and Boston eight hundred and tAvelve libraries, containing 
an aggregate of sixteen thousand five hundred and twelve volumes. 

These brief notices of institutions which have originated and are 
carried on in the city of New York in behalf of seafaring men reveal 
the vast benevolent operations of the noble work that is done in the 
couunei'cial metropolis of the Repubhc for the class of men upon whose 
good services so much of its material prosperity depends. 

Tnii Oui'U.v^ Asylum Society ix the Crri' of New Yokk is the oldest 
of its class in the United States, ha\'ing been organized in the spring of 
1806. It was founded by a few benevolent persons, chiefly women, 
among whom Isabella Graham, a widow, and one of the most saintly 
benefactors ever known, was conspicuous. Out of her own earnings as 
a school-teacher she had laid the foundation in the city of EtUnburgh 
of the Society for the Kehef of the Destitute Sick, and, with others, 
the Society for the Rehef of Poor Widows witli Children. She came 
to America in 1785, on the invitation of President "Witherspoon of 
Princeton College, and ojjened a small school in the city of New York, 
where her second daughter married Divie Bethune, a prosperous young 
merchant, father of the late Rev. Dr. Bethune.* 

The Orphan Society was organized at the City Hotel in ^^pril, IsoT, 
and the continuance and support of the Society for the Relief of Poor 
Widows with Children was a chief element in insuring it success. 

At fii-st a tem]iorary home for the wards of the society was procured 
in Greenwich Village, and a pious man and his wife were engaged to 
take charge of and instruct the orphan children. In the spring of 1807 
the society obtained a charter from the Legislature, hearing date April 

* Isabella Grahaai was born in Lanarlishirc, Scotland, in 1742. Her maiden name was 
Marshall. She married Dr. John Graham, an army surgeon, and accompanied him to 
Canada in 1765. She resided there several years, and accompanied her hnsband to the 
island o£ Antigua, where he died. She returned to Scotland with three infant daughters 
and a son, where she supported her family by teaching school until she came to .America. 
At her house in New Y'ork, in 1796, was formed the ' Society for the Kelief of Poor 
Widows with Children." She was one of the chief founders of the " Orphan -Asylum" 
and " The Magdalen Society. " Her ministrations to the poor continued until her death, 
in 1814. 



riHST I»K1A1>K, 1S:«I lft»0. 



137 



7, isu7. It wa.-; allowed to Imlil ival ami poiNoiuil estate to an amount 
ni)t oxmnliuf? ^lnit,(H)(). This charter expiivJ in is^'.t, an.l was 
renewed. Tt^wus a;rain renewed in isf.o lor twenty yeais. 

At tlio fiist annual nieetin'r, at the ("ity Hotel, in the spring of 1S()7, 
about twentv <if its wards were present. Then t!»..> society resolved to 
pureha.se lots and erect a huiUling. On four lot.s in (ireenwich the 
corner-stone of a building fifty feet sipiare, to accommodate two hun- 
dred children, was laid. It was of brick, and the fun.ls for its erection 
(sl.-,.onnt was contributed by generous citizens. A bequest by Phdip 
Jacobs in 18:'.:^. laid the foundation of the present prosperity of the 

society. ,. . , . i i i* 

The accommodations at Greenwich being too Imuted, nine and a iialt 
acres of land were purchased at one of the most beautiful situations on 
the banks of the Hudson Kiver. five miles from the City Hall. There 
the corner-stone of the new building was laid, in .lune, ISSn. Within 
•I rear afterward it was .ipened for the entrance of the orphans. '1 he 
building cost more than *4o,(>00, all contributed by generous mdivid- 
uals, neither the State nor the city having given anything. During its 
life 'of little more than tliirtv veai-s nearly a thousand orphans had 
enioved its sheltering care. Of these, four hundred and seven boys had 
been" apprenticed to mechanics an.l farmei-s. anil two hundred and 
seventy girls as servants in private families. 

The"<m)unds are beautifully laid out in luwns and gardens, and fur- 
nish ainple pasture for cows to supply the little ones with milk. The 
inmates are educated, clothed, and boai-ded, and have moral and relig- 
ious advantages while thev remain in the institution. 

This most excellent retreat for orphans is managed by a board of 
dii-ectoi-s and seventeen tmstees, ;dl women.* The schools are grad.Ml, 
and the elements of an English education are thoroughly taught. ( )n 
April 1, 1SS2, there were one hundred an<l seventy-five orphans in the 
asylum, of whom one hundred and eight were boys. 

"in the hidf decade preceding the year 1S30 there were in the city of 
New York a County :\Iedical Society, a College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, and for a while an institution known as Rutgers Medical 

College. . 

TuK Ni;w VuKK C..rMV Mki.kai, Sn.nnv was organized under a L-'cn- 

. The boara of direction in 188-2 consisted of : Mrs. .Ton«tlmn Odell. first directress ; 
Mrs M L n. Rattcrlee. second directress ; Mrs. Janet T. SUormnn. trcasnrer ; Mrs. 
R. M. Blatchford. recording secretary ; Mrs. J. G. S-^'''^- """"^'''V'^Ieu"' M D ' 
and Mrs. George E. Dunlop are the snperintendents, and John L. CampbcU, M.D., 

physician. 



138 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

era! State law for tlie incorporation of medical societies, in the " front 
court-i-oom" of the old City Hall, in Wall Street, on the fii-st day of 
July. 1800. There were present at the meeting one hundred and four 
piiysicians and surgeons. Dr. Nicliolas Romayne Avas appointed chair- 
man, and Dr. Valentine Seaman was chosen secretary. After having 
duly oi'ganized a society. Dr. Romayne was chosen its ])resident. Dr. 
James Tillary ^^ce-president, Dr. Eilward Miller secretaiy, and Dr. 
Valentine Seaman trciisurer.* The society (now ninety-seven years 
of age) is composed of resident, non-resident, and honorary membei-s. 
The governor of the State of New York ami tlie mayor of the city of 
New York are honorary members e.c-ojjicio. 

The objects of the society are to aid in regulating the ])ractice of 
medicine and surgery, and to contribute to the diffusion of true science, 
jiarticularly the knowledge of the healing art. The society lias power 
to examine students and to grant a license to practice to such as may 
l)e found (|ualified. 

h\ 181() the society adojjted a rate of (-harges, winch possesses a curi- 
ous interest now. The cliarges for ser\'ices in eighty -one specific cases 
were determined. The lowest charge for medical and surgical service 
was 81 ; the highest, §200. An ordinary visit was $2 ; for verbal 
advice, §.5 ; for letter of advice, |10 to $15 ; a night ^^sit, $7 ; a visit 
to Staten Island in summer, §10, and in winter or stormy weather, 
$20. For vaccination, §.5 to 810 ; operation for cataract. 8150, and 
for carotid, subclavian, inguinal, and external iliac troubles, 8200. 

Fi-om the beginning tiie society took an exalted position as to profes- 
sional character, and has always maintained it. It also assumed a 
})roper s})irit of independence when the State Medical Society, at the 
outset, asserted its right to regulate the policy of the county societies. 
The influence of this society in pursuit of its avowed ])urposes has been 
\vi(le and most salutary. At lii'st the society liad only one representa- 

* A State Medical Society hnd been oigauized in ix room of the Citv Hall on the even- 
ing of November 14, ITOl, by Drs. .John Charlton, Thomas Jones, Samuel Bard, ilahxchi 
Treat, Eichard Bayley, S. Fougeras, James Tillary, Samuel NicoU, A. Bainbridge, David 
Breeks, W. P. Smith, J. Gamage, William Hamraersley, John Onderdonk, George 
Anthon, J. R. B. Rodgers, W. Post, and William Laramie. At a subsequent meeting it 
was unanimously agreed that Drs. Edward Stevens, Joseph Y'oule, and David Hosack be 
considered as original members of the society. 

Dr. John Charlton was elected president of the society. Dr. Thomas Jones vice- 
president. Dr. William P. Smith treasurer. Dr. John R. B. Kodgers, secretary, and 
Drs. Samuel Bard, Malachi Treat, Richard Baj-ley, and Samuel Nicoll, censors. 

The original minutes of this society are in the custody of the New York .icademy of 
Medicine. 



IMKST DKCADK, IMJO 1S40. i;>'.» 

tiveiittlie sessions of tlic StaU- Mcdii-al Society : it now {\ss:\) Ims 
twenty-one representatives in that Ixxiy. 

Tmk CoLLWii; OK PiiYSKiA.ss AND Sn;..i:oNs was founded in isoT. 
Tlie institution received its eliarter from the regents of tlie University 
of the State of New Yorl<. iniisuanl to an act of the Legislature i)assed 
March 4, 1TS»1. The eliarter is dated March 12, IstiT. The oHiceiN 
were elected in May followinir. wlieii Dr. Nicholas lioinayne was 
chosen president.* 

The lii-st coui-se of lectures in the college was begun on November 7, 
1807, in a small building, two stories in height, on Kobinsoii Street, in 
rear of the ( "itv Hospital. At aliout the close of the session the college 
received an endowment of !?'2(>.tii"t. when a building on Pearl Street 
was purchased. It was formally ojiened tor the reception of students 
in November, IsoS. The whole number of students that attended the 
tii-st year was fifty-three. 

The institution soon began to experience vici.ssitudes. Its very 
existence was menaced with destruction. It was sjived by the wisdom 
and energy of the regents of the University. 

So early as the year ISll there was such grave misunderstanding be- 
tween the president and the faculty that the regents were compelled to 
interfere. Th(>y made important changes in the faculty and in the 
internal arrangements of the college. President Romayne retired, and 
the venerable^Dr. Samuel Bard, then nearly seventy years of age, 
became the head of the college. At about the same time jiower was 
granted to the college to confer medical degrees. 

The first medical commencement w^is held on the loth of May. IMl, 
when the degree of Doctor of ifedicine was conferred upon eight grad- 
uates. It was a greater numlier of degrees in medicine than had evei- 
before been conferred at one time. Not more than twenty graduates 
of the medical school of Columbia College had receivinl the degree in 
thirty years. 

* Nicholfts Romavne, M.D., wns bnni in Hnckensiiok. N. J., in September, 1756, iind 
stndic.l medicine nndcr Dr. Peter Wilson. He completed his inedicnl education at 
Edinhnrt-h in 1780, and became professor of tl>e institntes of medicine and forensic 
medicine in Queens (now Rutgers) College, New Jersey. Before he returned from 
Europe he spent two years in Paris, and also visited Leyden. He began lus profes- 
sionid career in New York after leaving Queen's College. Ho became professor ot the 
practice of physic, anatomy, and chcmistrj- in Columbia CoUege on its reorgania.tion in 
1784. and gave private lectures on anatomy. Dr. Romayne was the first president of the 
Xew York Citv Medical Socictv ISnr., president of the Xew York St.ite Medind Society 
ISOr-in. and "in lfi07 was chosen the first president of the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons. Dr. Romayne died in New York of apoplexy, in July, 1817. 



140 IllSTOKV OF NEW VoRK ClIV. 

In 1813 the medical departiuent of Columbia College \va.-. discon- 
tiniiod. The regents of the University, so early as ISll, had recom- 
mendeil the union of the two schools. It was effected in March, 181-1, 
when the new organiziition totjk possession of a commodious liuilding 
on the north side of Barclay Street, near Broadway. 

This alliance was of short duration. Soon after the union some of 
the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons withdrew, and 
formed a new medical school under the authority of Queen's (now 
Ruto-ers) College, in Xew Jei-sey. It was called the New Medical 
Institution, but was generally known as llutgei-s Medical College of 
New York. It took possession of a large building on Duane Street. 
It was sboi-t-lived, expiring in 1816. 

At this crisis in its affairs the regents of the Univereity reorganized 
the college under an entirely new charter, which gave the management 
to a board of twenty-five trustees, whose tenure of office was subject to 
the will of the regents themselves. Finally, dissensions between the 
Medical Society of the County of Kew York and the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, Avhicli had prevailed more or less from the 
beginning, became very exciting in 1821, and thei'e was consequently 
such discord between the trustees and the facultj'^ of the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons that the latter all resigned in April, 182fi, and 
soon afterward revived the " Xew Medical Institution" under the 
ausi)ices of Queen's College. The leading pi-ofessors in the revived 
institution were Dre. Daviil Hosack, William J. Macneven, Valentine 
ilott, John W. Francis, John D. Godman, and John Griscom, LL.D. 
This, too, was short-lived. The faculty soon abandoned the contest, 
and the institution was closed. 

By a new provision in the constitution, the faculty of the college 
were excluded from seats in the board of trustees. In November, 1837, 
the college removed fi'om Barclay Street to Crosby Street, where its 
sessions were held until the inauguration of its present home, on the 
north-east corner of Twenty-third Street and Fourth ^V venue, January 
22, ISofi. In June, 1860, the institution was constituted the medical 
department of Columbia College, and now (1883) bears the title of 
" The College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York — 
Medical Depaitment of Columbia College."* Much of the instruction 
in this college is given in different large hospitals in the city. 

* The officers of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883 were : Alonzo Clark, 
M.D., LL.D., president ; Willard Parker, M.D., LL.D., vice president ; Ellsworth Eliot, 
M.D., registrar ; John Sherwood, treasurer. There are twenty-two trustees. Its medi- 
cal faculty consists of twenty-live physicians. 



KIRST DKCAOK, 1830-1810. 141 

In the year 1S(>2 an association was fonnpd in Now York foi- tlic 
puriM)so of siilistitutin^ tin' Ivini'-imx for tlie siiiall-po\ liv vacciiiatifin, 
as a safeguard against the ravages of tlie latter. The |ircventivo 
nieth(Ml had ah'eady Ijecome (|uite poiniiar in I>ost(jn. where tlie indoni- 
itahle Dr. AVaterhouse, professor in Harvard College, sittislied with tho 
utility and eonse(|uent ijlessings of .lenner's diseovery, \nid urgi>il the 
practice so vigorously and persistently that he was styled the .Vniei'i- 
can Jenner. 

During the lii-st year after the establishment of the kine-|K).\ insti- 
tution in ><'ew York fully tive hundred children were vaccinated. 
Very early in the hi.story of vaccination in the city it was placed under 
the direction of the City Dispensary, and all ai)|)licants were gratui- 
tously vaccinated. The corporation appropriated $(!()(» a year for that 
purpose. 



CHAPTEK TI. 

THE most prominent institutions existing in the city of Xew York 
about the year 1830, which had been estabhshed for the promo- 
tion of intellectual and moral cultivation — literary, scientific, and 
artistic — were Columbia College, ]S'ew York Society Library, General 
Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, Xew York Historical Society, 
New York Typographical Society, New York Mercantile Library Asso- 
ciation, Lyceum of Natural History, New York Athenimim, Literary 
and Philosophical Society, American Academy of Fine Arts, and the 
National Academy of the Arts of Design: 

Tlie germ of Columbia College may be found in the records of 
Trinity Church at the beginning of the last centmy. At what time 
the fii-st movement in that direction by the vestry of the church had 
taken place cannot be determined. In 1703 the rector and Avardens 
were directed to wait on the governor of the province. Lord Corn- 
bury, " to know what part of the King's Farm then vested in Trinity 
Churcli had been intended for the college which he designed to have 
built/" 

When Risiiop Berkeley was in this country, nearly thirty yeai-s aftei-- 
wai'd, the project of a college at New York, which had slmubered all 
that time, \vas revived. Berkeley was disappointed in regard to the 
establishment of an institution of learning in the Bermudas, and 
resolved to transfer his intended establishment to " some place on the 
American continent, wliich would probably have been New York." * 

In 174() the Colonial Asseml)ly authorized the collection of money, by 
lottery or otherwise, for the i)urpose of founding a college in the city of 
New York. About 817.500 was raised, chiefly in England. This smn 
was vested, m 1751, in ten trustees, seven of whom were membei"s of 
the Anglican Church, and some of them vestrymen of Trinity Church. 
Two of them were of the Dutch Reformed Church, and one a Presby- 
terian. A lot Avest of Broadway, bounded Ijy Barclay, Church, and 
Murray streets and the Hudson River, Avas given from the " Church 

* Chandler's ' ' Life of Johnson. " 



FIRST DKA'AUK, 1*10 1^10. 143 

Karin" f'nr the uso of tlu! collcgi', and on Octol>or 31, 17.")4, it was in- 
C(.ri)oi"it<'(l under tlic title of King's Collogc. 

Tlif inrdoniinante of Episcopalians in the iK)ard of trustees of King's 
C'olle"e, and tlie opposition to any church establishment in the prov- 
ince, evoked the strong displeasure of the dissenting cliurches in tiie 
citv. and for a long time the college had a seveie struggle for existence. 
Tlie Kev. Samuel .lohnstm, I). I)., of Connecticut, was chosen president, 
with an assistant, and in July. 17.'>4, he opened the school with eight 
jmjjils,* in the vestry-room of the seh(M)lhouse l)elonging to Trinity 
("iuireli. The college was not really organi/.ed hefore Mny, l".")."), 
when at a meeting of more than twenty of the g(Mitlemen who had 
been nameil in the charter as governoi-s. tlie deputy secretary of the 
])rovince ((ioldshrow Banyar) attending with the charter, Lieutenant- 
(iovernor James De Lancey, after a suitable address, delivered it to 
these gentlemen. Then Iklr. Iloi-sinanden, one of the judges of the 
Supr(>me Court, administered, to them the oath i-eijnired liy law to be 
taken. The governois named in the charter were : the Archliishop of 
Canterbui-y and the lii-st Land Commissioner for Trade and Planta- 
tions, who were eniiiowered to act by proxy ; the lientenant-governor 
an<l commander-in-chief of the Province of New Vork, the eldest coun- 
cillor of the ]»rovince, the secretary, attoniey-general, s]>eaker of the 
General A.s.sembly and treasurer of the province, the mayor of the city 
of New York, the rector of Trinity Church, the senior mini.ster of the 
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, the ministei-s of the Ancient 
Lutheran Church, of the French Church, of the Presbyterian Congrega- 
tion of the Presbvte'Tin Church, and the president of the college -all 
these t'.r offirln. Twenty-four princi[)al gentlemen of the city were also 
named as governors. Tliese were Archibald Kennedy, Joseph Murray, 
Josiah Martin, Paul Richard, Henry Ciuger, "William AValton, John 
Watts, Henry P.eekman, Philip Veqilanck, Frederick Pliili])se, Joseph 
Robinson, John Cruger, Oliver De Lancey. James Livingston. Benjamin 
Nicoll, William Livingston, Joseph Read, Xatlianiel ^fai-ston, Jose])h 
Ilaynes, John Livingston, Abraham Lodge, David Clarkson. Leonard 
Lisjienard. and James De Lancey. 

The conditions of the gift of land by Trinity Church rc(|uire<l that 
the jiresident of the college should be forever, at the tiiiii' i)eing, ui 
communion with the Church of England, and that morning and even- 

» Samuel V.rplaiuk, lUitlnlph Ritzeinn. Pliilip Van Cortlnndt, Robert Bayard, Samnel 
Piovoost. Thoiiiiis Miu-tiii. Henry Cnigor, an.l .losUim HInom. Several of these wcro after, 
ward distint;nislip(l in the history of Xew Yrrk Tity. 



144 HISIORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

in<'- service in the college siumkl be the liturgy of tiiut clmrcli, or a 
collection of ])riiyers from tiiat liturgy. These restrictions excited the 
most furious opposition, es])ecially among those who wished to have 

" A church without a bishup, 
A state without a king." 

But the liberal policy of the college soon allayed these prejudices in a 
degree. A professorshi]i in divinity, " according to the doctrine, disci- 
pline, and worslii]) estal)lished by the National Synod of Dort," was 
almost immediately established. 

College buildings were begun in 1T5(), and completed in 1760. They 
stood on the brow of an eminence overlooking the Hudson River, at 
the foot of (present) Park Place, at Church Street. 

A grammar school was established in 1763. The same year, on the 
resignation of Dr. Johnson, the Rev. Myles Cooper, of Oxford, Eng- 
land, took his place. Meanwhile the annual comineuceinents had been 
held in St. George's Cha])el in Beekman Street. 

In 1767 the province granted the college twenty -four thousaml acres 
of land on the east side of Lake Champlain, but being within the 
bounds of what was afterward Vermont, this property was lost. 

In the sutmner of 1767 a medical school was established, at the sug- 
gestion of Dr. Glossy, a learned tutor of the institution from Dublin. 
His views were warmly seconded by Drs. Middleton, Jones, Smith, 
Bard, and Tennent, and these were all ajipointed to professorships in 
the school. 

When the (juarrel between the British Govermnent and the American 
colonies waxed warm. Dr. Cooper took a very active part, by speech 
anil pen, in favor of the crown. The war of words was fierce. The 
doctor wiekled a keen blade. His competitors were strong, but he was 
worsted in argument by an anonymous competitor, who proved to be 
one of his own pu])ils, Alexander Hamilton, one of the younger 
students. 

• Dr. Cooper's course greatly offended the jiatriots, and the college 
was regarded as a focus of Toryism: Finally the ptil)lic exasperation 
culminated in a mob, whicli broke into the college on tiie night of May 
10, 1775, and sought his room. Fortunately for him, he had been fore- 
warned, and, half dressed, he escaped over the college fence and founil 
refuge with a friend in the suburbs of the city. The next day he 
reached pei'inanent safety on l)oard the 7u/i;(fi.s/ier, a British ship-of- 
war, and finally sailed for England, when the Rev. Benjamin Moore, an 
alumnus of the college in 1801 (afterward bishop), took his plnce as 
president. 



lIliST UK ADK, 1 8:10 INK t H.) 

In tlio siirin^ of 17T<> tlu' Coininittet' of Siifctv took ] lossossion (tf tin- 
ndlcgc and convcrti'd it into a liospital for tin- use of AnR-rican tivMips. 
Till' pupils, tilt' apparatus, anil tin- iihrarv were ilispei-seii. AImiuI one 
liunilivd students iiad l)een edueated at tills college before it was su 
violently broUen up. Among the earlier gi-.iduatcs were Kobert K. 
Livingston, (iouventeur Morris, and Jolin .lay. 

Fmin ITTti to 1TS4 the college was in a state of .susi)ended animation. 
The war over, and jieace and independence secured, measures were 
taken for its resu.scitation. In 1TS4 the Legislature of tin- State of New 
York granted it a new charter, under the name of ('oluml)ia College. 
The regents of the Univei-sity of the State of New York, appointed by 
the same act, took it under their contiol. The property of the old 
corporation was handed over to the new corporation. It started on its 
new career with I)e AVitt Clinton as its first student— a junior. 

Owing to a lack of funds to pay the sjilary of a president, none was 
chosen until May, 1787, when "William Samuel Johnson, son of the first 
jiresident of King's College, was elected to fill the place.* The scope 
of instruction in the institution continually widened, and in 170:2 facili- 
ties for doing so were increased by a grant from the Legislature of 
IS'ew York of about s4(i,(iO0 and an annual appropriation of §:37r)0. 

In ISU the Legislature gave to Columbia College twenty acres of 
land on ]SIanliattan Island, lying between Forty-seventh and Fifty-fii-st 
streets, on Fifth Avenue, *' with a])purtenances." It included two 
hundred and sixty city lots. The tract was then known as the Elgin 
liotanic Garden, which had been established in 1801 Ijy Dr. Daviil 
llosiick for the uses of his classes in the college in the study of botany, 
he l)eing one of the professors of that institution. This land had been 
recently conveyed to the State l)y Dr. Ilosack, and reconvcyed to the 
college in c()m])ensation for its loss of the land in Vermont. The gift 
Avas overburdened with restrictions, which imjiosed the necessity of 

» Willinm SumuelJobnson, LL.D., D.C'.L., F.K..S., first president of Columbia College, 
was born nt Strntfonl, Connecticut, in October, 1727, iiml dietl there in November. 1819. 
He becuuie n distinyuislieil kwyer, and took part in the political movements that pre- 
ceded the llevolutioii of 1775-S:3. Ho was a delegate to the Stiimj) .\ct Congress at New- 
York in ITG.J, and was agent of Connecticut in England from 170ii to 1771. He was a 
jndgo of the Supreme Court of Connecticut from 1772 to 1774. and a commissioner for 
adjusting the controversy between Pennsylvania and the Snsqnebanna Company. From 
1784 to 1787 he was a delegate in the Continental Confrrcss. and was an active member 
of the convention that framed the National Constitution in the suimmr "f 17S7. The 
same year he was chosen president of Columbia College, and held that position until the 
year 1800. I'resident Johnson was United States .Senator from 1780 to 17'.»1. and was 
one of the authors of the bill for establishing the judiciary system of the United States. 



146 HISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

keejjing ii]i tlio oarden as a scientific educator, and the removal of tli» 
colleo-e establishment, within twelve years, to these grounds or the 
vicinity. Non-compliance with these provisions would cause a forfeit- 
ure of the |)roi)erty, when it would revert to the State. 

The estimated value of the Botanic Garden at that time was 87o,()(M), 
but the conditions made it a pecuniary burden instead of a source of 
income. Efforts were made to have these restrictions removed, and in 
1819 their removal was accomplished. 

About 1820 Columbia College for the first time had its chairs filled 
with its own alumni. It struggled on, under the ilisabihties of poverty 
and pecuniary embarrassments, for a quarter of a century longer, but 
still with liope, for its property both on the college site and the Botanic 
Garden was increasing amazingly in value.* 

The semi-centennial anniversary of the reorganization of Columl)ia 
College was reached in 1837, and was celebrated with much parade and 
solemnity on the 13th of April. An imposing procession was formed 
at the college, composed of the trustees, the ]:)resident, professors, 
tutors, alumni, and students, clergymen, public officers, and dignitaries 
from other seats of learning in the Republic. This procession was 
formed on the college green and proceeded to St. John's Chapel, where 
the llev. Manton Eastburn pi'onounced an oration, in which he lirietly 
reviewed the history of the institution. A poem was recited, and odes 
in several languages, composed and arranged to music for the occasion, 
were sung. The president (Wilhani A. Duer) conferred the honorary 
degree of Master of Arts upon Charles Fenno Hoffman, William Cullen 
Bryant, and Fitz-Greene Halleck ; of Doctor of Laws on John Duer, 
David 1>. Ogden, and George Griffin, and Doctor of Divinity on 
several prominent clergymen. 

In the evening the pi'esident gave a recej)tion at the college, whicli 
was l)i-illiantly illuminated, and was profusely decorated with paintings 
loaned for the occasion, and rare plants from various consei-vatories. 
It was one of the most striking fetes New York had ever beheld. 

* The oarliest iletailed .statement of the financial eondition of the college, after the 
year 1800, appears in the minutes of the trustees in 1805, when, from leases of a portion 
of the Church Farm given to the college, it derived an income of about $1400 ; also 
from benefactions about $1000, also from tuition fees about f;9000, making an annual 
revenue of littk; more than §14,000. Its income met the expenses until 1821, when, year 
after year, there was a deficit of several hundred dollars, which produced an accumulating 
debt. Assessments for opening and regulating new streets became an added burden of 
expense, which, with taxes, amounted to $4000 in 1854. The Legislature refused to 
remit taxes on the property, and for several years the college was a sufferer from the 
increase in value ot its own proiierty. 



l-MHSr DKCAUK, IWIO 1840. 147 

In 1>^.")7 tlic n-(|iiin'iii(Mits()l' luisiiicss caused the ri'innval nf tin- cDllciri; 
tij its tloinain on Madison AvcnuL', wlicre it oiTUpios a lilock lioiindod 
by ^fadisoM and Kourtli avenues, lietweon Forty ninth and Fit'tietli 
stivets. Tlie old odilices on the " Church Faini" were deniohshed, and 
their site and tlie College Green are now occujjied hy streets and 
niafrni fieent warehouses. 

The debt of the colleu:e iiad increased to more tiian $2.!.n(Mi at the 
time of the removal, but by the sjile of its i)roi)erty in the lower part 
of the city and sixteen lots of the Botanic Garden, ail of whicii had 
risen enormously in value, it lapidiy reduced the debt, notwithstand- 
ing its greatly increased expenditures in money and the establishment 
of new depaitments. In 18<>:i, for the Hr.st time in twenty yeai-s, its 
income was more than its expenses, and in 1ST2 the institution was 
entii-ely free fi-om dei)t. President Uarnard justly says : 

" If, therefore, our college is to be called to answei- at the bai' of 
]niblic o])inion for the use she has made of the means at her command 
in advancing the higher education, it may faii-ly be claimed on her ije- 
half that the incjuiry should not extend beyond the last fifteen yeai-s. 
r>ut within that period she may confidently challenge any institution of 
similar character, of tiiis country or any other, to show a more honor- 
able record." * 

In ISOO an arrangement was made by which the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons of the City of Xew York (which had been incoq)o- 
rated with the Medical School'of Columbia College in ISi:?) was adopted 
as the medical department of the latter institution. 

Early in IbiVi Mr. Thomas Egleston, Jr., proposed a ])lan for the 
establishment of a school of mines and metallurgy in connection with 
the college. It was adopted by the trustees, and the school went into 
operation in lSti4. ]\Ir. Egleston was appointed professor of mineralogy 
and metallurgy, and General Francis L. Vinton ]irofessor of mining 
engineering. To these professoi-shijis was added a chair of analytical 
and a))plie(l chemistry, which was filled l)y Professor C. F. ChaniUer. 
This department is a most im])ortant addition to the educational facili- 
ties offered by Columbia College.^• 

President Cliarhs King having resigned eaily in isr.4. the U(>v. 
Frederick A. P. P.arnard. S.T.D.. was chosen to fill his i)lace. Dr. 
Barnard has peii'ormed the difficult functions of that exalted office with 
signal fidelity and ai>ility for nearly twenty years. He has had the 

* President Bamnrd's " .\nnnal Report iniulc to the Trustees," May 1. lHM-2. 
t See "A Historieal Sketch of Cnlnmbia CoUefie. 17.i4-lH7fi.-' l.y I'r.^fessor J. H. 
Van Amringc. prepared at the request of the National Buieaii "f Kdiifntion. 



148 lIlSTOIiV OF .NKW YORK (■[■[•\. 

supremo satisfaction of sccjing the institution gTo\v continually with 
unwonted and increasing vigor, displaying under his wise and etHcient 
ailniiuistration strengtli and beauty in every pai't of its economy.* 



* Frederick Augustas Porter Baruiird, D.D., LL.D., S.T.D., was bom in Sheffield, 
Mass , May 5, 1809. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation of Fi-aneis 
Barnard, of Coventry, Warwickshire, England, who came to Massachusetts Bay in 163(5, 
and afterward settled iivst at Hartford, Conn., and then at Hadley, Mass. His luolher 
was descended in the eighth generation from John Porter, of Warwickshire, who came 
to Massachiisetts Bay in 1G26, and was a descendant iu the sixteenth generation from 
William de la Grande, a knight who followed William the Conqueror from Normandy 
into England in IIGIJ. His son was grande porleur to Henry I. (1120-40), from which 
circumstance he received the name of Porter, afterward borne by his family. 

President Barnard'.s father was Robei-t Foster Barnard, of Sheffield, Mass., a lawyer of 
repute and several times State Senator. His mother was Augusta, daughter of Dr. 
Joshua Porter, of Salisbury, Conn. 

At the age of six years Frederick began the stiidy of Jjatin. He was prepai'ed for col- 
lege at fifteen, and entered Yale in 1824. At nineteen he graduated second in the honor 
list. Early in his college course he was distinguished, especially in the pure mathemat- 
ics and exact sciences, in which, before the close of his sophomore year, he was the 
recognized leader of the whole school. 

On his graduation young Barnard became an instructor in a Hartford grammar school, 
where he formed the acquaintance of John G. Whittier, the poet, which ripened into 
warm friendship that has continued unabated for half a eenturj'. 

In 1830 Mr. Barnard became a tutor in Yale College, but menaces of failing health 
caused him soon to resign. The next year he was an instructor in the Deaf and Dumb 
Asylum at Hartford, and iu 1832 held the same position in the New York Institution for 
the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb under the late Dr. Harvey P. Peet. While in this 
institution he prepared and published a volume embodying the results of his exj)erience 
in teaching language, entitled " Analj'tical Grammar, with Symbolic Illustrations." He 
also rendered important service to 3Ir. Peet in the preparation of the annual reports. 

In 1837 Mr. Barnard accepted an invitation to the chair of mathematics and natural 
philosophy in the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. That position he occupied 
twelve years, when he was transferred to the chair of chemistry and natural history in 
the same institution. During his connection with the university he built an astronomi- 
cal observatory for the institution, contributed frequently to the American Journal of 
Science and literary periodicals, and for several years had the editorial management 
(anonymously) of a weekly political newspaper published at Tuscaloosa. 

In 1846 the governor of Alabama appointed Professor Barnard astronomer on the part 
of that State to assist in determining the true boundary line between Alabama and 
Florida. Each State appointed one commissioner and an astronomical adviser. The 
astronomer appointed by Florida failed to appear, and Professor Barnard was employed 
by both States. His report, submitted to the Legislatures of the respective States, was 
regarded as conclusive, and settled the long-pending boundary controversy. 

During the excitement which followed the war with Mexico, when, in Alabama and 
elsewhere in the South, a strong desire for a dissolution of the Union was excited by 
demagognes, and with so much violence that Union men dared not speak above a whisper 
in some places. Professor Barnard was invited by citizens of Tuscaloosa to deliver an 
oration on the 4th of July. He accepted the invitation, with the understanding that he 



riKST |ii:<AI>K, IWW 1K40. 14!t 

111 till' yi'iir I-^'IT the ulinlc iuiihImt of sluilcnts miitriculatt'd at 
('iiluinhia ('i)llcji(' (tlic School of Arts, the Scliool of .Mini's, antl tin- 

sliDiilJ frti'ly speiik iiii tlio Imruiii^; iiiU'Stiun of tlic ilay. He diil so with a t)olilues.>i iinJ 
wilh logic wliioli siloiiced the (lismiioiiists. Thi; speech wns ])iil>liKheil niul wiilely 
circnlated, aud was one of the chief instriiiiK'iils in allaying the disunion cray.e in that 
region for years. His many pnblic addresses on other topics— art culture, varied indus- 
tries, railroads, and other subjects of moment— created new social aspirations in that 
region, which led to permanent beneficial results. 

In 1H.>1 Professor Barnard accepted an invitation to the chair of niatheiiiafiis and 
natural philosophy in the University of Mississippi, and he was the chief instrument in 
finally securing to that institution the benefits of .i national endowment fund, of which 
it had been for many years deprived by neglect. 

While Professor Harnard was attending a meeting of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science iit Albany, in the summer of ISoli, he was elected president of 
the University of Mississippi, a title which was changed to chancellor in 1M5M. Heat 
once inaugurated measures for the moral and educational reform of the institution. This 
movement was in successful progress when the late civil war broke out in IWijl. The 
university was soon afterward broken up, and Chancellor Barnard resigned bis office. 
On his departure the board of trustees conferred on him the honorary title of Doctor of 
Divinity, he having taken orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He had received 
the honorary degree of LL.D. from his iiIiiki mntir, Yale College, in lSo9. 

Dr. Uarnard was refused a passport to his native State, and with his wife he remained 
along time in Norfolk watching an oi^portunity for escape. 'Wlien General Wool took 
that city in lHri'2, they went to Washington, where they were cordially received by Presi 
dent Lincoln at a full cabinet meeting Professor Barnard was soon .ifterward appoint- 
ed director of the map and chart department of the Coast Survey, the chief business of 
which then was the preparation of " war maps" almost daily. 

In May, im>l, Dr. Barnard was elected president of Columbia College in the city ot 
New York, and w.n inaugurated with much ceremony at the beginning of the college 
year in September ftd'owing. In his admirable inaugural address President Barnanl 
made valuable suggestions of improvements in the educational policy of the institution 
In that direction he has labored incessantly, with the most satisfactory results ; and 
to-day he stands in the foremost rank of educators as a reformer of systems of learning, 
and as a champion for the higher education of women. Has kept constantly in view the 
idea of making Columbia College a true nnivei'sity. The condition of the institution 
now is the be.st commentary on the wise and efficient labors of President Barnard in its 
behalf. Its School of Mines is his offspring. 

During his admiiiisfmfion for nineteen years President Barnard has been conspicuous 
in labors in scientific fields outside of Columbia College. He was one of the fifty incorpo- 
rators of the National .\cademy of Sciences, and succeeded .\gassiz as its foreign secre- 
tary. He was one of the ten United States commissioners to the Paris Exposition in 
1807, and made an exhaustive report on the Machinery and Processes of the Industrial 
Arts and the .Apparatus of the Exact S<'iences. President Barnard visited Europe several 
times afterward. 

President Barnard has taken great interest in the subject of the metric system of 
weights, measures, and moneys. At the request of Professor Henry and other eminent 
scientists, he called a meeting of gentlemen interested in international questions, for the 
pun'ose of forming an organization to promote the unification of the ^arions di.scordont 
national systems of weights, measures, and moneys. .\n a.ssocii.ii. m « ■■^ f.inn. .1 .t Colnm- 



150 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

School of Law — estal)lishc(l in 1S58) * was five iunidred and i'ourteen. 
Till' nuniljer of matriculates in tlie tlaree departnieiits in tlie year 
ending- in May, 1882, was one thousand and fifty-four — an increase of 
one hundred and fifty per cent. 

The general coll(!ge library contains more tiian twenty thousand 
volumes. The total number of volumes in all the libraries of the insti- 
tution is al)out fifty thousand, nearly aU selected in reference to the 
wants of the various professoi's. 

Columbia College has in all its faculties, including tiie president, 
about one liundred and twenty-five professors, instructors, and assist- 
ants, and the t<jtal number of students in all tiie scliools averages fully 
fifteen hundred. 

At the i)eginning of 1883 Columbia College had incurred a del)t, in 
tlie construction of buildings on the Botanic Garden (the squai'e 
bcjunded bv Fortv-uinth and Fiftieth streets and Madison and Fourth 



bill College for this purpose in 1873, called the American Jlelrological Society, of ■nhich 
Dr. Barnard has been president until now (1883). 

Dr. Barnard was the editor-in-chief of "Johnson's Cyclopaedia," to which he coutrib- 
iited several original articles. He is an honorarj' member of scientific and literary socie 
ties at home and abroad. In 184:7 he married Margaret McMurray, daughter of Robert 
McMurray, Esq. (originally of Cumberland, England), his true wife and loving helpmate 
for thirty six years. She has resided in this country since her infauc}'. " To the 
encouragement derived from her good sense, energy, and sanguine temperament, "' her 
husband wrote to the author of this work, " I am largely indebted for whatever success 
may have attended me in life," 

* The School of Arts is the nucleus of the college, around which the other schools have 
grown. The course of instruction embraces the branches that are commonly understood 
under the title of " a classical education." 

The School (if Mines constitutes the scientific department of the college, and is divided 
into five parallel courses of mining engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy, geology, 
and natural history ; also analytical and applied chemistry. The course occupies four 
years. 

The Law School until recently was located in a building at the corner of Lafayette 
Place and Great Jones Street. The course occupies two years.' 

There is also a School of Polilicdl Science, opened in October, 1880, and designed to give 
a complete general view of all the subjects, both of external and internal public policy, 
from the threefold standpoint of history, law, and philosophy. The full course of in- 
struction occupies three years. On the satisfactory completion of one year the dfgi-ee 
of Bachelor of Philosophy is conferred ; on the satisfactory completion of three years, 
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is conferred. 

Columbia has also a grammar school, coeval with the college from its beginning as 
King's College. 

' The fnciiltj' of the Law School Is composed of the president of Columbia Collepe and five professors. 
President Barnard Is president of the Law School ; Kobert Senftncr, LL.B , is secretary, and Herbert W. 
Grindal, B..S.. is librarian. 



FIRST DKCAOK, I*]0-I8l(t. 151 

avpnues), of over $ln(»,()(Mi, and will rcacli nearly !i;:!nn,(i(iu \,y Septem- 
ber, iss:^. Its incoiiie, liowevcr, is nearly s4n,oiiu nmre than its ordi- 
narv expenses, anil this is eontinually increasinu:. The trustees tlosiro 
til raise the institution to the ihfjfuity ol" a lii-st-class univei-sity. On 
Ai)ril :!. l^s;',, they gave to the imhiic a detailed statement of tho 
linaneial atfairs of the folle<,'e. and declared that it needed an endow- 
ment of *4,n(i((,(iO(i to accomplish the great object of their desire. The 
peojile of the great city of New \\)vk will furnish this sum. 

Among the exi.sting literary as.sociations of the city, Tiik Xkw Yohk 
SuciKTY LiBKAin- is the oldest. It was fomuled in 1754. The germ of 
the society may be found in a small collection of books called " The 
Corporation Library," founded during the administration of the Earl 
of Ik'llomont, in the year 17(M». It constiintly increased in size and 
importance until the year lT2'.i, when it received a large accession from 
England. 

The Kev. Dr. Millington, rector of Xewington, England, beciueathed 
over Kiiio volumes to the S(x;iety for the Prtipagation of the (Jos])el 
in Foreign Paits. The secretary of that society, in a letter dated Sep- 
tember 23, 172S, informed John Montgomerie, then governor of the 
Province of New York, that the Pnjpagation Society intended to place 
the one thousjind volumes in the city of New York as a library for the 
'• use of the clergy and gentlemen" of the ])rovincesof New York, New 
Jei-sey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, and requested the governor to 
recommend the Assembly to provide a suitable place for the dei)osit 
and preservation of those b(Hiks. an<l othei-s that might be added to 
them. Tilt! A.s.sembly made such provi.sion in 172!t. They wav placed 
in the custody of the coq>oration of the city. 

The greater ]iortion of these books M'cre on theological subjects, the 
choicest reading of that day, and the sending of those books to the city 
for such a i>ui'])ose was acknowledged with gratitude as a gracious and 
generous act. 

In 17.")+ a number of gentlemen of the city resolved to establish a 
public library. Subscrijrtions for the ])urpose were solicited, and very 
soiin tho sum of iSllTjO was subscribed, with which seven hundred vol- 
umes wei-e purchased. They were all new books, and more miscellane- 
ous in their character. An association called the New Yoi'k Society 
Library was formed. The price of a share was >*!12..")0. and an annual 
fee of ^l.r.d was rei|uired of each shareholder. The new books were 
deposited with the volumes of the CJorimralinn Library and the biKjks 
received from England. The collection was then Known as " The City 
Library." 



152 HlSruliV OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

On November 25, 1772, Governor Williani Tryon granted the asso- 
ciation an act of incorporation, under the title of Tlie Trustees of the 
New York Society Libi'ary. The charter confirmed the terms of mem- 
bei-ship aU-eady determined on by the founders of the society, and the 
care of the institution was inti-usted to twelve trustees, annually 
elected. It was empowered to hold projjerty not to exceed, in yearly 
value, §4-4o( ), and to erect a building to be known as ' ' The New YorJc 
Society Library." 

This institution was flourishing ; the numbei' of its books was 
rapidly increasing, by donations ajid otherwise, when the war for inde- 
pendence broke out, in 1775. During the seven or eight years that the 
war raged (a lai'ge portion of that period the city of New York was 
occujiied by British troops) the principal part of the books were scat- 
tered and destroyed. 

The operations of the library were resumed in 17SS, when the stock- 
holder elected a board of tnistees,* and it was ever afterward a kindly 
fostered and cherished institution of the city. The Legislature con- 
firjned its charter in 1789. The library was deposited in the City Hall, 
and there it l-emained until 1795, when its growing importance de- 
manded more extensive accommodations. 

New Y'ork City having been the seat of the National Government 
during the earlier years of its existence under the National Constitu- 
tion, and its sessions being held in the City Hall in Wall Street, the 
Society Lilji'ary was for a while the libraiy of Congress. 

Additional subscribers having been obtained, land was pm-chased in 
Nassau street (a part of Joseph Winter's garden), between Cedar and 
Lil)erty streets, opposite the iliddle Dutch Church (late the City Post- 
OtHce). Tiiere a substantial brick building was erected, and the second 
.story was fitted up for the use of the library. It was one of the most 
consjjicuous edifices in the city at that day, and to it the library was 
removed in 1795. There it continued until 1836, when the increasing 
commerce of the city compelled the trustees to seek another situation. 
The property in Nassau Street was sold, a lot was purchased on Broad- 
way, corner of Leonard Street, and while a building was being erected 
on it the library occupied the rooms of the Mechanics' Society in 
Chambei-s Street. 

In 18-10 the Iniilding on Broadway was finished, and liie library w;us 

* The following gentlemen were chosen trustees : Robert K. Livingston, Rohert 
Wiitts, Brockbolst Livingston, Samuel Jones, Walter Rutherford, Matthew CIni'kson, 
Peter Ketteltas, Samuel Bard, Hugh Gaiue, Daniel C. Verplanck, Edward Griswold, 
Heurv Reniscn. 








1_ 



KlliST DKCADE, 1830 1H4U. l.VJ 

ivmovi'd to it. TliirUvii years liiU-r lliis pmin'i'ty was sold, and tin- 
liliiary uccupii'd rooms in tlu' Bible House, at Ki;j;litli Street and l'"ourtli 
Avenue. 'I'iie lot on wiiieli the buildini^ it now occupies stands, in 
Inivei'sity Place, was purchased, and the edilice erected upon it \va:; 
(•onii)leted in th;' spring of l.s.")(!. The library lirst occupied it in May 
of that year. " 

The lii-st cataloj^;ue issued al'tei* its removal, ]>rinted in 17'.'"2. showed 
liiat tin- lilirary then containiMl about live thousiind volumes. In 
IMo tlu" nuudier was thirteen thou.siind, and in iS^o nearly twenty 
thousiind. It has received from time to time valuable donations of 
books and liberal be(|Uests of money. The largest gift the library ever 
received was that of Mi-s. Sarah II. (rreen, from the estate of her <le- 
eeased husband, Joim C. Green. The amount was !i;r)ii,n(Mt. It was 
pi-esented in ISSii, with a stipulation that the income from the fund 
should be used for the purchase of books, one half for costly illustrateil 
works for '' the John ('. Green alcove," and one Jialf for woiks for 
circulation. This alcove of books had its origin in a munilicent gift of 
the late John ('. Green, of the city of Xew York. A special attendant 
has charge of that alcove, so that its treasures may always !»> o|)en for 
inspecti(jn. The income from ground i-eiit of jiroperty owned by the 
society in Chatham Street is set apart as the income of the " John (,'. 
Green Fund." 

The libi-ai-y now contains about eighty thousand volumes. Its shares 
(with annual dues connnuted) are siji' each, or by payment of $!<' a 
year, §2.">. There is a reading-i-oom connected witii the library, open 
for the u.se of shareholders, and <jf .strangei-s for one month when intro- 
duced by a member. Xon-membei-s are allowed to consult the books 
by the ])aymeiit of twi-nty-live cents each time. The society has no 
debts.* 

One of the oldest a.ssociations in the city of Xew York, yet in pros- 
))erous and useful o])eration, is Tni-; (tknkhai. Sociktv of Mi;i uaxus 
Axi> Trauksmk.n. It has certainly been in existence since 17S-i. 

The first meetings of the society of which any reconls exist were 
liekl at the house of ^Valter Ilyer, in Xovember, ITS."), in King's Street, 
now Pine Street. In lso2 the society bought a lot (size 2<!.o(; by '.'^.S 
feet) at the corner of (present) Pai-k Place and Droadway, yet in its 
l)ossession, for the sum of S(i;^2."). The next year they erected a build- 
ing on tiie lot at a cost of about >;'_':^,(Mio, making the whole cost a little 

* The officers i>f tlie society iu 1883 were ; Robert Lennx Kennedy, presiJont ; Edwur.l 
Schell, trensurer ; John >I. Knox, secrclary : Wenfworlh S. liutler. lil>rnriuii. 



154 HISTORY OF XEVV YORK CITY. 

more than S2!t,in)0. The premises now rent tor more tlian s2-i,(ioi) a 
j'etir. 

In 17!>2 a charter was obtained from tlie Legislature, and has been 
renewed from time to time. It was amended in 1821, to allow of the 
establishment of a school for the free education of the children of poor 
or deceased members, and a library for the use of ap|irentices. An 
amendment in 1833 ]3rovided for the setting apart of cei-tain receipts 
as sacred to the jiurpose of disseminating literary and scientific knowl- 
edge. Another amendment in 1842 allowed its then free school to be- 
come a pay sciiool for those who could afford to jmy, and to aUow the 
establishment of a separate fund for the sup])ort of the Ajiprentices' 
Library and Reading-Rooms. 

Tmk Ai'i'KENTicEs' LiERARY was established in 1>;20. It then con- 
sisted of eight hundred volumes, most of which had been contributed 
by membei"s of the General Society and ]ihilanthropic citizeiis. Tlie 
library at fii-st was only open in the evening, the books being handed 
out to the readei-s by membei-s of a committee. It maintained a feeble 
existence for many years. In 1850 it contained about fourteen thou- 
sand volumes. 

The vast increase in the value of the real estate of the General 
Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen so enlarged its income that for 
many years it has been enabled to strengthen every department of its 
work, especially the Apprentices' Library. From Benjamin Demilt 
the library received a bequest of §7500, besides his private library, a 
very valuable collection of standard works. Pierre Lorillard also be- 
queathed to the library fund §5000, -which was entirely devoted to the 
])urchase of books. On the fii-st of Januarv. 1883, the Apijrentices' 
Library contained sixty-five thousand volumes, of which more than 
forty thou.sand are works of a standard character. 

In 1832 the society bought a lot with a high school building on it in 
Crosby Street, where it had its headquartei-s until tlie completion, in 
1878, of its present commodious four-storied building at Nos. IG and 
IS East Sixteenth Street. In 1833 the association estimated the value 
of its possessions at about $70,000 above all its debts ; owing to the 
enormous increase in the value of its real estate, the estimated value of 
its possessions in 1883 was about 8780.000. It has sixty -eight pension- 
ei-s— nine memljei-s, fifty-five widows, and four children. During one 
year (1881-82) the total imndjer of books drawn from the library was 
1()3,-13(). The number of visitoi-s to the reading-room during the same 
time was 3(!.(iOO. 

The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen is a UKwt remark- 



hMKST DKi'ADE. 1S:«> 1S40. !•>•> 

able I'xumploof tlio liuiinei;il success in tlie iiiaiiiigenient of an inslitu 
tion, while all its l.-md.-iMr ))iir|K)scs were carried out with vif^or an<l 
fidelity.* 

• Tho officers of the society in 18H3 were : Daniel Herbert, president ; Jobn H. Ki>t,'or8 
unci John H. Wnydcll, vice-presidents ; Jftuies G. Burnet, treasurer ; Thomas Earle, 
secretarj', and James Wooliey, collector. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE Xew York IIistokkal Society is one of the most remarkable 
as ^'ell as useful institutions in the city of Xew York. It had 
just started on a prosperous career, after yeai-s of struggle, at the time 
we are considering (about 1826-30). It had recently cleared itself of 
debt, and was working vigorously in the cause to which it was devoted, 
namely, the collection and preservation of whatever might relate to the 
natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history of the United States in general, 
and especially to that of the rightfully called Empire State of the Repub- 
lic. This happy state of affairs had been brought about largely by the 
exertions of Frederic de Peyster, who was one of its most active and 
devoted members for more than half a century, and who with the aid 
of Governor De Witt Clinton had procured from the Legislature of the 
State a grant of §5000 for tlie benefit of the struggling association. 

The Historical Society clearl}^ owes its conception to the active 'mind 
and energetic character of John Pintard, a Xew Yorker In^ birth, of 
Huguenot descent. He was a graduate of the College of Xew Jersey, 
at Princeton, where he was a favorite of President "VYitherspoon ; had 
a wide circle of learned friends in his own State and other common- 
wealths, and was not only familiar with classical and elegant hterature, 
but by the means of a natural enthusiasm in the acquirement of knowl- 
edge and a most retentive memory, he was possessed of a large fund of 
historical and geograjihical infonuation. Of Mr. Pintard Dr. John 
AY. Francis wrote : 

" He was vereed in theological and ])oleinical divinity, and in the 
progress of church affaii-s among us ever a devoted disciple. You could 
scarcely approach him without having something of Dr. Johnson thrust 
upon you. There were ]ieriods in his life in which he gave every 
una])])ropriated moment to philological iiK^uiry, and it was curious to 
see him ransacking his formidable pile of dictionaries for radicals and 
synonyms, with an earnestness that would have done honor to the most 
eminent student in the republic of letters." Again : " Everybodv 
consulted him for infonnation touching this State's transactions, and 
the multifarious occuiTences of this citv, wliicii have marketl it ; 



FlUSr HKCAUK, ls:!l) IslO. ir>7 

pvD^ross since dui- Kovolutiimarv stni^ji^lt'. I'ersons iind tliiiiij^s, imli- 
viilualities and c*)r|")iatii)ns, literary. I»ii>;;ra|)iiital, eei'lesiastic-ai, and 
historical ciivunistanccs, municipal and Icffislativc enactments, inteiiial 
and external commerce — all these were prominent among the nund)er : 
and liis general accuracy as to fjei-sons and dates made him a living 
chronology." 

Such wei-e sjdient points in the character of the man who was the 
chiel" founder of the New York Historical Society. He long cherished 
the idea of such an institution before attempting to give it a practical 
intluence. While secretary of his uncle, Lewis Pintaid, a merchant 
and c-ommissai-y of American prisonei-s in the city of New York during 
the latter pei-icnl of the old war for independenc;', he became power- 
fully im])rcssed with the imjHiitance of preserving records of events, for 
he was living in the midst of most momentous occurrences. After the 
war lie bought from Dr. Chandler, of Elizabethtown. New Jei-stn'. a 
large collection of docmnents relating to the Itevolution, and gradually 
a plan for the establislnnent of an antii|U:irian society took tangible 
shape in his miiul. 

In 17S0 Pintard visited P)Oston, and conununicated his ideas cimcern- 
ing an antiquarian or historical society to the eminent theologian, biogra- 
pher, and historian, Jeremy Belknap, who wannly approved his plan. 
"This day," he wnjte to Ebenezer Hazard, the Postmaster-General; 
" this day 'Mi: Pintard called to see me. He says he is an acquaint- 
ance of youi-s, and wants to fonu an anticiuarian society." Several 
months later Belknap wrote to Hazard : " I like Pintard's idea of a 
society of American antiquarians, but where will you find a sutficiency 
of members, of suitable abilities and leisure ?" The theologian ap])ears 
to have .acted energetically on the hints given him by Pintard. for in 
less than two years after the New Y'orker's visit we find Belknap at 
the head of the ira.ssachusetts Historical Society. 

Pintard seems to have acted |)romptly and energetically in attempts 
to put his cheri.shed scheme into practical operation in New York. He 
was an active member of the Tannnany Society or Columbian Order, 
and was its fii-st s;igamore, and he connected his antiquarian scheme 
with that society. "Writing to Belknap in the spring of ITiU, lie 
Sciid : 

"This [the Tannnany] being a strong luitional society, I engrafted 
an antiquarian sc-henie of a museum u])on it. It makes small progress 
with a small finul, and may ]iossibly succeed. "We liave a tolerable 
collection of jiamphlets, mostly moderns, with some history, of which I 
will send v<i" .in :ili-,r):iri II' v.uii- smictv [the Massachusetts Histori- 



158 HISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

cal] succeetls well, will open a regular correspondence. ... It' my 
plan once strikes root, it will thrive." * 

Not very much seems to have been accomphshed in the matter in con- 
nection with the Tammany Society during many succeeding yeai-s, but 
Pintard did not allow his ]jroject to slumber. lie Hnally createil a lively 
interest in his scheme in the minds of leading men in the city, and at 
his request neai'ly a dozen of them met, by appointment, in a room in 
the City Hall, in Wall Street, on the afternoon of November 20, 180+. 
These gentlemen were John Pintard, Egbert Benson, then late judge of 
the United States District Court ; De Witt Chnton, then mayor of the 
citv, the Rev. Dre. Samuel Miller, John M. Mason, John N. Abeel, 
and WiUiam Lewis, all distinguished clergymen ; Dr. David Hosack, 
Anthony Bleecker, Samuel Bayard, and Peter Gerard Stuj^vesant. 
Mr. Pintard, Judge Benson, and Dr. Miller were appointed a commit- 
tee to draft a constitution. All present evinced a lively interest in the 
matter. 

A meeting was held on the Kith of Decemlier, at the same place, 
when several other prominent citizens were present, among them Judge 
Brockholst Livingston, the Rev. Benjamin Moore, then bishoj) of the 
Diocese of New York ; Daniel D. Tompkins, Rufus King, and Rev. 
John H. Hobart, afterward bishop of the same diocese. The constitu- 
tion presented was adopted, and the title given to the association was 
" The New York Historical Society." It was organized on the 14th 
of January following, when Judge Benson was chosen president, the 
Rt. Rev. Bishop ]\[ooi'e fii-st vice-president. Judge Brockholst Li\ings- 
ton second vice-president, the Rev. Dr. Miller corres])onding- secretary, 
John Pintard f recording secretary, Charles Wilkes treasurer, and 
John Forbes lilirarian. 

* Mr. Pintard was really the founder of Barnum's Museum. The corporation granted 
a room in the City Hall for the use of the Tammanj- Society Museum. It was open everj- 
Tuesday and Friday afternoon. A document in existence, dated May 1, 1791, reads : 

".iMEiucAN MusEtiM, uuder the patronage of the Tammany Society or Columbian Order. 

■•' Any article sent on these days, or to Mr. John Pintard, No. .57 King Street, will he 
thankfully received." i 

Mr. Pintard was the secretary of the American Museum, and Ciardner Baker keeper. 
It became the sole property of Baker in 1808. He sold it to Dr. Scudder, and it was 
finally sold to Barnum. 

f .John Pintard, son of John Pintard, a New York merchant, was then in the prime of 
manhood, having been born Slay 18, 17.59. Both his father and mother died before he 
was one year old. The babe was taken by his uncle, Lewis Pintard, a thriving merchant 
in New York, as his foster child. He was sent to a grammar school at Hempstead, L. I., 
and became the best Latin scholar in the seminary. He was graduated at Princeton in 
1776. He drilled soldiers every day, and when the professor entered the army and the 



FIKST DKCAIJi:, 1h;;0 1«40. l."il) 

Till' New York Historical Society occupied a room in the old Citv 
Hall, in Wall Street, from 1S(I4 till l.SO'.t. It leceived its chaiti-r fi-om 
the State Legislature in the latter year. It then became migratorv 
for almost half a centur}'. In lS(i!» its collections were removed to tiie 
(iovernment House, on the south-ea.st side i>f the I'owlinj^ (Treeii. In 
ISIO they were taken to the New York Institution, where they 

institution wns broken np, he went too, iifter he hml received his detcrce. .\fter «<-Tviu({ 
a while in the iinuy, jonng Pintiird liecaine deputy commissary for Americuu i)rii':ouorK 
in New York, under his iiuclo, tor whom ho acted ns secretary. He wa.s in that office ahoiit 
three years, doin;^ nearly nil the lnisiucss most of the time. Klias Uoudinot, his lirother- 
in-law, was then commissHri-i.'cueml of prisoners. 

When Pintard left the office iu 17^(1 he went to Paramns, New Jersey, where resided 
Colonel Brashear, u stanch Whig and distant relative of the yonng man. He fell in love 
with the colonel's daughter, and they were married in 1785. " He was handsome, and 
she was the loveliest girl in the land," says " Walter Barrett, clerk." 

Up to that time .John Piutard was a clerk for his luicle ; then he began business for 
hiuiself, at No. 13 Wall Street, in the India trade. One of his shijis (the Jay) was among 
the first vessels that brought cargoes from China. In 1780 he was elected alderman of 
the East Ward, which took in Wall Street below William Street. In 17U0 he was elected 
to the State Legislature. 

In 1702 John Pintard, out of debt, rich and prosperous, bad bis name on the back of 
notas ilrawn by William Dner, son-in-law of Lord Stirling, who wns regarded ns one of the 
greotest financiers of the day, for a full million dollars. Dner failed. Pintard gr.ve up 
ships, cargoes, bouses, furniture, librarj-, everything, to partially pay the notes he had 
indorsed. Ho settled in Newark, where he found employment as a commissioner for 
building bridges. Duer's creditors followed him, and confined him in Newark jail four- 
teen months. 

The general bankrupt law of 180() relieved Jlr. Pintard, and he returned to New York, 
where he first became a book auctioneer. In 1801 his uncle bought for him the Dally 
A(U-(rliser, but he did not conduct it long. In 1802 ho went to New Orleans, but soon 
returned. He became city inspector, and in 1803 secretary of a fire insurance company, 
which position he filled until 1820, when, at the nge of seventy, he resigned. He became 
almost blind and deaf, and his world wag inside of himself for several years. He died 
on June 21, 1844, at the age of eighty-five years. 

Mr. Pintard was the enlightened and active friend of every great enterprise for the 
benefit of the city, and in every good work. He was not only the founder of the New 
Y'ork Historic.ll Society, but one of the originators of the free school system in the city, 
an active promoter of the Erie Canal project from the beginning, a most efficient mem- 
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, serving it as secretary ten consecutive years, and 
infusing into it new vitality ; one of the founders of the American Bible Society, active 
in the foundation of the General Thcnlogical Society of the Episcopal Church in the 
diocese, and the chief mover in the establishment of the first .savings bank in the city of 
New York, of which he wns president thirteen years, retiring when he was nearly eighty- 
two years of age. Jlr. Pintard has an undoubted and clear right to the title of progenitor 
of the historical societies in the United States. 

The body of Mr. Pintarii wns buried in the family vault in St. Clement's Church, in 
Amity Street. Very few citizens of the great metropolis to-day have even the mofit 
remote idea of how much it owes to John Pintard for its prosperity and good name. 



160 UISTOKY OF NEW YOlUv CITY, 

remained until 1832, when they were deposited in the Remsen buikl- 
ing, on Broadway. In 1837 tliey were taken to the Stuyvesant Insti- 
tute, on Broadway'. There they rested only four years, for in 1841 
they were removed to the IS'ew Yorlc University. There they took a 
longer rest, and finally, in 1857, took up tlieir abode in a building 
erected by the society on the corner of Eleventh Street and Second 
Avenue. 

The memboi-s and friends of the Historical Societ\' exhibited nmch 
zeal from the beginning, in efforts to secure for its collections manu- 
scripts, books, rare pamphlets relating to American history, autograph 
letters and impublished documents, files of American newspaper, espe- 
ciallj- of those published in the city of Xew York ; specmiens of 
American archseology, coins and medals, works of painters, sculptoi-s, 
and engravers, and everrthing suitable for a musemn of historical 
treasures. 

For more than twenty veal's the society labored on with slender 
pecuniary means, continually adding to its list of members some of the 
best men in 'New York society, vnth its offices filled by persons of dis- 
tinction in literature, science, and art. Its pecuniary power was so 
inadequate to the noble task it had undertaken that it found itself, at 
the beginning of the new era in the history of New York City, bur- 
dened with a debt amounting to about $5000. 

It was at this juncture that the society was strongly beset with a 
temptation Avhich yielded to might have caused its annihilation. It 
was a supreme crisis in the history of the institution. At that time a 
number of gentlemen had associated in the formation of a society with 
the avowed purjiose of encouraging and promoting the study of popular 
science, belles-lettres, and the fine arts. They named the association 
The New Yoi'k Athenaeum. Its membere were some of tlie leading 
intellectual lights of the city. They had conceived the design of unit- 
ing all the literary societies of New York under the ap])ropriate title 
they had chosen, for the purpose of creating an institution, by such a 
combination, which siiould be the most distinguished and powerful in 
the United States. 

'Memliei'S of the Xew Yorlc Ilistorical Society, considering its pecuni- 
ary embarrassments, ahnost vehemently urged the propriety and even 
the necessity of joining such a conil)ination, and to merg'? it into The 
New York Athenjeum. At a meeting of the Ilistorical Society, Dr. 
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, a prominent member, offered a resolution that 
in consideration of a sum sufficient to pay off its indebtedness the entire 
property shouhl be transferred to the Athenaium. 



KlltST UliCADK. 1h:1u-1->1i' 



An cM.orgetic and cleai-li.-ad.d y<.un- lawyer, a scion of ..no of the 
oldest and most distinguished Kniekeil.oeker families in tUe eity of 
>;ew York, had recently been elected a member of the Historical 
Society, and took great 'interest in its alFaii-s. He earnestly opposed 
Dr Van Rensselaer's resolution, urging that such a s;de of the treas- 
ures of the society would be dishonest, and in violation of the solemn 
i.led.'es 'Mven to the i)ublic by its foundoi-s, for they represented that all 
donidions, of whatever kind, should be held as part of the archives of 
the soc-iety, and for historical purposes. That young lawyer was the 
late Kre<leric do I'evster, LL.D., who, from that hour, was one ol the 
most energetic and'inHuential members of the Historical Society, (l>ing 
while liolding its presidential chair, at the age of eighty -six yeai-s.^ 

* Frederic Ue Po.vslcr. LL.JD., was born in Hanover Square, New York, on November 
11 179G His ancestors were Huguenots who fled from persecution in France in the 
sixteenth century and settled in Amsterdam and Eotterdam. Holland. The trsl of the 
name who emigrated to America was Johannes de Peyster, the possessor of much in- 
herited wealth, who came to New Amsterdam with his wife about 1(U.5. when he was 
t«entv-tive years of a^e. He became a successful merchant and a distinguished citizen^ 
beiut?"in succession sheriff, alderman, and burgomaster of New Amsterdam, and m IG, < 
deputy mayor of New York. Two of his sons were afterward mayors of the city. I he 
de Pevster'famUy have ever held the highest social position in New York City. 

The father of the subject of this sketch was Captain Frederic de Peyster an ardent 
lovUist during the old war for independence, and an officer in the king's Third American 
Regiment or New York Volunteers. He married a daughter of Cou.missary-General 
Hake of the British armv. Frederic was a student in Columbia College during the war 
of 1H12 and became captain of the student^' corps known as the " College Orecns 
They assisted in the construction of field works at McGowan's Pass and Manhattanvie. 
He was graduated in ISlC, and began the study of law with the Hon. Peter A Jay, the 
eldest son of Governor John Jay. He concluded his legal studies under the tuition of 
Peter Van Schaaek. of Kinderhook. one of the most learned '"^-^ '" '^«,0 Ind the 
Pevster was admiUed to practice as an attorney in the Supreme Comt in 1819. and the 
same year he became a solicitor in chancery. It is said his reports in the latter eapac.tv 

never revealed an error. . , „ .•„., 

Youn- de Pevster was fond of militarj- matters, and was active several years in tnc 
militia of the State, serving as brigade major in the Tenth Brigade as aide-de-camp to 
Major-General Flemming, and as aide, with the rank of colonel, on the sUfl of Governor 
De\vitt Clinton in ISi-i. Not long before he ha.l raised the question whether an ofccer 
holding one militarv position could be legally elected to another^a salaried ""^ . ^^"1'; 
out therebv vacating the former office. It was decided by competent authority hat he 
could not. 'and thus a test case, argued by de Peyster and won. gained huu notoriety, and 
settled a vexed question in military circles. 

From his earlv life Mr. de Peyster took an active interest in public affair^ So ear^ 
as 1810, when he was fourteen years of age. he became a member of the F'*^* S';^°''' 
Society of New York, in which, in after yean., he was a tnistee. He po^essed a dec ded 
literarv taste, and he bcuime prominently connected with sevenU l.l«nir> '"^d 'earned 



162 HISTORY OF NKW YUJiK CITY. 

The resolution of Dr. A'an Rensselaer was warmly discussed. The 
arguments of Mr. I)e Peyster prevailed, and the resolution was not 
adopted. After the adjoui-nment of the meeting, Charles King (after- 
ward president of Columbia College), seven yeai-s the senior of De 
Peyster, said to the latter : 

" Sir, you have caused a serious harm to both the Historical Society 
and the Athena?um by defeating that i-esoliition. You have frustrated 
a laudable ol)jecl, and b\' rejecting the ])ro])ose(l union this society will 
soon be a hopeless l)ankrupt." 

" If the society will give me authority," replied De Peyster, " I will 
go to Albany as its representative and procure fi-om the Legislature an 
appropriation sufficient to pay all its debts." 

" If you shall do that," responded King; " interest the State Legis- 
lature so substantially in our affairs, you will make the ]S"ew York 
Historical Society one of the leading institutions of our country." 

Mr. De Peyster was invested with proper authority. lie went to 
Albany, laid a petition for- the relief of the New York Historical 
Society before the Legislature, with a large number of whose members 

corresponding secretary again in 1838, and remained in that position until 1843. In 
1864 he was elected president of the society ; held the office two years ; was re-elected in 
1873, and continued to hold the position until the time of his death, August 17, 1882. 
His gifts to the society were many and valuable. Some of the choicest books aad works 
of art in its collection are his contributions. One of the most attractive ot the latter is 
Crawford's colossal marble statue of an Indian sitting in a contemplative attitude, enti- 
tled "The Last of His Race." He purchased it after Crawford's death for §4000. Mr. 
de Peyster was also a generous patron of art, as his home in University Place attested, 
and was always ready to contribute to funds for the erection of statues of eminent men 
in his native city. On auniversai-y and other celebrations of important events he was 
always active, and was frequently called vipon to address the assemblage, which was 
always done in a happy manner. He was also active in all benevolent movements, and 
held an office of some kind in a score of different societies. He was also an earnest 
promoter of the cause of popular education, and his interest in his ulmn mater (Columbia 
College) was warm and active until the close of his life. 

While Mr. de Peyster was master in chancery he wan employed by a committee of the 
Tontine Coffee-House .\ssociation as an expert to ascertain the value of the lives of the 
nominees. He soon afterward became n member of that association, and was one of the 
last, if not the verj' last, survivors of that famous organization. He was elected a trustee 
of the New York Society Library, and was its president from 1870. He was vice president 
of the Home for Incurables, and one of the directors of the Institution for the Instruc- 
tion of the Deaf and Dumb. For more than fifty years he was clerk of the board of 
trustees of the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, founded by his father-in-law, .John 
Watts. He was an active and most efficient member of the St. Nicholas Society and 
president of the St. Nicholas Club. Our space will not allow the mention of more of the 
objects of his care and untiring labors. 

Mr. de Peyster was chosen to deliver an address on the occasion of the centennial 







^^ 



KIUST DFA'ADK, ISIIO 18ll). !*'•* 

li(> was pt'i-soiially ac-iiiiaiiitciUand iirf,'f(l liis suit with sd imitli Itj-ric 
and siioli wt-i^lity reasons for granting the prayer, tliut a l>ill s|)ee(lily 
]»assi'(l both liouses appropriating iSnniHi for the relief of the New York 
Historical ScK-iety. The burilen of debt was tlius removed, and tlic 
soeiety staileil afresh and unembarrassed in its career of usefulness and 
honor. 

The society has over since gone steadily on in an ui)ward journey, 
sometimes struggling with poverty, but never with doubt, and some- 
times cheered by libend bequests and donations, until it has reached its 
])resent high position as one of the leading and most useful institutions 
of the metropolis. 

The New York Historical Society po-ssesses a library of more than 
7(»,0(i() volumes, and u very large number of inimi)hlets, ma])s, and files 
of' newspaiKM-s ; also a most valuable collection of incdited manu- 
scripts, a curious collection of American antiquities, a rare and exceed- 
ingly valuable collection of Egyptian antiquities, and the largest and 
rarest permanent gallery of woriis of art on the American continent. 

13y the liberality of citizens of New York the society was enaljled to 

cclebmtion of American indepenrlence at ludepeiiilenee H.xU, I'liiladelphia, in 187S. 
Several of his occasional adilresses have been published in handsome book form. 
He was an earnest classical and biblical student ; indeed no department of lenmins 
escaped his notice, and often engaged his profound study. In 1807 Columbia ("ollcge 
conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D., and in March, 1877, the Royal 
Historical Society of Great liritain, " in consideration of his eminent services in the 
cause of historical and anti<iuarian research," elected him an Houorarj- Fellow of that 

society. 

Mr. de Peyster was married in his eaily manhood to the lovely and accomplished Jlury 
Justina Watts, daughter of .John Watts, the hist royal recorder of Xew York City. Slio 
lived only thirteen months atttr his marriage, dying on July 28, 1821. She left an infant 
sou, who is General J. Watts de Peyster. It was at Rose Hill, the country seat of this 
son,' at Tivoli on the Hudsc.u. that Mr. de Peyst.r died, after a short illness. The 
funeral services were hehl at St. Pauls Church, at Tivoli, and were conducted by the 
rector and the Rev. Dr. Dix, rector of Trinity Church, New York. 

General .1. Watts .le Peyster, his only child, has inherited his name and fortune. He 
was born in March. 1821. Ho has attained to much distinction os the author of valuable 
works on military and historical subjects. The former have won for him the warmest 
encomiums of militarj' commanders. Some years ago he wrote an interesting biography 
of the Swedish Field-Marshal Torstenson. famous in the seventeenth centuiT. So 
pleased with this biographv was Oscar I.. King of Sweden, that he expressed his pleasure 
by presenting the general with three handsome medals. Like his father. General do 
Pevster is well and honorably known, not only in the city but throughout the countr)-^ 
Three of his sons served in "the late war for the preservation of thn Republic. One of 
them. Lieutenant .1. Livingston de Peyster. had the honor of first hoisting the national 
fla" on th» caj.itol at Richmond on the morning after the Confederate government hod 
fled, which. General Grant said, " put the s-al to the termination of the rebellion. 



164 IIISTOIiY OF NEW YOIiK CITY. 

purchase the famous Egyptian collection of Dr. Abbott in lS.-)9. It is 
b}"- far the nio.st interesting collection of the kind in this countrj'. It 
contains three munnuies of the sacred bull Apis found in the tombs of 
Dashour. It is said that no other specimen of the preserved animal 
may be found in the world. The collection also exhibits some rare 
works of art, and numerous objects which illustrate the social and 
domestic life of the ancient Eg\i)tians. There are about eleven hun- 
dred and thirty pieces in the collection, every one of which is a study 
for the historian and the antiquary. 

In ISod the society determined to enlarge and extend its usefulnes; 
bv providing a public gallery of fine arts in the city of New Yo'A:. 
The plan was devised on the most liberal scale. A coimuittee on fine 
arts was appointed, and constituted a part of the administration of the 
society. The result of the labors of that committee is most satisfac- 
tory. The gallery now embraces, in addition to the society's original 
collection of paintings and sculpture, the New York Gallery of Fine 
Ai'ts, which came into the possession of this institution in 1858, through 
the exertions of the late Jonathan Sturges, an active and liberal mem- 
ber. That collection is the fruit of the taste, generosity, and mu-.ifi- 
cence of Luman Reed, an cnterjDrising merchant. 

The gallery also embraces the remaining pictures of the American 
Art Union, also the justly famous Bryan Gallery of Christian Art, so 
rich in pictures by the old mastei"s and pre-Raphaelite paintings. This 
collection was generously presented to the society in 1807 by the late 
Thomas J. Bryan, who continued to add to it until his death. The 
" Durr collection" of paintings was bequeathed to the society l\y the 
late Louis Durr, one of its members, in 1880, and was placed in the 
gallery in June, 1882. The society also possesses the original water- 
color pictures made by J. J. Audubon for his great work on natural 
history, thirteen specimens of ancient sculpture from Xineveh, pre- 
sented by the late James Lenox, and fifty-seven pieces of modern 
sculpture by Ci'awford, Bi'owne, and others. 

The entire collection of paintings and statuary belonging to the Xcw 
York Historical Society numbei-s nearly one thousand. In it may be 
seen many pre-Eaphaelite pictures, and paintings by Cimabue, Gior- 
gione, Correggio, Raphael, Titian, Del Sarto, Da Yinci, Murillo, Yelas- 
quez, Rembrandt, Paul Veronese, Pouissin, Van Dyck, and half a score 
of other renowned artists. For lack of room and good light these 
pictures appear to a great disadvantage, while the marvellous sculptures 
from Xineveh are hidden away in the crypt or basement room of the 
buildiniT- 



FiusT ni:<'Ai)i:, iwio isio. i' j 

So I'liuid lias hern tli.' aci'iiiiiiihit inii ..1' the arcliiiii- iiinl iitlior riclics 
(i-xcoptiii'T luoiu'V) of till" Historical Soiioly iluriny tin- la.st few y«u-s, 
that iar;,'iM- s|)aco and u jtosition ncan-r tli<^ ceutiv (jf the class of popu- 
lation who enjoy and would profit by such ex(|nisite pleasure as it can 
atToril has heen an ahsolutf and keenly felt necessity. It is not cmlit- 
al.le to the citizens of New Voik, so wi«lely and justly pi-aised for their 
enterprise, abountling wealth, generosity, intelligence, and aesthetic 
cultivation, to allow this venerable society, ww foui-score yeai-s of age, 
witii all its wealth of possible entertainment and instruction, to remain 
half smothered in close- (luaitoi-s, year after year, for want (^f pecuniary 
means to expand its usefuhu'ss and become one of the most attractive 
wonders of the great metropolis. It possesses an abundance of precious 
things which monev cannot buy and the world cannot alTord to lose. 

The present number of the membei-s of the Historical Society is 
about two thousand — life, resident, corresponding, and honorary. 
They embrace the best elements of society in New York. It has no 
debts, no mortgage on its building or its collections, and no outstanding 

hills.* , ,, ,. 

TuK \kw York Tvp...a;AiMiic.vL So.iktv nuiks among the older ol 
tiie benevolent institutions of New York City. It is believed to be the 
oldest benevolent a.s.sociation of printei-s in the I'nitcd States. Its 
nativity was in the year ISn',), and its natal day was the twenty -third 
annivei-sarv of the Declaration of Independence. 

The avowed object of the society was >' the relief of the indigent and 
distressed members of the as.sociation, tlieir widows and orphans, and 
othei-s who mav be foun.l proper objects of their chanty." To this 
purpose it has ijeen reli-iouslv faithful, anil its record is a noble one. 

The societv was incorporated by the Legislature of New lork in 
ISIS The late Thurlow Weed, who became a member of the associa- 
tion in Octoi)er. iSlfi, was chairman of the committee who procured 
the charter, and he would refer to it as his fti-st effort as a '' lobbyist."' 
He was then twentv-one veai-s of age. To effect its benevolent pur- 
lK)ses the societv «a.s allowed by the charter to hold real and Fi^onal 
estate to the aiAount of Sr.ooo. In case of sickmess or other disability 
a member was allowed a iirescribed sum ])er week friiin the treasury ; 
in case of death a specific sum was given toward paying the expenses 

• The officers of the society for 1883 are : Angnstns Schell. president ; Han^Uon Fish, 
first vice-president : Benjarain H. Field, second vice-president ; William M. EvarU for- 
eign corresponding secretmv : Edward F. De Lancey. domestic correspond,nR secretary . 
.\ndrew Warner, recording secretary ; Benjamin B. Sherman, treasurer ; Jacob B. Moore. 

iibrariiin. 



16C HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

of the t'mu'ral. ^[oderate siuns were allowed to widows of members, 
and to full-orphaned children of members for a short time. In no case 
has the family of a living member any claim on the funds of the society. 

The limited charter of the society was renewed in 1832, for fifteen 
yeai-s, and in April, 18-1-7, it was organized under the general law of the 
State for charitable and benevolent institutions. Its ])resent revised 
constitution has transferred the association from a relief society to meet 
the urgent necessities of the indigent and distressed into a benefit society, 
from which every mend)er, when sick, by conforming to the provisions 
of the constitution and by-laws, may draw a certain amount witliout 
regard to his jjecuniary condition. 

During its long career the 'Kew York Typographical Society has 
never failed to meet all demands against' its treasury, and has at tliis 
time quite a large fund securely and profitably invested. It also pos- 
sesses a library of over four thousand volumes, some of which are ex- 
ceeding]^'^ rare and valuable. 

For many years in the earlier period of the history of the T^qjo- 
gi'aphical Society it took part in nearly all of the civic processions. It 
bore a conspicuous part, as we have seen, in the great celebration of 
tlie completion of the Erie Canal. The last public occasion in which it 
participated was the celebration of the successful laying of the telegraph 
ocean cable between the United States and Great Britain, in 1858. 

Benjamin Franklin being recognized, by common consent, as the 
" patron ssiint" of ]n-intei"s, his birthday was honored by the Tyjio- 
graphical Society for many years, usually in the form of a banquet, 
sometimes by an entertainment. The lats "William CuUen Bryant \vas 
a favorite president at the banquets, and John Brougliam managed the 
entertainments. These have been abandoned of late years, and the 
society has taken its place among the quiet \v()rkers for the good of 
fellow-men. 

During its existence of more than half a century since receiving its 
charter the Xew York Tjqjographical Society has had only four treas- 
urer — George Mather, James Xavine, J. G. Clayton, and George 
Pareons — the latter still in office. T. C. Faulkner was its .secretary for 
twenty-one consecutive j'ears. Tlie society has embraced in its mem- 
bei"ship many who have not only reflected honor upon the jirofession, 
but upon our countrw Xow its list of membership contains the names 
of many of the most influential printere in the city.* 

* The officers of the New Y'ork Typographical Society for 1883 are : Eilward Jleagher, 
president ; .John Bnisnahan, vice-president ; George Parsons, treasurer ; K. H. Cressing- 



Kiusr PKCADK, i*;io 1H40. icr 

On tlic :'.<! nf NdvcmlxT, ls20, at tin- f)1Heo of tlip Now York ('nm- 
nieri'iiil Aili->rti.y> i\ Williiim Wmid j)()sto<l a call for a nu'otinu; of iikm"- 
chants' clerks on tlii> li»tli. at a mom in tli(> Tontine Collee-l louse, to 
consider a plan I'or estaijlisliinj; a library and reatlinj^-rooni. The call 
was addressed to " the clerks of South Stii'ct, Kront Street. Tearl 
Street, and Maiden Lane." That original " (wtster" is preserved in 
the great library, which is the flourishing product of tliat tiny germ. 

The meeting comprised about two bundled merchants" dei-ks. A 
plan wa.s agreed to. On the 2Ttli of the same month a constitutiim 
was adopted and otlicers were elected, with Lucius liull as presidi-nt. 
On the I'-'th of Feiiruary following, in an uppei- room of the building 
known as Xo. 4'.t I-'ulton Street, the ass<iciati(m was formally u.sliered 
into e.vistence, by the i)resence of one hundred and fifty membei-s (the 
total nund)ei- of subscribeis) and the deposit of about sevi-u lumdred 
volumes of books. 

The as.sociation had a feeble existence — a struggle for life — for several 
veai-s. The clerks could Jiot, for a long time, induce the merchants to 
countenance their undertaking or give them aid. At length ( ls2f>) the 
lilirary wa.s removed to the printing establishment of Harper &, 
Hrothei-s, No. S2 Cliff Street, Avhere that now great ])ublishing house 
was just feeling the peace and joy of assured business prosiwrity. 
There the association had a reading-room in connection with the 
library, which was furnished with four weekly newspapei-s and seven 
magazines. The merchants now began to take an interest in the new 
enterin-ise, and soon began to give the a.ssociation pecuniary aid. The 
vear l'^2<! was the beginning of the era of the real growth and an cver- 
e.xpanding field of usefulness for Tiiic ^[KRCAXTir.E Lii31!.\kv Assuciatiox 
(iK THE City of New Yokk. Before the close of that yeai" the lii)rary 
contained six thousand volumes. 

In 182S a se])arate organization was effected for the ])ur]Kise of erect- 
ing a building for a permanent home for the lilirary, to i)e enjoyed 
without e.x])ensc or any incumbrance, .\rthur Tap))an,* a silk mer- 

Iinm, secretary ; 0. C. Sdvage, H. Bcssey. W. Miirslmll. nnd S. F. Baxter, trustees, and 
ten directors. 

* -VrtUnr Tapjian was bom in Northampton. Mass., in May. 1786, ami died in New 
Haven, Conn., in .Tul.v, 18(i.i. He received a conimon-schonl education, was clerk in a 
hardware store in Boston, and also cngaKid with his Iirother Lewis in the dry-goods busi- 
ness in that city. Arthur finally went to Montreal, but when the war of 1812 broke out 
he went to New York t'lty, and e.st.iblished himself in the dry-ROods importing business 
in 1814. He was very prosperous, ver)' reli(»ious, and verj' benevolent. He was one of 
the founders of the .\merican Tract Society, and gave liberally to its bnilding fund. He 
gave largely toward the establishment of the Lane ll'resbyterian) Theological Seminary at 



168 HISTORY OF NEW YORK C'lTV. 

chant, lieaded a siilxscrijition witli a liberal sum. The r(>(|uireil aiiioiint 
of money was soon i-aised, a building- was erected at the corner of 
Beelanan and Nassau streets, and on November 2, 183(J, it was dedi- 
cated with the title of " Chnton Hall," in honor of De Witt Clinton, 
then the foremost man in the city and the State, and who gave the 
first book to the Mercantile Library — a " History of England." The 
persons who caused the erection of the haU were known collectively by 
the name of '' Tiie Clinton Hall Association." 

Only about twenty years afterward it was found that the accommo- 
dations in Clinton Hall were too limited for the rapidly increasing 
number of books in the library. It was observed, too, that the popula- 
tion was deserting that quarter of the cit^^ So, after much dehbera- 
tion, the association purchased the Astor Place Opera-House, which 
was fitted up with a capacity of one hundred and twenty thousand 
volumes. In ISo-i the library was moved into the new home, a dis- 
tance of two miles from its former dwelling-]ilace. Soon afterward the 
old hall was pulled down, and on its site the Nassau Bank erected a 
handsome l)uilding of light brown stone. It, too, has been pulled 
down, and in its ])lace has risen Temple Court, a lofty structure of 
brick and stone, ten stories in height, the property of Eugene Kelly, a 
banker. 

In the new Clinton HaU at Astor Place the Mercantile Libraiy Asso- 
ciation still lingers with its library, but will probably soon take another 
long stride northward, for now the centre of population is nearer Mur- 
ray Hill. Besides, even now its home is too narrow for the hterary 
family that occujMes it. At the time of the removal of the association 
to Astor Place it had a membership of about three thou.sand merchants' 
clerks, and the library consisted of about twenty thousand volumes ; in 
18S3 the number of persons entitled to the use of the library and 
reading-room— active and subscribing members, honorary members, 
editors using the library, and Clinton Hall stockholders — was about 

Cinciuimti, founded a professorshiij in Auburn Seminary, and erected Tappan HaU at 
Oberlin. With his brother Lewis, who removed from Boston to New Y'ork in 1827. he 
established the New York Journal of Commerce. He was one of the early and most vigor- 
ous opponents of slavery, and established the Emancipalor in 1833 as the organ of the New 
York Anti-Slavery Society, of which he was one of the chief founders. He was made 
president of the American Anti Slavery Society, organized in Philadelphia, to which 
for some time he gave $1000 a month. The financial troubles of 1837 ruined their 
house. Lewis established a mercantile agency, and in this business Arthur joined him 
in 1842. He had given up all his property to his creditors, and never lost his reputa- 
tion as an honest man. To the end of his life he was the same earnest and benevolent 
Christian. 



i 



FlllST DKCADK. 18:J0 1810. 101) 

seven tlioiisaiid. 'I'lie assoeiiition is clear of deltt. 'I'lie minilier of 
l)(H)lvs ill tile lilirary (lss:{) was over 200,(i()(i.* 

TiiK Amkhican I.NsrniTK of tiik City of Nicw Voi:k whs orfjanizeil 
in 1Sl>s by a few enter|)nsinf^ citizens, it is siiid. wlio met in a small 
room in Tammany Hall, coiner of S|iiuce and Nassau streets. Its oli- 
jecls were to encourage and promote domestic industry in the United 
ytates by Ijestowing rewards and other heiietits on pei-sons excelling 
or making improvements in the branches of agriculture, commerce, 
manufactures, and the arts. This is the accejited history of the origin 
of the American In.stitute. Its origin may be found in a notable move- 
ment at an curlier date. In the spring of IS2S Peter II. Schenck, the 
founder of the (ilenham Manufacturing ("oinpany, in Dutchess County. 
X. Y., issueil a call for a convention of woollen manufacturei's to 
assemble at the Eagle Hotel, in Albany. Only three ])ei-soiis responded 
to the call, namely, Peter II. Scheiick and Elias Titus, of Dutchess 
County, and William Pliillii)s, of Orange County, N. Y. Not dis- 
couraged Iiy this seeming indilference, these three woollen manufac- 
turei's organized a convention by the apjiointinent of Mr. Philiiiis 
jiresidcnt, Mr. Titus vice-president, and ]\lr. Schcnck secretary. They 
jiassed a series of resolutions, and authorized the secretary to call a 
national convention in the city of New York. It was done, and 
Clinton Hall, then lately erected, was designated as the place for the 
meeting of the convention, early in the summer. 

There was a niunerous attendance of woollen manuf:icturci-s at Chn- 
ton Hall from all jiarts of the country. They organized an association. 
Cotton manufacturers were admitted to it, and finally practitionei-s of 
all trades ; and at a meeting in the fall the a.ssociation assumed the 
name of " The American Institute," which it still beai-s.+ 

The Legislature of New York granted the Institute a charter of 
incorporation in 1829. Its fii-st ])resident was William Few. whose 

* The nssociation has hart fifty-five presidents. The officers for 1881-8-2 were : Charles 
H. Patrick, president ; A. H. Tiiiipson, vioe. president ; Eobert L. Courscn, treasurer, and 
A. Wetmore. Jr., secretary. 

f Elias Titiis was the last survivor of the three real founders of the American Institute. 
He died in .Tuly. 1880. At the time of the little convention at Albany he had just estab. 
lished a woollen-mill on VVnppinger's Creek, four or five miles from PouKhkeepsie. 
For many years i>revions to his death it was carried on under the firm name of Elias 
Titus ,V Sons. The sons still continue the business. It is a notable fact that duriutj 
the long perio.l of fifty-four years, so skilfully has tlie establishment been conducted and 
so nnsuspectod has been the b\isincss standing of its proprietors in all the vicissitudes of 
business, the mills have never su.spended work e.\ceptingin the case of an accident or for 
the purpose of making repairs. 



170 IIISTUHV OF NKW YOUK CITY. 

n:i;iio iippeai's proiniiKMit in many public niovemeTits for the l)onetit of 
soeiety at that time. John Mason was the firet vice-president. Potter 
Ellis treasurer, and Thaddeus B. Wukeman corresponding secretary. 
Mr. AVakenian was for more tluin twenty yeai-s one of the most active 
membei-s of the Institute. Indeed, he has been called the fiither of the 
American Institute. lie served it as secretary from 16-2S till ISiS, 
excepting one year. 

The first manufacturers" fair or exhibition of the American Institute 
was lielil in tlie Masonic Htill, which stood on Broailway near Peaii 
Street, and ueai-ly opposite the City Hospital. The Hon. Edward 
Everett, then thirty-four years of age, delivered the first anniversary 
address in 1829. It was a brilliant display of oratory. The address 
was published, ;ind went through two or three editions. The fair ^\•as 
a great success in every respect. 

After holding five other fairs at the Masonic Hall, it was necessary to 
liave more ample room. Niblo's Garden, on Broadway near Prince 
Street, was chosen for the puqjose. Many shook their heads in doubt 
when this spot was selected so far up town. But the fair \vas well 
attended, and the exhibitions were held there, with evei'-increasing 
popularity, until the place wa.s consumed by fire in IS-IC). 

Castle Garden, at the Battery, was next selected as the place for the 
annual exhibition, and there they were held for seven successive yeai's. 
Then the managers of the Institute took a bolder step than ^vhen they 
chose Niblo's Garden for their place of exhibition. The Crystal Pal- 
ace, built in 1858 for the exhibition of the industries of all nations, was 
standing empty. The managers of the Institute chose it for their fair 
in 1855. It was on the northern verge of the more refined society, 
occupying a portion of Eeservoir Square, between Fortieth and Forty- 
second streets. The late exhibitions had made the citizens acquainted 
Avith that remote region, and the fair was successful. In tliat "pal- 
ace" three other fairs were successively held, when, on a bright day in 
October (5th). 1858. fire assailed the building and the rich collections 
of the Amei'ican Institute, and laid them in ashes in the space of one 
hour. 

It was supposed by some that this terrible blow wouUl bt; fatal to the 
American Institute. It reeled, but did not fall. Adversity stimulated 
increased ixctivity, and to tiie surprise of many the Institute held a 
fair the next year in Palace Garden, in Fourteenth Street, on the site of 
the (pi'esent) armory of the Twenty-second Eegiment. There the 
Institute faii-s were held for several successive years, and these were 
miifonnly profitable. 




.^^.^^^_.^ 



rilSST DKJAPi:, 18 !0 1S40. 171 

For foitv yciii-s tlu- Aiiu-rieiin Instituto liad bocn :i waiKli'icv. It 
vciiriuMl fur :i homo — a inoiv s[)acious one, and |)ossilily a pcriiiainMit 
i)n«'. <»ti Tliiid Avi'inic. Ix-twi'iMi Sixty-tliinl an.l Sixty -I'ouitli stivets, 
was a large liuilding which had 1)^011 oiftted for a skating rinU. Tli?se 
promises "hi- Instituto leased in isCS. Three liuildings woiv add.-d to 
tlio rink, wlion tlie whole covemi forty building lots Ijctweon Second 
and Third avenues. There is ample space for the exhil)iti<Mis, which 
aiT kept ojK-n sovonil weeks. There is a pn>menade conceit given each 
evening during the exhiliition, which attr.icts young i)eople. 

Tlie'^)tHce and other rooms of the Institute are in the Coojier Union. 
The lilmirv, estalilished in \s:v.i by contributions of '>■■'> each from mem- 
liei-s of tlio Institute, contains over eleven tlious;ind volumes. The 
purchases of Viooks have been confined to works on agriculture, eliem- 
istry, and the industrial arts. The In.stitute is divided into three 
sections— namely, the Fanuei-s' Club, under the direction of the Com- 
mittee on A"-riculturo ; the Polytechnic Section, under the direction of 
the Committee on :Manufactures : and the Photograph ical Section, 
under the direction of the Committee on Chemistry and Optics. The 
Instituto is governed by a board of trustees, elected by the membei-s.* 

The cultivation of the fine arts had not been consiiicuous in the city 
of Xew York during the lii-st half of the present century, and oidy a 
single instituticjn professeilly devoted to the promotion of a taste for 
])ictures existed. It maintained only a feeble existence from the 
palmlum of ]niblic patronage. 

The lii-st school of art in the city was opened iibout 17!i2 by Archi- 
bald Rol)ert.son, a young Scotchman, who came to Amei-ica on the 
invitation of Dr. Kemp, of Columbia College. His advent was under 
verv favorable auspices. lie was tlie bearer of the famous box, made 
of the oak tree that sheltered Wallace, which the Earl of Buchan sent 
to President "Washington, with a reciuest that he should allow Robert- 
son to paint his portrait. The President graciously comi)Iied. He 
invited the young artist to dinner, and both he and ^Ir.s. Washington 
Silt to Robertson, who painted their portraits in miniature. That of 
Washington he copied in oil, the natural size, and sent it to the earl.. 

Young Roberts<m opened a seminary for teaching the arts of design 
in water-coloi-s an.l crayon, and called it the Columbia Academy of 
Painting. He was quite successful, and when, ten years afterwMrd, 

» The officers of the Institnte for 18S:i are : Cyrus II. Loutrel, president : Thom.vs 
llntteran.l Walter Shriver. vice-presidents : Charles McK. Loeser, secretary-, and IMxvard 

Si-hi'll. Ircnxnrf-r. 



17-.' IlISTOUY OF NEW YORK llTV. 

the association alluded to was formed for the cultivation of a taste for 
the fine arts, he assisted in the task Avith his knowledge and advice. 

This association had been suggested by Eoijert R. Livingston, who 
was the United States minister at the court of Fii-st Consul Bonaparte. 
An association was formed in 1802, and was composed chiefly of gen- 
tlemen of every profession excepting artists. John E. Murray, a mer- 
chant of taste and liberality, furnished the means for procuring from 
Europe, through Alinister Livingston, a fair collection of casts from 
antique scul])tures. The society was fully organized on December 3, 
18(t2, with Edward Li\ingston as president. It was incorporated in 
February, 1808, with the title of " The American Academy of Fine 
Arts." 

The casts that were sent over by Minister Livingston were p;irtly 
presents from Bonaparte, in acknowledgment of the comphment of hon- 
orary membership which the association had bestowed upon him. lie 
afterward sent to the Academy twenty-four large volumes of Italian 
engravings and several portfolios of drawings. 

The liberal design of the founders of the Academy to establish a 
museum of the fine arts in the city of Xew York was not carried out. 
After two unsuccessful exhibitions of the casts and a few pictm-es, the 
former were stored, and remained useless and unknown for many yeai's. 
Indeed the very existence of the Academy was ahnost. forgotten by the 
public. Finally, in 1816, an effort was made to resuscitate the Acad- 
emy. Leading citizens gave their countenance and suppoi't. Among 
the most active of these were De Witt Clinton, Dr. Hosack, Cadwalla- 
der Colden, and other influential citizens. Clinton was made president 
of the Academy. Room was procured of the city authorities in the 
old almshouse (on the site of the new Court-IIouse), and there, in 
October of that year, the casts and many excellent pictures were 
exhibited, Jose])h Bonaparte (also an honorary member) lending some 
from his rare collection for the purpose. The exhiliition was a novelty, 
and the receipts exceeded all expectation. 

Clinton was succeeded in the presidency by Colonel John TrumliuU. 
then almost seventy yeai*s of age. Trumbull inaugurated a nari'ow and 
unwise pohcy in the management of the institution, and it soon declined 
in public favor. Instead of being a school of art, it became a society 
for tiie exhibition of ])icturcs. and the same pictures were exhibited 
season after season. The novelty was gone, and the public withdrew 
its patronage. Another institution sprang into vigorous competition 
for public favor, and in a few years the American Academy of Fine 
Arts expired. 



KIKST DKCAUK, 1S:J0 I«4(). 173 

A c;itiil<>;fUi' of tlic tciitli exliihition of tlio Aincriciin Aciuleiny of 
Kiiie Arts lii-s lieforc me. It (Icnotos one liiindreil aixl lifty-six |>i«fes 
ill the exliiliition — ])aiiitings, sculpture, and eiigraviny^. Tlies*^" weiv 
mostly the same pictures that liung on the walls iu is It!. There \ver(» 
a few new ones by living artists in America. (Jf these one half were 
fiom the hand of Colonel Trumbull, the president of the Academy. 
The living local contributoi's were only sixteen in number.* What 
a contr.ist was this exhibition, less than sixty yeai-s ago, with the 
exhibitions to-day of the National Academy of tlie Arts of Design, the 
successor of the American Academy of Fine Arts. The catalogue of 
the tifty-eighth annual exhibition (1S8S) of the last-named institution 
denotes seven hundred and lorty-six pieces and four hundred and lifty- 
one artists. Not one of the pieces was ever exiiibiteil befoic. 

Tiie oHiceis of the Ameiican Academy of Fine Arts at the time of 
its demise were : Joim Trundjull, pix'sidont. and Aichibald liobertson, 
secretary and keepei-. Tiie directoi-s were : William (iracie. I'enjamin 
W. Rogei-s, Henry F. Kogei-s, Gulian (". Verplanck, Archibald Rob- 
ertson, Henry IJi-evooi-t. Jr., Samuel L. Waldo, Philip Hone. Ezra 
Weeks, William Cooper, and J. Van Rensselaer, il.D. The academi- 
cians were : -Joim Trumliuil, AVilliam S. Leney, John Macondi. Samuel 
I,. Waldo, William Duidap, Peter ^laverick, Archibald Robertson. 
Alexander Robertson, Alexander Andei-son, William Rollins, (i. 1'.. 
P.rown, A. Dickinson, John Vanderlyn. and J. O'Dcjnnel. 

* These were .John Triinil)ull. John Wc-sley .lurvis, William Diinlup, G. Jlnrsiglin, C. C. 
Inghiim. Ht'nry Iniuiin, WuMn and Jewell, Kem)>raniU I'eale, N. Rogers, James Herriiij,', 
Jr.. N. Joctl_\-n, W. Birch, Miss PciUe, William Wall, .V. B. Durand (engraving of Trmii- 
biill's " Declaration of Indi-pemlence"), and Gilbert Stuart. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE Xational Academy of the Arts of Design, it has been 
observed, was tlie competitor for public fame and the successor of 
the American Academy of Fine Arts. It was the logical pi-oduct of 
the narrow, ungenerous, and unwise policy of the latter institution. 

When Colonel John Trumbull, a soldier in and an artist of the period 
of the old war for independence, became president of the American 
Academy of Fine Arts in Xew York, on the retirement of De Witt 
Clinton, he introduced a policy which was calculated to rcpi'ess rather 
than to encourage the aspirations of those who felt the inspiration of 
inborn genius for art. Trumbull had lived to the life-period of 
"threescore and ten," and during a time when there was very little 
encouragement, either in words of praise or offerings of money, for the 
practitioner of the fine arts. Ahnost the only branch of fine art in 
America productive of a livelihood for the artist was that of portrait 
painting. It ministered to egotism, and was patronized. Therefore 
Trundnill, who aspired to the position of an historic painter, had been 
full of grievous disapjiointments ; and in comparative poverty tow- 
ard the end of his earthly life, he seems to have felt that a part of 
his future lienevolent mission in society was to prevent clever 3'oung 
men from following his unproductive profession as a vocation. To tiie 
admirable artist, the no\v venerable Weir, when the youth sliowed him 
evidences of genius and asked his advice, the veteran said, " You had 
better mal-e shoes than attempt to j^i^t them." And to the bright 
and enthusiastic boy. Agate, when the lad timidly showed the ISTestor 
some of his excellent sketches, Trumbull said, " Go saw wood !" 

Yet Truml)ull was not naturally a churl. He was a kind-hearted, 
courteous gentleman, a scholar, a true lover of art and sincere admirer 
of genius. But he had become soured by vicissitudes, and was totally 
unfitted by circumstances for the important position of chief manager 
of such an institution as he then controlled. 

Colonel Trumbull pei-sistently opposed the estal)Ushment of schools 
of art in connection with the Academy, and when the directors had 
resolved to do so, he imposed such restrictions and allowed such 



i 



KIKST DKCADK, IKW-lIrHO. iVj 

(■iiil»;irr:tssiiiciits tlial young stiulcnts wt're |triictically proliiliitoil I'roiii 
availing tlicnisclvi-s of the [trivilego of tlniwing from tlic casts in the 
Acaik'inv. It was sliimlatetl that tlii-y should ilraw only in suninior, 
and then l)i't\veen the lioui-s of six and nine in the morning. Thoso 
who attempted to comply with tiieso rules were often subjected to 
indignities at the iiands of a surly janitor, who "* put on airs" because 
he had been a •' Continental soldier," and this conduct was ever 
unrebuked by the president. 

An unwise revision of the by-laws of the Academy was maile, in 
which discriminations against professif)nal artists were so conspicuous 
that they felt sorely aggrieved. It was ilecreeil that academicians, 
not to exceed twenty in number, professional artists, should be chosen 
bv the directoi-s fn>m the stockholdei-s. As few artists were then rich 
enough to become stix-kholdei-s, the number of academicians was very 
small. Onlv three artists were allowed a |)lace in the board of eleven 
direcVoi"s, and so artists were virtually e.vcluded from the management 
of the institution. None but " artists of distinguished merit" were 
iwi-miftiil to exhibit their works, while amateurs were itii'itiil "to 
expose in the gallery of the Academy any of their performances." 
These discriminations were offensive to the artists of the city. It 
effectually l)arred all young and growing artists who were yet " un- 
known to lame" from exhibiting works in the Academy. 

At lenolh an open rupture between the city artists and the Acad(>niy 
occurred. -Vt that juncture (early in 1S2.")) a tall, slender, pei-sonally 
attractive young portrait painter wa.s among the aggrieved. He had 
struggled for existence in the city, with poverty in ob.scurity, while 
waiting for commissions ; now he was known and ])rosperous. Social 
in his instincts, kimlly in his nature, he had beheld with nmch concern 
that the artists of the city were standing apart, in an attitude of 
indifference toward each other, if not in actual antagonism. This state 
of things his loving nature deplored, and by his winning ways and manly 
words he had succeeded in bringing most of the artists into fi-aternal 
social relations with each other. This was a most auspicious circum- 
stance at this critical numient in the history of the tine arts in the city 
of New York. There was a i)erfect sympathy of feeling concerning 
the grievances of the city artists, and they were ready to act in concert 
in an effort to ])rovide a remedy f<n- them. The artist alluded to wjis 
Samuel F. B. Moi-se, afterward the famous tamer of the steeds of 
Phaethon to the common intellectual uses of man. 

Among the younger of the aggrieved artists was Thomas S. Cum- 
mimxs. a vouiig man of twenty-one years, and a student with Henry 



176 IIISTOHV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Imnan.'* In consequence of u personal affront and persistent injustice 
toward art students, young Cumniings drew up a remonstrance and 
j)etition to the directors of the Academy, setting forth in the former 
the grounds of comphiint by the artists, and in the latter pi-aying that 
students might enjoy, without unnecessary hindrance, the privileges to 
\vhich the directoi's had invited them. The petition was warmly com- 
mended by the artists. Early in the fall of 1825 many of them assem- 
bled at the studio of Mr. Moi'se, when it was concluded that further 
efforts to conciliate the directoi's and managers of the Academy would 
be useless, for there was a potent energy within the government of the 
institution inimical to the artists, and uncontrollable by the few direct- 
oi's ^vho took an active interest in its affairs. The petition was not 
presented. 

At the conference in his studio (Xo. 09 Broadway) Moi'se suggested 
that an association might be formed for the promotion of the arts of 
design and the assistance of students, composed wholly of artists, as 
such an association ought to be. This suggestion was heartily ap- 
])roved, and a formal meeting of the artists of xSew York was held on 
the evening of November 8, 1825, in the rooms of the Kew York His- 
torical Society. Asher Brown Durand was called to the chair, and 
]\rr. IVIorse was appointed secretary. At that meeting an association, 
to be composed of architects, painters, sculptore, and engravers, ^vas 
organized, and called "The K"ew York Drawing Association," with 
]\Ir. ^lorse as president. Its rules were few and simple. They pro- 
vided that its members should meet in the evening, three times a week, 
for drawing ; that each member should furnish his own drawing mate- 
rials ; that the expenses for light, fuel, etc., should be paid liv equal 
contributions ; that new members should be admitted on a majoritv 
. vote, on the payment of $5 entrance fee, and that the lamp should 



* Henry Ininan was for iimuy years the leading portrait painter of the country. He 
was born in Utica, N. Y., October, 1801. He became a pupil of John Wesley Jarvis, and 
early excelled in the painting of miniature portraits. He afterward devoted his labors 
almost entirely to the production of portraits in oil, and spent some time in Philadelphia 
and Boston in the pursuit of his profession. Failing health induced him to visit Eng- 
land in 1844, where he painted portraits of Dr. Chalmers, Wordsworth, Macaulay, and 
other celebrated men then living. Returning in 184.5 with unrestored health, he un- 
dertook to furnish the National Capitol with a series of pictures illustrating the settle- 
ment of the West, but did not complete the first one he undertook. He was a versatile 
painter. After his death a collection of one huntlred and twenty-seven of his pictures 
was exhibited for the benefit of his family. Mr. Inman was at one time vice.president 
of the National Academy of the Arts of Design. He had exquisite literary taste, and wrote 
some valuable sketches. He died in New York in .Januarv. 184R. 



KlIiST DKCADK. 18:;(l 1H|(1, 177 

lie li^'litfil at six i»\l()c-k ami cxtin^uislu'd at niiii.- o'clock in the 
I'Veiiiii;,'. 

'* Til.' Lamp I" It was a famous illuminator, whicli was extolled in 
song as 

" A bright volcnno hoisted high in air, 

Smoking like Etna, shoilding lurid light 
On gods and goddesses and lierots rare, 

Who were uniuiudfiil of their dingy plight." 

Tliis lamp was a tin can. holding about half a gallon of oil, with a 
wick f(juf inches in cliamotei-, and set upon a post about ten feet in 
height. To seeui-e sufficient light the wick was kept " high," which 
made it smoke intensely, and showei-s of lampblack fell softly on every 
object in the foom. 

The oi-gaiiizjition of the New York Drawing Association was the 
])lanting of the genn of the National Academy of the Arts of Design. 
The pi-esident of the old Academy claimed the meinbei-s of the 
Dra-ing Association as students of the elder institution. One even- 
ing, a few weeks after their organization. Colonel Trumbull entered 
their room while they were at work, took the president's chair, and 
beckoned young Cummings to him. He offered him the matriculation 
book of the Academy, with a request that he and his fellow-membei-s 
should enter their names in it as " students of the American Academy 
of Fine Arts." Cuimnings politely declined to receive the book, and 
bowing respectfully, retired. His fellow-membei-s kept on with their 
work unmindful of the veneralile intnider, who soon left the room, 
saying in a loud voice, " Young gentlemen. I have left the matricula- 
tion book ; when you have signeil it. return it to the secretary of the 
Academy." 

There was a flutter of excitement among the artists present after the 
intruder had retired. President ^Morse called the members to order, 
when the questions were discusseil : " Have we any relation to the 
American Academy of Fine Arts ? Are we its students ?" The 
a.ssociation repUed to the first question, " None whatever," and to the 
second question, " We are nof students of the Academy. We have 
been set atlrift, and we have started on our own resources." 

The die was now cast. Prompt action was necessary, and it was 
boldly taken. The few small casts which the association had borrowed 
from the Academy were sent back with courteously exjirt-.^sed thanks. 
Yet there was a strong desire to fraternize with the old institution, and 
arrano-oments to that end were made bv conference committees. It 



178 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

•\vas agreed that the Drawing Association should have six re])resenta- 
tives in the board of dii'ectoi's of the Academy. To make four of the 
six cliosen for seats, stocldiolders, to meet the requirement of the laws 
of the Academy, the amount required Avas paid out of tiie treasury of 
the association. At the election which occuiTed, a fortnight after- 
ward, only three of the six chosen were elected. 

This violation of a solemn compact, this taking their money l)y a false 
pretext, made the members of the Drawing Association very indignant. 
The last link which bound them to the Academy, by honor or courtesy, 
had been ruthlessly broken. The elected members refused to serve. 
The Drawing Association, feehng itself com])etent to form an inde- 
pendent academy, resolved to do so, and to organize a neAV institution, 
to be managed by artists alone, and founded on such liberal princi]iles 
as should tend to stimulate and foster a love for the practice of the arts 
of design. 

For this pm'pose the JSTew York Drawing Association met on the 
evening of the 14th of January, 1S2G. The president, Mr. Morse, 
after stating the chief object of the meeting, proposed a plan of organi- 
zation as follows : "Let every member," he said, "take home with 
liim a list of all the members of our association. Let each one select 
for himself from the whole list, fifteen whom he would call profes- 
sional artists, to be the ticket which he will give at the next meeting. 
The fifteen thus chosen shall immediately select not less than ten nor 
more than fifteen professional artists, in or out of the association, who 
shall with the previous fifteen constitute a body to be called The 
National Academy of the Arts of Design. To these shall be delegated 
all powei-s to manage its affaire." 

Mr. Morse, alluding to the name he had chosen for the new Acad- 
emy, said : ' ' Any less name than ' National ' would be taking one 
below the American Academy, and therefore is not desirable. If we 
are simply associated artists, their name would swallow us up ; tliere- 
fore ' ^National ' seems a proper one. As to the ' Arts of Design ' — 
painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving — while the fine arts 
include poetry, music, landscape gardening, and the histrionic arts, our 
name would express the exact chirt'acter of our institution, and that 
only." * 

Morse's plan was adopted by unanimous consent, and on the evening 
of January IS, 182(5, the organization of the Xational Academy of the 

* See "The National Academy of the Arts of Design ami its Surviving Founders," in 
Harper's Magazine for May, 1883, by Benson J. Lossing. 



I 



I'IKST DtCADE, 1^.0 I'-Ih. 179 

Arts of Design was (.•oin|iletfd by tho election of S. F. D. Moi-se |)rcsi<lcnt, 
Jolin L. Morton secretary, and A. B. Dunmd trcusuier, until a constitu- 
tion should be adopted. This was soon done, when Thomas S. Cuni- 
niings was elected treasurer, and filled that important office for fully 
forty consecutive yeai's afterward. Of the thirty artists who were its 
foundeis, only three now (ISS.'J) remain upon the earth — namely, A. 15. 
Durand, John Evei-s, and Thomas S. Cummings. The following are 
the names of tlie foundei-s : Samuel Finley Breese ^[oivie. Henry 
Innian, Asher Brown Durand, John Frazee. William "Wall, f'hailes ( '. 
Ingham, "William Dunlap, Peter ]\[averick, Ithiel Town, Thomas S. 
Cunnuings, Edward (_'. Potter, Charles C. Wright, ^^fosely J. Dan- 
lorth, Hugh Peinagle, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel Waldo, William 
Jewett, John W. Paradise. Frederick S. Agate, PiCmbrandt Peale, 
James Coy le, Nathaniel Kogere, J. Parisen, William ]\Iain, John Evei-s, 
Martin E. Thompson, Thomas Cok-. John Vanderlyn. Alexan<ler An- 
dei-son, and D. AV. Wilson. 

The new institution began its work with promptness and vigor. An 
Antique School was opened in a room jirocured of the Philosophical 
Society, and in ^^fay (lS2»>jthe fii-st exhibition of the Academy was 
opened in the second story of a house on the comer of Broadway and 
Heade Street, lighted by day with ordinary side-windows, and at night 
by six gas-burners.* The pictures were one hundred and seventy-six 
in numiier, all by living ai-tists, and never exhibited before. The pri- 
vate view of the.se pictures was attended by ( Jovernor Clinton and his 
suite, the mayor and connnon council of the city, the president and 
faculty of Columbia College, anil di.stinguished persons in New York. 
It was a fixed rule of the Academy that a i)icture shoukl be exiiibited 
but once. This insured novelty. The new institution was very popular 
from the beginning. 

The old Academy and its friends chose to consider its young sister as 
a rival, and unfair criticisms of its fii-st exhibition, ungenerous attacks 
upon the reputation of some of its membei-s, sneere concerning the 
incapacity of artists to manage business affairs, and free prophecies of 
its speedy failure and demise were seen in the daily newspapers. The 

* The introduction of illuminating gfts htid not vet become general in the city. The 
first attempt to introduce it in the United States was madu at Baltimore between 1816 
and 18'20. It wan a failure. In 1822 it was snccessftiUy introduced into Boston, and in 
182.1 the first company for its introduction into Xcw York was formed, with a capital of 
$1,000,000. It was incoqiorated as " The New York (iaslight Company." Tho people 
were slow to adopt it, and the company was not in full operation before 1827, when tho 
|iopulation of the city was about 160,000. 



180 HISTORY OF >E\V YORK CITY. 

chief luaiuigei's were spoken of as " beardless boys. " One individual, 
Avho had been denied admission to its membership because of his quar- 
relsome disposition, kept up these attacks for years, but when age and 
poverty became his companions he acknowledged his error. 

Meanwhile the old Academy was dying for want of nourishment. 
Attempts iiad been made by it to prolong its existence by union with 
its vigorous sister, but failed, and in 1841 it expired. Its statuary was 
purchased by tlie National Academy for $400. 

The National Academy of the Arts of Design was incorporated by 
the Legislature in 1 828. It was migratory from the beginning. Its 
second exhibition ^vas held over Tylee's baths, in Chambers Street. 
From 1829 for ten j^ears it occupied more spacious apartments in Clin- 
ton Hall. Then it removed to the building of the New York Society 
Library, corner of Leonard Street and Broadway, where it remained 
ten yeare. Up to that time it had struggled under a burden of debt, 
but by the skilful management of Treasurer Cummings that load was 
entirely removed, and its schools were placed in a flourishing state. A 
library had been established, and its yearly exliibitions were more and 
more profitable. 

Having purchased property on Broadway, opposite Bond Street, the 
Academy took possession of this new and more spacious home in 1849. 
After experiencing many vicissitudes, it sold this property at a profit 
sufficient to purchase the ground on which its home now stands, and 
leaving a surplus of §10,000 in the treasury. For this auspicious result 
the institution is indebted to the financial abihty and untiring and 
unselfish lalioi's of Treasurer Cummings. And had the association 
listened to and heeded his counsels, a far better location than the one 
now occupied might have been secured at a less price, at the junction 
of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. 

The corner-stone of the new Academy building was laid in the fall 
of 1862. The edifice was completed and dedicated to the Muse of Art 
in 1866, when Treasurer Cununings, seeing the institution comfortably 
housed and fairly jjrosperous, resigned his long-held office and retired 
to a pleasant country-seat in Connecticut.* 

* Thomas S. Cummiugs was l<oni cm August 2Ct, 180i. He was the only son of his 
parents. At a very early age he evinced taste and talent for art, and this was fostered by 
Augustus Earle, the" wandering artist," who found a home for a while under the roof of 
the elder Cummings, when the gifted son was about fourteen years of age. The father, 
however, had deteniiined that his son should bo a merchant, and he placed him in a 
countiug-rooiu. There lie remained about three years, dutiful, industrious, and an apt 
learner of some of the best lessons of commercial life. There lie acquired, by experience 





^ 



Y/:)^ 



FIRST Dia'APE. 1830 IS 10. 181 

The architectural style of the Academy building is called " Venetian 
Gothic," its exterior having been co[ued after a famous palace in 
\'enice. It is built of giay and white marble and l>Iuestone. The 
entire cost of the grouml and buildings was about ^2;}7,n(»i». 

The National Academy of the Arts of Design is a private association, 
mana'Ted exclusively l)y artists foi- the public good. Its means are 
devoted entirely to the cultivation of the arts of design. It comprises 
professional and lay membei-s, the fonuer being the academicians, 
associate and honorary, and the latter honorai'^' membei-s ami fellows. 
Connois.seurs, amateui-s, and all lovers of art may become fellows by 
the payment of a subscription of ^1<mi. A subscription of ^.'»i'<> consti- 

and observation, a knowledge of the iirt of Ijiisiness manngcment which was of essential 
service to hiui in nil his after life. 

But the genius of young Cnmuiings could not be confined in its aspiration to the realm 
of trade. His longings to become an artist were irrepressible, and his wise father, per- 
ceiving the bent of his desire, grutitied the youth by placing hiiu under the instructions 
of Henry Iniuan, the eminent artist m oil and water colors. The making of small por- 
traits in water-colors on ivory (called miniatures) specially delighted the pupil, and in 
verj- early life ho became one of the most eminent artists in this line then living. This 
lofty position he held until Daguerre siunmoned the sun to the realm of human art, and 
instituted him an eternal rival of artists. 

Inman and C'ummiugs were business partners for six years, when the latter abandoned 
the use of oils and devoted himself exclusively to the production of small portraits in 
water-colors. In this stylo of art he produced some admirable compositions, which were 
reproduced by some of the best engravers of that day. Among these compositions, " Tho 
Bracelet," " The Bride," and " The Exchange of Queens," were most conspicuous for 
the accuracy of drawing and their exiiuisite coloring. Equally so were his large half- 
length figures in Scotch costume, which had all the strength of oil color with the delicacy 
of the finest water-color pictures ; also •' The .\riadne' and " The Lily." 

Mr. Cummings was one of the earliest and most eflicient coadjutors of Sir. Morse in 
the establishment of the National Academy of the jVrts of Design. He was a general 
favorite with all the artists, for to his commanding talent in the profession he added an 
nrbanity of manner and a generosity of spirit that won all hearts. During his long per- 
sonal connection with the Academy as its trea.surer a period of FOUTY consecutive 
years - he was one of the most judicious, energetic, eflicient, and untiring workers in its 
behalf, as its annals fully attest. He was especially helpful (thanks to his early business 
training) when dark clouds of pecuniary embarrassment overshadowed its jirospccts at 
times. Through his skilful management for several years of property belonging to the 
Academy, on Broadway near Bond Street, he secured for it at its final sale more than 
$60,000 above its debts, with which it provided purchase money for the site of its present 
homo and building thereon. 

Tho schools of the Academy were special objects of the care of Mr. Cummings, and be 
conducted them for several years with success, on a plan of his own. He also con- 
ducted a private school for many years. Nor were his tastes or his labors confined to 
art ; scientific and literary bodies, as well as the benevolent institutions of the city, fi It 
his influence. Jlr. Cummings succeeded Professor .Samuel F. B. Morse as pr .fe-ssor 
of the arts cf design in the University of tlie Citv of New V.irk. and held ib^t^MJI n 



182 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tutes a follow in perpetuity, with powei" to bequeath its privileges for 
all time. The academicians and associates are limited in number to 
one hundred each. In 1883 its academicians numbered ninety-two, 
and its associates eighty -two. 

The ai't schools of the Academy were free until 1882. They consist 
of an Antiijue and Life school. In the latter are living models, draped 
and nude. The schools are open to both sexes. They were the 
special ol)ject of Treasurer Cummings's care during his official connec- 
tion ^vith the Academy for ftdly forty years. .Vt an early period he 
introduced a plan of his own, and conducted the instruction with great 
success. ■" 

until his retirement from the city. In lectures, essays, and other literary productions on 
the subject of art, he contributed largely. In 1865 he completed and published an 
octavo volume of three hundred and sixty-four pages, entitled " Historical .A.nnals of the 
National .Vcadeaiy of Design." This will forever remain a tru,st\voTthy history of the 
foandation and i>rogress of that institution during the first forty years of its existence. 

When in 1838 Professor Morse was ready to exhibit his electro-magnetic telegraph to 
the public, Mr. Cummings, as will be observed hereafter, was a conspicuovis witness of 
its first jiublic test, at the University. He had lately been commissioned a brigadier- 
general by Governor Seward. In military science and tactics he became very efficient. 
He passed rapidlj- through all the grades of office in the Second Regiment N, Y. S. Light 
Infantry, from ensign to colonel, and commanded it several years before he became a 
brigadier. He was regarded as one of the soundest military jurists in the country. His 
decisions, made by virtue of his olBce, though sometimes contested bj' the most eminent 
legal talent in the city, were never reversed by higher authority. 

More than thirty years ago the then Governor-General of Canada, visiting General Cum- 
mings's studio, saw a beautiful small coi^y, in water-colors by that artist, of the portrait 
of Mrs. Washington, by .Stuart, and said, " How my Queen would delight in such a picture 
of that lady I" The artist generously presented it to her JIajesty, and in due time received 
a letter of acknowledgment, with a beautiful gold medal bearing her effigy on one side. 

General and Jlrs. Cummings, who were married in 1822, are yet blessed with vigorous 
l)hysical and mental health, the love and reverence of their children and their children's 
children, and the exquisite delights of a pure and serene domestic life of more than 
sixty years. They have also been blessed with fourteen children. Of their five sons, 
only one remains. The iirst died in youth. T. Augustus became a painter of consider- 
able eminence, and died at the age of thirty-five. Henry K. became an eminent lawyer, 
and died leaving a family. Charles P. was a partner in one of the oldest and most 
respected banking houses in the city, and died leaving a family. George F., the last 
survivor of the sons, is a broker, and enjoys a high reputation in the moneyed circles of 
Wall Street. 

* The National Academy of Design has had seven presidents — namely : S. F. B. 
Morse, A. B. Dorand, Daniel Huntington, H. P. Gray, W. Page, J. Q. A. Ward, and W. 
Whittredge. The officers in 1883 were : Daniel Huntington, president ; T. W. Wood, 
vice-president ; T. Addison Richards, corresponding secretary ; H. W. Bobbins, record- 
ing secretary ; .\lfred .Jones, treasurer. These are ex-officio members of the council. 
Other members of the council are : ,T. G. Brown, S. J. Guy, E. Wood Perry, J. Q. A. 
Ward, Charles L. Brandt, and M. F. H. De Haas. 



FIHST HKCAIIK. 18;i0 1810. 183 

Almost contein|)<)mn<Miusly with tin' toiitidm;^ of the National Acad- 
emy of the Arts of Design was tlic orj^anization of tlie SUcttli Club, 
Olio of the brigiitest ami most intelU'ctual of the s<K-ial institutions in 
the city, eomposed of artists and iitcniry and scientitic men. Tlio 
Ihcad and C'lieese or r.niKli C'lui), founded l)y James Fenimoie Cooper 
and otiiei-s in lS:i4, had expired in conseijuenee of extravajj^anee, in the 
spring of 1827. It had a iiappy existence. The in.scription on a 
baby's memorial stc)iie miuiit have been a<lopted as its own : 

' ' Since I so soon am done for, 
I wonder wUiit I wns begun for." 

The Sketch Club orij^inated in tliis wise : One jileasant evening in 
May, 1S27, Messi-s. Moi-se, Durand. C'ummings, and Ingham were 
eng-aged in social chat in the Antiijue sdiool-room of the National 
Academy, over Tylee's baths. The just defunct Lunch Club was 
sixiken of, when Ingham reniarke<l, " Xow is an opportunity for the 
artists to form a club. " The suggestion met with a hearty approval, 
and it was agreed tiiat tiie four artists present, each a foun<ler of the 
Academy, should consider themselves the nucleus of such a club. The 
following week a meeting of the ]>rincipal artists and literary men of 
the city was held at the house of ^Ir. Ingham, where the Sketch Club 
was organized. Mr. Ingham was chosen president, and John Inman 
secretary. 

At that fii"st meeting the laiies for the government of tli(> club were 
discussed. The Lunch Club, at which bread and cheese were the 
ballots used wlien voting for membei-s (hence its other name), had met 
fortnightly at the old AVashington Hotel, corner of Hroadway and 
Chami)ers Street, where they were entertained at the expense of the 
host for the evening. This arningement caused a rivalry in expense, 
which led to the bi-etd<ing up of the club. It wa.s resolved by the 
Sketch Club to slum tliis dangerous rock, and it was agreed that the 
luembei's should meet at each other's houses in rotation, and to have 
the expenses as light as jiossible. It wa-s decreed that the entertain- 
ment on such occasions slioukl bo confined to dried fruit, crackei"s, milk, 
and honey. Canditlates for inembei-ship were elected by unanimous 
vote only. 

Tiio fii-st meeting of the club was at the house of Thomas Cole. 
Everything was pleasing, even the figs, milk, and honey. An intel- 
lectual ami merry company were present. The leading artists of the 
city were there, and a generous sprinkling of literary men — TT. C. 



184 HISTOKY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

Bryant, E. C. Sands, G. C. Yorplanck, Fitz-Greene ITalleck, John 
Howard Payne, James Ilillliouse, D. C. Golden, and others. 

The club was avowedly organized for the encouragement of good 
feelin"- among the menibei"s and improvement in the ait which ■was to 
be practised at its meetings, namely, off-hand sketches of any subject, 
either with the pen or pencil. Though the arts of design were never 
wholly lost sight of, they were made subser\ient to the social element 
from the beginning. 

There was mucli genuine fun — rare mingling of wit and wisdom — at 
the gatherings of the club. There were funny drawings, funny essays, 
funny sayings, funny songs, and rollicking good-hmnor. These were 
the chief features of the enteitaimnents, as the minutes of the club 
abundantly reveal. 

The " figs, milk, and honey" fare was soon abandoned for more 
generous, though not generally extravagant refi'eshments. The first 
outbreak was at the " up-town" residence of James Hillhouse, a mem- 
ber, on Broadway, between Broome and Spring streets. The hour 
devoted to di'awing had passed, and the poets and essayists had read 
their impromptu sketches, when the drawing-room doors were thrown 
open and an elegant supper appeared. There was a general protest 
against this violation of the rales. But artists and poets are mortal, 
and in less than fifteen minutes all were seated in profound harmony at 
the well-loaded supper-talile, seemingly unconscious of any misdemeanor. 
After that the i-ecords show that the members did not support existence 
on the food of John in the wilderness. On March 25, 1830, is this 
record in the minutes : 

' ' An atrocious night, but good singing and estimable oysters. Puncli 
supernatural, and fun abundant." 

Another record was as follows : '' Resumed the consideration of rail- 
roads, architecture, jJay -actors from (Tarrick and Henderson down to 
Kemble and Jefferson, miniature painters, and divers other matters of 
no less interest. At length our numbers began to diminish insensibly, 
and by a strange coincidence the club grew musical as it grew thin." 

" Song and instrumental music," says Mr. John Durand,* "often 
occur on the pages of the Sketch Club, while there are similar notices 
of stories, discussions, mirth, and philosophy. "We find Mi-. Bi-yant 
pi'opounding ' a sage notion that tlie perfection of bathing is to jump 
head foremost into a snow-bank.' Scientific inspiration shows itself 
on this question : ' Does heat expand tin; days in summer ? ' Mr. 

* " Prehistoric Notes of the Century Club." 



riliST DKCADK, lS:ill-lSIO. 185 

Ver|)laiick llirows aiiti()tiari;in lijrlit on ' lli«> pi-.-cis.- form ami capacity 
of antediluvian Initter-fhurns." '" 

The SUctcli Clul) was reorgani/.cil in ^^41. under tiie title of The 
Artists' Sketeli CMub, and was really a more i)r<jfessional organization 
than the old one, retainiuf;-, however, the literary and s«K-ial elements 
in its memhei-shi]). It existed two or three yeai-s, when its m.-mbers 
founded the now famous t'entury Club of New York. 

TuK Bkkad AM) CuKKSK or Ian( II Cm B has been alluded to. Its 
membership embniced men who were conspicuous in the world of 
lettei-s. the ju-ofes.sions, and in juiblic life. The club met bimonthly at 
the AVa.shinjrton Hotel, and there they fre(|Uently entertained distin- 
guished guests. To this club the late Ih: John AV. Francis belonged. 
■^^ Our most renowed poet" [among the membei-s] wrote Dr. Knincis, 
" was Fitz-Cireene Ilalleck ; our greatest naturalist was Dr. James E. 
De Kay ; * AVilliam and John Duer were among the representatives 
of the bar ; Reuwick of philosophy ; lettei-s found an associate in 
yeri)lanck and Charles King ; merchants in Charles A. Davis and 
I'hilip Hone ; and politicians who had long Iiefore discharged their 
public trusts weiv here and thei-e chronicled in fellowship. The mect- 
mcrs (or lunches) of the club were often swelled to quite formidable 
assemblies, by mendjers of Congress f and other distinguished public 

men. 

Dr. Francis relates the following circumstance in connection with the 
Bread and Cheese Club. A theatrical benefit had been announced at 
the Park Theatre ; the play was IIamI<1. A sul)ordinate of the 
theatre came in haste to Dr. Francis's office for a skull, and he was 
compelled to lend that of his old friend George Frederick Cooke, the 
actor. " Alas, poor Yorick !" It was returned in the morning. The 
ensuing evening there was a meeting of the Bread and Cheese Club. 
The circumstance became known t<i the membci-s, and a general desire 
was expressed to investigate phrenologically the skull of the eminent 
actor. It was taken to the club by Dr. Francis. Daniel Webster, 
Ileiu-y Wheaton, the eminent writer on the " Law of Nations," and 
other distinguished pei-sons were present, and joined in the investiga- 
tion in accordance with th<> teachings of craniological science. 

* A pleasant nneodoto is related of Hallock and De Kay. They were both smitten by 
the eharnis of a yoiins lady, and both i.ai.l court to her. Their nvaliy «a« warm, bnt 
good-natured, ilnlleck. doubtfnl and iu.pulKive. said to her one day, " Tell me. please, 
would you rather have Fitz or go to Do Kay r ' " Go to De ICay," was the reply. Fitz 
remained a bachelor. 

t " Old New York," by John \V. Francis, M.D., p. 291. 



186 HISTORY OF NEW VoRIv C'tl Y 

" Coo])ei'," says Francis, " felt as a cDadjutKr <>f All)inus, and Cooke 
enacted a great part that night. ' ' 

Club life had not then become so conspicuous a social feature in Neu- 
York City as it was a few years later, and is now. There had been 
now and then a club in the city since colonial times. About 1 75() there 
Wiis a convivial club of which John Bard, Cadwalladcr D. Colder., 
Leonard Cutting, and others wei'e members, and they were occasionally 
iionored by the pi'escnce of men like Dr. Franklin and Chief-Justice 
Cliew, of Philadelphia, and other distinguished persons from abroad. 

In 1776 the Social Club was created in Xew York, composed of 
leading Tories, such as President Miles Cooper, of King's CoUeo-e, 
Lieutenant-Ciovernor Colden, Dr. Glossy, and after possession of the 
city was gained by the British, it was swelled by army officers, among 
them Sir Henry Clinton and General Robertson. 

After the peace no other social club appeared until the Tammany 
Society or Columbian Order arose, in 1789. The Belvidere Club was 
orgjinized on the arrival of "Citizen" Genet, the Girondist of the 
French Revolution. It was vehement in the promotion of democratic 
doctrines. One of its members, a bookseller named Reed, had the 
head of Thomas Paine painted on his sign. At about the same time 
The Friendly Club sprang up, under the leadership of General Laight. 

A literary club called the Drones, a society for the cultivation and dif- 
fusion of lettere, appeared about 1792. Every member was to be recog- 
nized by proofs of authorship before admission. Among the members 
the famous Dr. MitchiU was conspicuous. The last survivor of the 
Drones was the late Chancellor Samuel Jones. Law, medicine, and 
divinity liad each their rejiresentatives among the Drones. Samuel Mil- 
ler, Josiah Ogden Hoffman, John Blair Lewis, Charles Brockden 
Brown, and John AVells were members of the club. Through the 
medium of the club Dr. MitchiU addressed the ladies on the value of 
whitewashing as among the most imjiortant of the liygienic arts in 
housekeeping, and showing that the alkalies are powerful conservators 
of health. 

Of club life in Xew York more will be said hereafter, liut before 
leaving the topic let us notice three social-l)enevolent institutions 
characterized by the features of separate nationalities— namely, the 
St. George's Society, the St. Andrew's Society, and the Fi-iendly Sons 
of St. Patrick, or St. Patrick's Society. These still flourishing associa- 
tions were in existence before 1830. 

The St. Georgk's Society was established in the city of New York 
in the year 1786. There had already existed a similar society with 



FIRST DKCAUK, ia'30-1840. 187 

similar uiiiis hcforc tlic <il(l war for in(l(']M'ntU'iico. Tlial war liail 
c:ius('(l the (lisiiicinlx-rinfnt of tlio iJiitisli Kiiipii-e. Native Englisliiiu-n 
wlio had (Ictoniiined to make tlio city of Xcw York thoir permaiiont 
liom(> could not ivpross tlieir affoc-tioiiate rcMiu'iiihi'iiiife of their native 
land and ]>eo|ile, and their hearts ywirncd to give aid and assistance to 
those in distress who should come to our shoivs. Out of this desire 
arose the St. George's Society, three veal's after the pesK-e l)etween the 
United States and ( Ji-eat Britain. 

The most prominent man in the organization of the St. George's 
Society wiis John AVilkes, " a true-born Englishman, with a heait full 
of kindness, and abounding in all the social affections, whose worth, 
justly appi'eciated as it was by numen)us and respectai>le connections, 
.soon crc^atc>d sub.scribei-s to the constitution. " Englishmen of charac- 
ter coming to Xew York almost without c^xception became niembei-s, 
either permanent or honorary, acconliug as their residence was either 
fi.xed or transient. The Rev. Dr. Mcwre, afterward bishop of the 
Diocese of Xew York, w<is also an early, efficient and cheerful mem- 
ber, pei-sonally assisting in all the work of the Charitable Committee. 

The fii"st president of tlie society was Goldsbrow ]>anyer, an English- 
man by birth, and an active public man. The seal it adopted bore the 
expivssive motto, " Let mercy be our boast, and shame our only fear," 
and is indicative of its long career of usefulness. 

During the prevalence of the yellow fever in X'ew York in ls2:>, the 
records of the socit^ty were hastily removed to a place aliove t'anal 
Street. Their " Book of ilinutes" was lost, and has never been recov- 
ered, so that the detailed history from Mr. Banyer's election to the 
l)residencv until 1S24 is known only in vague recollection. It is known 
that until that time >[r. Banyer liad six successors, and that the good 
work of the society went steadily on. 

The present charter of the society was granted by the Legislature of 
X'ew York in ^March, 1S3S. Its constitution declares the object of the 
society to be to '' afford relief and advice to indigent natives of Eng- 
land and the British colonies, or to their wives, widows, or children in 
the cities of X'ew York and Brooklyn, and to promote social intercouree 
among its members. The property and income of the society can only 
b3 expended in charity. The persons eligible to membership are: a 
native of England, a son of a native, a grandson of a native, British 
ofHcei-s and their sons wherever born, natives of any of the colonies, 
territories, or dependencies of Great Britain. 

The society had, in 1SS2, nearly one hundred pcnsionei-s, who were 
paid monthly. Aid had l>een , afforded to lS4fi transients ; 3fi62 meal 



188 HlSTOltY (IF NKW YORK CITY. 

and 1223 lodo-ing tickets had been distributed ; 15 situations liad been 
procured ; IS had been aided in getting to this country, and 174 to 
return to England.* 

The St. Axdrkw's Society of the State of Xe^Y York \Yas instituted 
in the city of Ke\Y York in November, 1756, and is one of tiie oklest 
existin"- benevolent societies in the State or in the Republic. Several 
gentlemen, natives of Scotland and of Scottish descent, met and agreed 
to form themselves into a society for charitable pm-poses. They adopted 
a constitution, and elected Philip Livingston president. Dr. Adam 
Thompson vice-president, ]\Ialcohn Campbell treasurer, Richard Morris 
secretarv, and David Johnston, Alexander Colden, Dr. James Murray, 
and Dr. "William Fai'quhar, assistants. 

Tlie objects of the society were the proiuoti(ju of social and friendly 
intercoui'se among the natives of Scotland in America, their connec- 
tions and descendants, the relief of the worthy distressed, and finding 
employment for the industrious pooi-. In this work the society con- 
tinued until the war for independence broke out. Then the public 
meetings of the society were suspended, and its work was done more 
by indej)endent individual action than by the organized society. Its 
records from 1775 to 1784 are lost. 

When peace came the work of the society was revived in all its 
wonted vigor. Its fonner constitution was revised and amended, and 
from that time imtil now it has never flagged in the faithful jierform- 
ance of its ]irescribed duties. The duties of the managers became more 
and more arduous as the city rapidly increased in population, for the 
objects of their care were scattered over a large and continually widen- 
ing space. To relieve them an almoner was appointed in 1841, and 
that measure has proved very beneficial. The ahnoner visits in pei*son 
every applicant, and reports to the managers. By that means all 
frauds are prevented and monej'^ most judiciously distributed. 

The administration of the charities of the St. Andrew's Society is 
similar to that of the St. George's Society. During the year ending 
November, 1882, SloS applications were attended to and favors ba- 
stowed, and in 92 cases aid had been afforded to ])ersons to reach some 
other part of the country. The numlier of the members of the society, 
honorary, life, and resident, is 357. The anniver.sary dinner has 
always been regularly held, excepting during the Civil War. This 



* The officers of St. George's Society for 1882 were : F. W. J. Hurst, president ; 
Edward Hill and Kichard J. Cortis, vice-presidents : John G. Dale, treasurer, and .Alex- 
ander E. Tucker and F. G. Richardson, secretaries. 




Cr r Ua H\. \ c V'. oiuiKi^ <^ "^ V 1 



riRST DECADK, 1830-1840. 189 

dinner i.; piutiikcn of on St. Andrew's day, wlion each nicnil)or aiipeai-s 
with Ji St. Andrew's cross or a tiiistlc displayed on the left hi-east. 
None but Scotsmen and the sons and grandsons of a native of Scotland, 
or the sons of a resident nicniber.- may l)e admitted as sucii.* 

Tni; S(K ii:ty ok inK FiMKNtn.Y Sons of St. P.vtkrk is one of the old 
social-benevolent institutions of the city. It appeai-s to be the suc- 
cessor of the Friendly P.rothei-s of St. Patrick, which existed previous 
to the old war for independence. Like other similar organizations, its 
work and its records appear to hav(^ suffered from the confusion of the 
war of the Ptevolution. It ieapi)eared after that event, and was 
reorganized in 17S4. 

According to Ilardie. there was a sfx-iety in Xew York "composed 
chietlv of natives of Ireland," formed in ISl.j, called the Shamrock 
Friendly Association. Its object was to befriend Irish emigrants on 
their arrival in the United States by giving them useful information 
and jM'ocuring them employment. Their views and benevolent offices 
were " not coniined to country, politics, or religion," said Ilardie, who 
wrote in l^^:it! ; "it is enough that the a])plicant is a .straiifjrr to insure 
him protection." 

This was ])robably the old society of Irishmen bearing a new name, 
and which was linally incorporated by act of the Legislature of Xew 
York, passed February 1:5, 1827, with its present title (17S4)of The 
Society of the Fi-iendly Sons of St. Patrick. Tliis title api>ears to be 
the one it assumed at its reorganization in 1784. It proposed to cele- 
brate its centennial anniversary on the 17th of March, 1884. 

In compliance with one of its by-laws, adopted in 1832, the members 
of the society meet in social intercoui-se at dinner on St. Patrick's day, 
each year, " the annivei-sjiry of Irelantrs tutelar sjiint," as the law 
expresses it. These dinners have always afforded the most pleasant, 
witty, and agreeable social gatherings of the kind in the city. Perfect 
harmony prevails at these dinnei-s, iis well as at the meetings of the 
society. This is due to the fact that the a.ss(X-iation is composed of 
different religious denominations and of different ]>olitical views. At 
the meetings of every kind the subjects of religion and politics are 
never discussed, only the charitable anil social objects of the scx-iety. 
To this feature is du - t!ie long and healthful life of the association. 

* Tho officers of the St. jVndrew's Snciety for 18S3 iire : Walter Watson, president ; 
Brjc-e Gray and James Fraser. vice-presidents ; .1. Kennedy Tod. treasurer : Walter C. 
lirand, secretary, and William Gordon, assistant seeretjiry ; .John Paton, William K. 
Paton, John Mackay, Thomas Henderson, Jr., Robert H. Robertson, and William Lyall, 
managers. 



190 mSTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Out of tlie Society of the Friendl}' Sons of St. Patrick grew the 
present Irish Emigi-ant Society and the Emigrant Industrial Savings 
Bank, now one of the largest savings institutions in the city. Prior to 
the organization of these institutions the St. Patrick's Society, com- 
monly so called, was very active in extending charitable aid to indigent 
])ei'sons of the Irish race in the city, especially in aiding emigrants 
ujwn their arrival in this country in finding emplopnent. That duty 
is now discharged by the commissioners of emigration, of which the 
president of the Irish Emigrant Society is one.* 

TuE LrncKAKV Axn Philosoi'hical Society of New Yokk, founded in 
1SI4, was composed of scientific and literary gentlemen. Among its 
foundei-s were De Witt Clinton, Dr. Hosiick, Dr. Mitchill, Dr. 
Macneven, Dr. Francis, Dr. Griscom, and others. Francis had just 
returned from Europe, and brought with him nmch knowledge of 
scientific facts and current history of philosophy abroad, derived from 
acute obsei'vation. Clinton was cliosen the first president of the 
society. It gathered a valuable library, and flourished for many years 
among the useful institutions of New York City. 

Tue Lyceum of Xatlral History was also a flourishing institution at 
the time we are considering. In its origin it was a private association of 
young gentlemen who held meetings occasionally in one of the lecture- 
rooms of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. It was incorporated 
by an act of the Legislature passed April 20, ISIS, and was furnished 
by the city authorities Avith a suite of apartments in the Xew York 
Institution. It soon formed quite an extensive cabinet, and before the 
year 1S30 no collection in the country was richer in the departments of 
herpetology and ichthyology. It had gathered an extensive collection 
of fossils from Euro))e, nearly a whole skeleton of a mastodon, and 
large portions of the only North American specimen of tlie mega- 
therium which had hitherto been discovered. It had recently estab- 
lished a new department of comparative anatomy, and was rich in 
cranial illustrations of ethnology. The presidents of the institution 
down to 1S27 were Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill and Dr. John Torrey. 

The Lyceum of Natural History is now situated on Madison Avenue, 
and besides a good library has a collection of more than three thousand 
specimens of plants. 

The New York Athen.eum, alluded to in connection with the New 

* The officers o£ the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick for 1882-83 were : 
Charles P. Daly, president ; John Savage, first vice-president ; Robert Sewell, second 
vice-president ; William Whiteside, treasurer ; John lIcK. McCarthy, secretary ; Eugene 
Kelly, almoner ; E. A Caldwell, M.D,, physician 



FIWST OEfAIiK. ISIiO lH4n. 191 

York Ilistoric-.il Socioty, was foundcil on llic lirst of .Fiiiu'. 1S24. Tntil 
that time Now York was probably tlie only city of ecjual si/x- in the 
world in which an assiK-iation foi' tlu' promotion of the iiighcst cultiva- 
tion in science, art, ami literature combined might not he found. For 
the nol)le puq^se of creating such an institution, and with the laudai)le 
ambition to make it the leading society of the kind, distinguished mem- 
bei's of the jtrofessions, of the arts, and of literature in the city associ- 
ated, under the title of The New York Atheiueum. 

The ass(K;iation consisted of resident and li(mo7-ary mcndx^-s. the 
former divided into foui- classes, namely— associates, patrons, govern- 
ors, and subscribei-s. From these classes the funtls for carrying on 
the societv were derived. It was decreed tluit '^•2^»* constituted a 
natron, :^li«t a gt)vernor, $5 an assoeiate. '^'2^^ antl slo a subscriber, tlie 
latter class being divided into two kintls. The §L'n contributors were 
entitled to tickets oi admission to the lectures, library, and reading- 
room for himself anil family ; the ^lt» subscribei-s were entitled to these 
privileges for himself only. The jiatrons anil governoi-s were each 
entitled to three transferable tickets of admission to the lectures, the 
library, and the reading-room, and other tickets for the membei-s of 
their families. The patrons constituted a board, and had absolute con- 
ti'ol of the funds of the association, no part of which could bo appropri- 
ated without their sanction. 

The librarv was to comprise, when complete, all the standard 
elementai'v works of science and literature of every civilized nation, 
ancient and modern. Monthly lectures were to lie given. oi>en to both 
sexes. The Athenanim was fully ei}uipi)eil for operatirjns in is2ti, and 
arranged the following scheme of lectures for that year : Roman Lit- 
erature, Pi'ofessor Charles Anthon ; Phrenology. Dr. Charles King ; 
Taste and I'.eauty. Professor .Tolin :\IcVickar ; The Revival of Classical 
Literature, Richard Ray ; Cliemistry. Profes.sor James Renwick : 
Commerce, .lohn Hone. Jr. ; Painting, Samuel F. B. Moree ; Political 
Economy. William Beach Lawrence ; Poetry. William Cullen Bryant : 
Oriental Literature, the Rev. John Frederick Schroeder ; Annivei-sary 
Discourse, the Rev. James 'SI. Mathews, D.D. 

After engaging for more than twenty years in its useful laiwi's. and 
accomplishing a va.st amount of .social lienefit by infusing the hard 
materialism of purely commercial life with the .spirituality and ameni- 
ties of intellectual culture^ and taste, the institution was merged into 
the New York Society Lii)rary in 1S3S, which became the i-ecipient of 
its collection of valuable books. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

AMONG the more important institutions in om' country founded 
for the diffusion of rehgious knowledge and the principles of 
Christianity, and the spiritual enlightenment of mankmd, which may 
claim the city of Kew York as the place of their nativity jjrevious to 
the year 1830, are the American Bible Society, the Missionary Society 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Xew Yoi'k Bible Society. 

The first Bible society in the United States was instituted at Phila- 
delphia in 1808. Others were instituted the next year in Connecticut, 
^Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. These local societies 
rapidly increased and were necessarily feeble, working under serious 
disadvantages. At the head of the New Jereey Bible Society was the 
earnest pati-iot and Christian, Elias Boudinot, of Burlington, and in 
1815 that society proposed a plan for a National Bible Society, and 
notice was given of a convention to be held in the city of New York on 
the 8th of May, 1816, to consider the plan. 

The convention assembled at the ai)pointed time in the consistory 
room of the Reformed Dutch Church, in Garden Street, New York. 
It was composed of delegates from thirty-five local Bible societies, be- 
sides four representatives from the Society of Friends or Quakers, mak- 
ing sixty in all. The convention was organized by the appointment of 
Joshua M. "Wallace, a delegate from the New Jersey Bible Society, as 
president, and the Rev. J. B. Romeyn, D.D., and the Rev. L\nnan 
Beecher, D.D., secretaries. After full and free discussion the com- 
mittee 

^^ Resolved, Tliat it is expedient to establish, ^vithout delay, a gen- 
eral Bible institution for the circulation of the Holy Scriptures without 
note or comment." 

A constitution was then adopted, and an address to the people of the 
United States was ordered to be printed and sent out into all parts of 
the Republic ; executive officers were chosen, an energetic board of 
managers were aj)i)ointed, and the American Bible Society began its 
useful and wonderful career of benevolence.* 

* The following gentlemen, sixty in number, were members of the convention which 
formed the .\merican Bible Society, to wit : Eev. John Bassett, D.D., Bushwick. N. Y. ; 



KIliST DKCADE. 1830 1840. 193 

Tlio constitutitin of tlio society was drawn l)y an alilc coinniittc«', 
c-oniposoil of till' Kl'V. Di's. >>ott. Mason, liL't'chav, Kice, Moi-sc, and 
l>lytlie, tilt- IvL'v. ^k'ssi-s. AVihnur and Jones, the Hon. ilessi-s. Samuel 
Hayaixl and AVilliain Jay, and Mr. Charles Wright. Tiie jiowerl'id 
address to the people of the United States was written by the liev. Dr. 
John ilason, and was sent out. witii the constitution, to every part of 
the country. The Hon. Elias Boudinot was elected the (ii"st president 
of the society. Its affaiis are managed by executive otticei-s and a 
boaril of manager's, the latter consisting of thirty-six laymen, one 
fourth of whom go out of office e4ich year, but are re-eligible. Since 
its organization it has had nine presidents and one hundred and 
fourteen vice-presidents. The presidents were elected in the following 
order of time : Elias Boudinot, ISHi ; John Jay, 1821 ; Kicliaitl 
Yarick, 1S2S ; John t'otton Smith, 1831 ; Theo<lore Frelinghuysen. 
184t: ; Luther Bradish, 18fi2 ; James Lenox, 18(14 ; "William IL Allen, 
LL.D., 1872, and S. Wells Williams, LL.D., 1881. 

At the outset the scx-iety encountered the strong opposition of Bishop 
John Henry Htjbart, of tlie Protestant Episcopal Church, who was the 

Snmuel Biiytird, Princeton, N. J. ; Rev. Lyman Beecher, secretarj' of the convention, 
Litchfield, Conn. ; Thomns J. Biggs, Nassau Hall, Princeton, N. J. ; Kev. Samuel Blatch- 
ford, D.D., Lansingburg, N. V. ; Kev. James BIythe, D.D., Lexington, Ky. ; Rev. David 
S. Bogart, Long Island, N. Y. ; Rev. .John 11. Bradford, D.D., .Ubany, N. Y. ; William 
Burd, Lynchburg, Va. ; John E. Caldwell. New York ; Levi Callender, Cat.skill, X. Y. ; 
Kev. John Chester, Albany, N. Y. ; Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Chambcrsburg, Pcnn. ; 
Rev. Eli F. Cooley, Cooperstown, N. Y. ; James Fenimore Cooper, Cooperstown, N. Y'. ; 
Orrin Day, Catskill, N. Y'. ; Thomas Eddy, New Y'ork ; Henry Ford, Cayuga County, 
\. Y'. ; Rev. Robert Forrest, Delaware County, N. Y'. ; John Griscom, New Y'ork ; Rev. 
James Hall, D.D., Statcsville, \. C. ; Rev. J. P. K. Henshaw, Baltimore, Md. ; Joseph C. 
Ilorublower, Newark, N. J. ; Rev. Heman Humphrey, Fairfield, Conn. ; William Jay, 
Bedford, N. Y. ; Rev. David Jones, Newark, N. J. ; Rev. Isaac Lewis, D.D., Greenwich, 
Conn. ; General John Linklaen, Cazenovia, N. Y. ; Rev. John ilcDowell, Elizabethtown, 
N. J. ; Rev. John M. Mason, D.D., New York ; Rev. Philip Milledoler, D.D., New York ; 
Rev. Jcdediah Morse, D.D.. Charlcstown, Mass. ; Valentino Mott, M.D., New York : 
William C. Mulligan, New York ; John Murray, Jr.. New York ; Rev. John Neil. D.D., 
Albany, N. Y. ; Rev. Eliphnlet Nott, D.D., Schenectady. N. Y. ; Rev. Andrew Oliver, 
Springfield, N. Y. ; Isaac W. Plntt, Nassjin Hall, Princeton, N. J. ; Rev. Alexander 
Proudfit, D.D., Salem, N. Y'. ; Rev. John H. Rice, Richmond, Va. : Rev. James Rich- 
ards, D.D., Newark, N. J. ; Rev. John B. Komeyn, D.D., secretarj- of the convention, 
New York ; Jnslina Sands, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Rev. Gilbert H. Sayrcs. Jamaica, N. Y'. ; 
Robert Sedgwick, New York ; Ichabod Skinner, Connecticut : Rev. Samuel Spring, D.D., 
Newburyport, Mass. ; Rev. Gardiner Spring, New York ; General Joseph G. S\rift, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Rev. N. W. Taylor, New Haven. Conn. ; Adrian Van Sinderen, New- 
town, N. Y. ; Guy.sbert B. Vroora, New Y'ork ; Joshua M. Wallace, president of the con- 
vention, Burlington, N. J. ; Henry W. Warner, New York : Rev. John Williams, New 
York ; William Williams, Vernon. N. Y'. : Rev. Simon Wilmur. Swedesboro", N. J. ; Rev. 
George S. Woodhull, Cranberry, N. J. ; Charles Wright, Flushing. N. Y. 



194 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

recognized liead of the U\gh Church party. In a ])astoi'al letter, dated. 
April -i, 1S15, on Bible and rra^'er-book societies, the bishop warned 
Episcopalians against deserting the separate management of their 
respective concerns, to unite with those Avho did not value the apostolic 
and primitive characteristics of their church. 

The bisho]) was answered by AVilliam Jay, of Bedford, also an 
earnest E))iscopaliau, who took the ground that it was the interest 
and the duty of churchmen to unite with others in the distribution of 
the Bible, ilr. Jay was one of the most active meiubei-s of the 
American Bible Society. The controvei'sy thus opened was vigorously 
renewed the next year by the same gentlemen. 

The society is strictly unsectarian, and issues the Scriptures in all 
languages, witliout note or comment. For twentj'-five year's after its 
organization it prosecuted its work without being incorporated, with 
great inconvenience, and often at the imminent peril of its highest 
interests. On March 25, 1841, the Legislature of the State of New 
York granted it a charter, and by special acts afterward gave it permis- 
sion to buy, hold, and convey real estate. It is legally quahfied to 
guard every trust committed to it. It has on its register about two 
thousand auxiliary societies. 

During the earlier j^ears of its life the American Bible Society was 
migratory, first occupying a room in the City Hospital ; then in the 
City Hall ; then a place in the rooms of the Xew York Historical 
Society ; then in the office of its agent, corner of Xassau and Cedar 
streets ; then a room seven by nine feet square, in the printing-office in 
Cliff Sti-eet ; then in a room twenty feet square, in the rear of the 
Merchants' Exchange ; and after other removals it settled down in a 
building of its own in Nassau, near Beekman Street. The operations 
of the society increased rapidly. More room was necessary. Land 
was purchased at Eighth Street, between Third and Fourth avenues, 
and there the corner-stone of the present Bible House was laid, on June 
29, 1852. The edifice, built of brick, six stories in height, and occupy- 
ing a whole square, was completed and occupied the following year. 
The funds for the erection of this imposing structure were free-will 
offerings of friends of the institution. Not a dollar raised for jjubhca- 
tion and distribution of the Scriptures was invested in it. 

The working force at the Bible House is divided into executive and 
manufacturing. About three hundred persons are employed. The 
motive power is a sixty-horse power engine, which moves presses that 
print about two million Bibles a year. There is also a Bible for the 
blind, printed in raised letters. 



I'lUSr KKCAKK. lH3(t-l»10. 195 

Till- tiital i'ccci|its of tli(> SMcicty ti> the clnso oi the (is04i,l yoar I'lulinj^ 
>raivli .il, 1^>^L'. wero s:iu, . •','.•!', (tdo, of wliicli iiiiiouiit So,4iMi,on(i wtMi> 
lic(|uc.sts fidiii iiioiv tlinn tlircc tliousand immsoiis. Thu total iiuihImt of 
volumi's issued \>y the socii-ty to the samo date was 4(i,4nT..')-^4. A 
large i)roj)f)rtion of tlicse wtjre distrilmtod among tlie soldiers of the 
army and seamen ; in hotels, railways, anil steaml>oats. criminal and 
humane institutions, immigrants, and among the destitute poor. The 
society has circulated the I'iiiie in more than eiglity ditFcrent languii^^cs 
and dialects.* 

Xew York City is the hirthplace of the Misshi.nakv S.k iktv hv iin: 
Mianoinsr Ei'is<di-A[, f'ui ucii in the United States. 

One Sunday in the year ISHi, ^^arcus Lindsjiy was preaching in 
Marietta, Ohio, when a colored man named Stewart was converted. 
While praying in tiie fields afterward Stewart heard a voice, like that 
of a woman, calling to him from the north-west to preach the gospel. 
Heoheyeil. "With a knapsiick he travelled along roads and through 
the woods until he came upon some Delaware Indians who were pr<'- 
|)aring for a dance. He captivate<l them by singing a hnnn, and then 
he pn?ached to them. He went on farther toward the north-west until 
he reached I'pper Sandusky (now rremonti. where the voice that 
seemed to call him forward ceased. 

At the house of the agent of the AVyandots at Sandu.sky, Stewart 
met Pointer, a backsliding ilethodist Indian, whom he had known in 
Kentucky. The evangelist said to him : 

•• To-morrow I must ])reach to these Indians, and you must inter- 
pret." 

'■ How can I, witliout religion, interpret a sei-mon '." said Pointer, 
bursting into tears. 

After a night of prayei-. Pointer was on hand the ne.xt day, when 
Stewart preached. The congregation consisted of one old squaw. 
Stewart preached faithfully. The next day a man came with the squaw. 
The following day eight or ten were there, and soon they wei'c listen- 
ing in crowds. There were many conversions. This extraortlinary 
occurrence was noised abroad. The Church throughout the land was 
jleeply stirred. The liar\-est among the barliarians of the forest seemed 
waiting for the sickle, and the " ])rotracted meeting" at ITpiKjr San- 

* Tho president of the American Bitilo Society is S. L. Willinms, LL.D., of New Hnven, 
Conn., assisteil by thirty-two vioe-jiresidentji in vnrions States of tbe Republic. Its hc.-- 
retaries i\re the Rev. Drs. Edwnrd W. Gilinnn, .Mexamler McLean, and .Vlbert S. Hnnt ; 
its assistant treasurer is Andrew L. Taylor, auil its general agent is Caleb T. Rowc. 1' 
lias thirty-four iimnagers. 



196 HISTUUY OF NEW VUHK CITY. 

dusky led to the fonuation of the ^fissionary Society of the Metliodist 
Episcopal Church three years later. 

An enterpiisiiig young merchant in Xe^r York City (Gabriel P. 
Disosway) went to the llev. Nathan Bangs * and pleaded for the 
immediate organization of a missionary society such as other denomina- 
tions had formed. Mr. Bangs was cautious. He conferred with the 
Rev. Joshua Soule. Tlie ])roject was favorably considered. Men at 
the West j)leaded. The matter could not be postponed. Local mis- 
sionary societies \vere spi-inging up. 

New Yoi'k City then constituted one ch'cuit. The preacher in charge 
met the preachei's in weeldy conference. At one of these meetings 
the Rev. Xatiian Bangs, Freeborn Garrettson, Samuel Merwin, Joshua 
Soule, Thomas ilarvin, Laban Clark, Seth Crowell, Samuel Howe, and 
Thomas Tliorj^e were present. It was resolved to form a missionary 
society. A committee (Clark, Bangs, and Garrettson) drafted a consti- 
tution, wliich was subsequently submitted to a public meeting of the 
church and friends of missions in the Foi*syth Street meeting-house on 
the evening of April 5, 1819. The house was filled. The Rev. Nathan 
Bangs was called to the chair, and Fi-ancis Hall was appointed secre- 
tary. On motion of Freeborn Garrettson, it was 

" Itesolwd, That it is expedient for this meeting to form a Mis- 
sionary and Bible Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
America. ' ' 

The constitution was amended and adopted, subscriptions were re- 
ceived, and the new-born society elected its officers. They chose Bishop 
William ilcKendree president. Bishop Enoch George first vice-presi- 
dent. Bishop Robert T. Roberts second nce-president, the Rev. Nathan 
Bangs, New York Conference, third \-ice-president, Francis Hall 
clerk, Daniel Ajtcs recording secretary, Thomas Mason corresponding 
secretary, the Rev. Joshua Soule treasurer. Thirty-two managers 

* Nathan Bangs, D.D., was liorn at. Stamford, Conn., May 2, 1778. ami died in New 
York City May 1, 1802. He began business life as a schoolmaster and land surveyor. In 
1801, at the age of twenty-three, he entered the Methodist ministrj' as an itinerant. In 
this pursuit he travelled seven years in Canada. In 1808 he returned to the United 
States and had charge of circuits, stations, and districts until 1820, when he was ap- 
pointed agent and editor of the Methodist Book Concern in the city of New York. He 
was for five years editor of the Christian Advocate and Jonmal, and also editor of the 
books issued from the Concern for several years. He served as corresponding secretary 
of the Missionary Society 1836-41, was president of the Wesleyan University at Middle- 
town 1841-43, and for ten years afterward was pastor of Methodist churches in New 
York City and Brooklyn. Dr. Bangs wrote several valuable books, among them a, " His- 
tory of the Methodist Church" and a " History of Missions." 



KlliST HKCAUi:, IS:!0 1«40. 197 

were i-lioscii, nt" wliniii twenty-six were citizens of New ^'urU. tliree 
were citizens of lirooklyn, and three were citizens of Westchester.* 

Thesoc-iety encountered opposition from tiie lteirinMin<r, esiK'cially from 
^fetliodists who were friends of the Aniericiin J5ii)le ScK-iety, hecause of 
its Hihle feature. It was also <»pp().sed hecause it was heiieved that it 
would atteni|)t to hihor in a foreign Held when, it was ai'gued, tlie 
rapidly increasing i)opuiation in our own counti-y would demand nujre 
money and laliorei's than the church couiil supply. Tiie sfK'iety had a 
long and persistent struggle with pi'cjudico, ignorance, and misap])re- 
hension, but brave souls woi"e in the forefront of the battle. Au.\iliarv 
.societies were formed in various cities, and three uionths after the 
organization of the parent society a Female Au.xiliary Society was 
formeil in the city o( \ew York, of which Mi's. .Mary W. Mason was 
chosen jiresideiit. She held that office during the en-tire existence of 
the society, a period of almost half u century. It seems to have ante- 
dated all other missionary organizations of women in the land. 

The (ieneral Conference gave the enterprise its countenance and 
moral su])!^)!^;. It steadily overcame obstacles, and soon became a cher- 
ished institution of the church. Its missions spread all over the United 
States and beyond on the American continent, and the banner of the 
^lissionarv Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was seen in time 
on every continent and on many islanrls of the sea. Its harve.sts have 
been rich and marvellous : its ripe and gathered sheaves have been 
abundant — tenfold more abundant than was ever dreamed of by its 
foundei-s. 

This aggressive missionary society has flourishing stations in Africa ; 
in Japan, China, and Inilia in Asia ; in (Termany and Switzerland ; in 
Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden} ; in Italy ; in Bulgaria 
and Turkey ; in Mexico anil South America, and all (tver the domains 
of our Kepublic wh(>re missions arc needed, and among the Indian 
tril)es._ Everywhere special attention is given to the establishment of 
week-day and Sal>bath schools for the instruction of adults and the 
young, esjiecially for the latter. 

The annual receipts of the society from voluntary contributions and 
ap|)oitionnients seem to be adequate to meet all demands upon the 
treasury. Its work, however, is continually extended in proportion to 
the means afforded. Some idea of the extent of this work may be 
formed by the fact that the api)ropriations for 1883 for carrying on the 

• "Missions nnd JlisHioiiary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Chnrch." by Rev. 
.Tolin M. Reid, D.D., LL.D. 



198 HISTORY OF NEW YOUK lITY. 

enterpi'ise were uhout §778,000. Of this amount nearly one half was 
appropriated to foreign missions. The largest amount of contributions 
to the treasury of the society, in one year, was in ISSl, Avhen the 
amount was SOOljOriO.* 

The best service ^vhich this great missionary society is doing for the 
cause of Christianity and true religion, for the spread of rational and 
enlightened civilization and good living throughout tlie world, is done 
by the influence of its numerous schools for the sound education of the 
heads and hearts of the young. This sweetening and strengthening 
the fountains of life is truly a divine service. 

The present New York Bible Societv had its origin in the year 
1822, and at its organization, in the fall of l'^2:!. it took the name (jf 
" The Young Glen's Bible Society." 

During the prevalence of the yellow fever in tlio city of Xew York, 
in the summer of 1822, many residents and business men below Beek- 
man Street fled from the pestilence to the country beyond the rivers or 
to the sjmrsely inhabited region on the island above Canal Street. On 
their return advantage was taken of an extraordinary religious revival 
which liad occurred early in the year, beginning in tlie Brick (Presby- 
terian) Church, of which the late Dr. Spring Avas pastor, to enlist 
young men of the city in the cause of a wider spread of the Bible. 

There then existed in the city a " New York Bi])le Society," which 
had been formed in 1819 by the union of two similar associations. 
That society strongly favored the idea of a kindred association, as an 
auxiliary or otherwise, composed of young men, and was active in the 
formation of the new association. Already other societies were 
actively engaged in the same Avork, notably the American Bible 
Society, The Auxiliary Female Bible Society. The Marine Bible 
Society, and The Young Ladies' Bible Society, all laboring vigorously 
in the city of Xew York. Yet there appeared to be a special work of 
u.sefulness for young men to do, and at a meeting hekl in a school-room 
in Thames Street, on September 22, 1823, the Young Men's Bible 
Society was foriiu'd, \vitli Horatio Gillet as president : Anthony P. 

* The oflScers of the society (1883) are : the Rev. Bishop Matthew Simpson, D.D., presi- 
dent ; Bishops Bowman, Harris, Foster, Wiley, Merrill, Andrews, Peck, Warren, Foss, 
and Hunt, and the Rev. Drs. Crawford, Curry, and Wise, and Messrs. G. L. Fancher, J. 
H. Taft, Oliver Hoyt, H. W. Forrester, and George J. Ferr,v, vice-presidents ; John 
M. Reid and Charles Fowler, corresponding secretaries ; J. M. Phillips, treasurer • 
J. M. Waldron, assistant treasurer ; James K. Fitzgerald, recording secretary, and 
David Terrj-, emeritus recording secretary. 



^90- 





^^^72^2^^^ 



FlliSr nKfAPF,, 1830-1840. 



1<.>9 



UixW'V Cieorgc C\)l-atf, .I..lm Nt-ilsoii, Jr , Loii.s Km-, Henry 
Beniu'tt, ami Jol.n Sands, vice-pivsidents ; KmlcriiU I'.nll, o.m-si...n.l- 
in-' sceivtarv ; Geor-e A. Uartow. vcconling secietaiy, ami Silas M. 
luTtkM-. tivasurer. flu>ro was a lH)anl of managers apix.inted. 

]n OitolMT the president and sec-retary w.-ie autliorize.! tn purcl.ase 
one lumdn-d Bibles for distrilmtion, and in November the store ct 
J P Havens was made the " repository"' of tlie Bibles. 

At the outset the new association found little to do. The Held was 
alreadv lilled with laboreis, and it was compelled for some time to 
•• staml in the market-place all the .lay, i.lle," bccans.- it could not hnd 
legitimate employment. So late as the close of Marc-h. ls-4, th.-re 
had been onlv "/><■ Bible - distributed." 

Wearied with the irksomeness of enforced inactivity, the society, m 
ilav foll.nvin-, olTere.l to supi)ly tl... Sabbath-schools of the city with 
Bibles for prizes, a labor hitherto performed by the elder society, to 
which' the ten.ler of the i)ersonal services of the board was made. 
These pn>posals were acceded to, and the Young Men's Bible Society 
be-an its work, which has never since censed. The 7„rf/,o>h of per- 
fonnin- its laboi-s were <lefective, an.l were soon afterward mod.hed. 

The "society worked in harmony with cognate institutions. It 

en-a-ed in the good work of supplying destitut.^ families with the 

ScripUires, and in isno it began the service of sui^plying the humane 

and criminal institutions with Bibles and Testaments. The same year 

the society sent two thousiind Testaments for Sabbath-schoo^ to be 

formed in'tlie Western States, and at the beginning of 1S31 fully thiye 

thousand Testaments were forwarded to St. Louis. Soon after this the 

Young Ladies' New York Bible Society relieved it of tlie burden ot 

supi)lvin.r the Sunday-schools of the city with Bibles. 

■ The sphere and influence of the Young Men's Bible Society rapuUy 

expan.led in all directions. In the summer of 1S31 the New 1 ork City 

r.ible Society surrendeivd its field of operations to it, and in 184<i the 

Marine Bible Society turned its work over to the xngorous associa- 

ticm which was then" supplying seamen, soldiei-s in gamsons, and the 

city hotels with the Scriptures. Finally the " Parent Society, as it 

was called-the New York Bible Society-gave up its work and its 

name to its younger coadjutor, and it has since been knoxN-n as the 

Kew York Bible Society. During the Civil War its laboi-s were 

immense and salutary. Its means were adequate to its wants, for its 

energy and gocxl judgment Averc proverbial, and contributions to the 

society were generous. 



300 HISTORY OF .NEW YOHK CITV. 

The work of tlie New York' Bible Society * still goes vitrorouslv on 
in the distrihution of the Scriptures among the destitute of the citv. the 
jirriving immigrants at Castle Garden, the seamen who go from the 
port of New York, and in other fields. During the eleven months 
ending August 31, 1882, the societ}' distributed in the homes of the 
city, among the immigrants at Castle Garden, and among the shi])]iing, 
125,935 copies of the Scrijrtures — Bibles, Testaments, and parts of the 
Bible. Fortv-two of the benevolent and criminal institutions of the 
city, 23 Sunday-schools, and 17 missions were sujiplied.f 

An active and powerful auxiliary of the society above mentionetl in 
the diffusion of religious knowledge and evangelical Christian principles 
is the Ajiekican Tkact Society in the city of New York, undenomina- 
tional in its character. It \vas founded in 1825, with a view to unitinij- 
local tract societies which had sprang up, in one national institution. 
The New England Tract Society, which had been founded at Amherst, 
was then located at Boston, with the name of the American Ti-act 
Society. It united with the New Yoi;k National Society as a branch 
of that institution, and that union continued until 1859, when the hesi- 
tancy of the society to jiublish tracts on slavery caused the Boston 
branch to ^Wthdra^v and resume its independent ])osition for some 
years. 

For the first two years of the existence of the American Tract 
Society only tracts were published, for adults and children. In the 
third year volumes appeared, and in the fourth year systematic tract 
distribution was begun. The colportage system was adopted in 1841. 
That system has been the mainspring which has kept the work of 
the society in successful operation. From that time to 1875, a 
period of thirty-four yeare, the colporteurs had distributed 10,5(»0,000 
copies of its i)ul)lications, of Avhich number 2,7S(\00() were given away. 

The publication of periodicals devoted to the cause of the society Avas 
the next step in its progress. The A^nericcm Messen/jer was first pub- 
lished, then a ])aper similar to the IL'ssenr/i'r in the German language. 
In 1852 the puljlication of T/ie Child's Paper was begun. These were 



* The officers of the society £or the year ending September 1, 1882, were : Morris Bud- 
long, president ; Daniel J. Holden, Alfred Neilson, vice-presidents ; James Kydd, corre- 
sponding secretary ; W. M. Williams, recording secretary ; Joseph A. Welch, treasurer. 
It has six agents, namely, Alexander "Watson, John S. Pierson, William G. Jones, K. W. 
Kraemer, Ernst Jackson, W. H. R. Neilson, and forty-eight managers. 

\ Mr. Pierson, one of the agents, writes ; "This report (1882) does not show the pres- 
ent work of the society fairly, as there has been a temporary relaxation of work in some 
departments, pending proposed changes." 



KlliST DliCADK, 18:J0 1810. 201 

all [iiihli'^luMi riioiitlily. Thr <'l,llir.i Pnjur wjis liaiulsDiiU'lv lihistratfil 
from till' lii'ijiniiinL;-. It now lias a.ciivnlation of nearly one lunuln-d 
ami I'ijflity tliousaiid inoiitlily. In lf<71 three new jiericHlicals weiv 
added to those already mentioned— the IlbiKtmUd I'UnHfinu Wiilbj, 
the GeriiHiii I'eojile'x Frieiul, a small weekly, and the Moruhiy Lhjlit, 
for lieginnei's. The society also publishes an illustrated i)aper in the 
Spanish lanj^niugo, called the Star ,,f llithhlnm. 

The opei-ations of the American Tract Society are now immense in 
lolume and far-reaching and sjdutary in their influence. The whole 
nund)er of distinct publications issued by the society in lss2 were <ir.7+, 
of which 144S were bound volumes, the remainder pajier-covered books, 
tracts, leaflets, cards, and handbills. The whole number issued at for- 
eign stations, ap])roved by the society's Publication ('onnnittee, was 
4?.lM, of wl'.ich <ISt; were boimd volumes. These vaiious publications 
mav lie classed under the heads of exixsitory. Christian evidences, 
biographv, nanatives for young people, narratives for children, stories 
for young ciiildren, awakening and conversion, consolation, and C'hri.s- 
tian edilication. The l)ooks and tracts are ])rinted in the English, 
(tcnnan, French, and S])anish languages. 

The American Tract Society possesses a spacious brick building, five 
stories in height, on the corner of Nass;iu and Spruce streets, New 
York. When the society was formed Spruce Street was a nan-nw 
lane. On the site of the Tract House was a miserable old wooden 
tavern, and opposite it, on the site of the Xew York TrmcR building, 
was a one-story wtniden lecture-room belonging to the Brick ("hurch 
on Beekman Street. This was replaced by a neat brick edifice a few 
years afterward. The Tract Society and the New Yoik Ohwn^r were 
the pioneei-s of the ))rinting establishments which have since given the 
open space in that neighborhood the name of Printing-IIouse Square. 
The society is governed liy a board of direct oi-s, elected annually.* 

One of the latest and best organizations in the city of Xew York for 
promoting the spiritual and temjioral welfare of the people of the city, 
esiiecially of the jioor, is that of the Xi;w Yokk Crrv Mission and 
Tr.ut SoriKTV, organizetl in 1S27. 

The germ of this institution was |)lant('d (as is fretpiently the case) 

* The officers for 1882-83 nro : Hon. Williiim Strong, LL.D., of Philndelphin, president; 
Rt. Kev. Bcnjiiinin B. Smith. D.D., LL.D., of New York City, vice-president, with Bfty- 
one honorar)' vice-presidents ; Rer. .1. M. Stevenson, D.D., corresponding secretarj-, with 
colportnge ; Rev. Willimu W. Rnnd. inil)lishing secretary : Rev. G. L. Shenrer, financial 
secretary . .Snnniel K. Wnmer, assistant secretiiry ; Rev. Thomas Armitage, D.D., record- 
ing secretary ; O. R. Kingsburj', treasurer. 



202 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

by a woman. A woman's mind conceived its plan, and a woman's 
hand ijegan tiiegood worlc. Dr. Adam Clarke said, in sulxstanco : "In 
all benevolent woi'ks one woman is equal to seven men and a half."" 

The incipient step in the formation of this society was taken by the 
noble wife of Divie Ijethune, the daughter of the sainted Isabella 
Graham, in the year 1822. The organization was completed by the 
adoption of a constitution and the a])iiointment of officers, at a ])ublic 
meeting held at the Brick Church chapel, on the site of the Ne^v York 
Times building, March 2.5, 1S22. This, it is believed, was tiie first step 
in organized woman's Avork in city missions, and in the work of dis- 
tributing religious tracts. 

This association of women went on quietly and unostentatiously, 
doing a vast amount of good labor, and working with the American 
Tract Society until 1827, when men, perceiving their good deeds and 
appreciating their influence, resolved to form a City Tract Society on 
the same plan. Accordingly, the following notice appeared in the 
Commercial Advertiser, of which the good Francis Hall was pro|)rietor, 
on the 19th of FebiTiary, 1827 : 

" A public meeting will be held at the City Hotel this evening, at 
7^ o'clock, for the purpose of forming a New York City Tract Society, 
for the supply of our seamen, our humane and criminal institutions, 
and for other local tract operations in this city. Several addresses will 
be delivered. A general attendance of all who are fi-iendly to the 
object is requested." 

A large assemblage of ladies and gentlemen convened on the s]>ecified 
evening. The venerable Colonel Richard Vai'ick,*the president of the 
American Bible Society, and then seventy-five yeare of age, presided, 
and the Rev. W. A. Ilallock was chosen secretary. The meeting was 
addressed by the Rev. Messrs. Somers and Monteith, and bv the Rev. 



* Richard Varick was born in Hackensaok, N. J., in March, 1753, and died in Jersey 
City, N. J., in July, 18:U. He was a lawyer practising in New York City wben the oh] 
war for independence began. He entered the militarj' service as captain in JIacdougall's 
regiment, joined the Northern army under General Schuyler, and became that officer's 
secretarj". He was afterward deputy muster-niaster-general. with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel. After the capture of BurgojTie, Varick was acting inspector-general at West 
Point, where he remained until after the treason of Arnold, when he became a member 
of General Washington's military family, and was his recording secretary until near the 
close of the w^ar. After the British evacuated the city of New York, in 1783, Colonel 
Varick was appointed recorder. He assisted in the revision of the State laws. He was 
Speaker of the Assembly in 1787. In 1789 he was appointed attorney-general of the 
State, and subsequently mayor of New York. Colonel Varick was one of the founders of 
the American Bible Society, and succeeded John Jay as its president. 



I'lRST DKCADK, l^ao 1h|i». 



203 



Di-s. Miliior. Knox. Sprinj,', P.nMllicad. ami Macaulay. Tlio paitii-ipants 
wen- pt'i-soiis of various roligious (Iciioiniiiatioiis. A cunstitiitioii was 
read. ail«)i)to(l. aiul miimToiisly siirucil l)y ininistei-s anil laymen. 

The utiitei-s of the stx-iety chosen for tiie fii-st year were : Zachariah 
I,ewis, president ; tlio Revs, .lohn Stanford. Cave Jones, and Henry 
Chase, Drs. .John Neilsun and John Stearns, and Messi-s. Tlii>nvis 
Stokes, (ierard IJeeknian, and Aitliur Tappan, vice-presidents ; Gerard 
llalleck. corres|>ondin<,^ secretary ; Oliver E. Cobli. recordinfr secre- 
tary, aiul Rali)li lieeknian, tivasurer. Seventy directoi-s were ciiosen. 
Anionjx them ai)peared maiiv names whose bearei-s have heen conspicu- 
ous in every good work in the city vmtil our day. 

Perceiving, from actual observation, the pres.sing nei'd of woman's 
influence and woman's woi-k in their operations, the society founded by 
Mi-s. r.ethune wa.s made an "annex'' of the society jast formed. In- 
stead of the two sexes laboring togethei-— instead of joining forces as 
one family on an wpial footing as to duties and privileges— the wcmien's 
society was pennitted to talce the rank only of an '• auxiliary" of the 
men's society ; and to this day it is called the Woman's Branch of the 
New York City Jlission and Tract Society, with a sei)arate organiza- 
tion, in which only women are officers and iionorary members, mission- 
aries, and nui-ses. They make sei)arate reports, liut ckim the right, 
and exercise it, of dating their •' branch" from 1.^22. five yeai-s before 
the men's society existed. 

The main society, at its first organization, appointed a woman agent. 
She seems to have been very efficient, for at the end of her fii-st 
month's labor she rejiorted visits to ninety famihes, and calls upon sev- 
eral clergymen in reference to forming auxiliaiy tract societies in the 
several churches. 

During the fii-st year the New York City Mission an<l Tract Society, 
through t lie agency of its committees and volunteer visitoi-s, distributed 
2,:'.0>*,54S pages, or 51»2,13T tracts of four pages each. At the end of 
six or seven yeai-s, so useful and so extended became the work that it 
was deemed advisi\ble to engage men as missionaries who should devote 
their whole time to Christian efforts among the poor and neglected. 
Mainly through the liberality of two or three pereons, the society was 
enabled, in is;?:^, to l)egin this its best missionary work. Witiiin two 
vears the number of these missionaries was increaseil to fourteen. I' or 
thirty yeai-s these " tract missionaries." as they were called, carried on 
their evangelizing work with great success, having distributed during 
that time an aggregate of :i(i.O(M).(io(i tracts, been instnimental in 
effecting Tonii .•onvisions. and sp.'n.linir §400.000. They had brought 



204 HISTORY OV NEW YORK CITY. 

thousands of men, women, iuul children into churclies and Sabhatii- 
schools, and phinted many a fi'uitful seed In' the agency of prayer- 
meetings in neglected neighborhoods. 

In 18()4: the society was reorganized. A secretary was ai)i)ointed, 
with enlarged duties and powers, and a room in the Bible House was 
rented. Then it began the publication of reports and papers on the 
methods and results of city evangelization. At the annual meeting 
that year the name of the institution was changed to that of the Ts^ew 
Yoi'lc City ^Mission and Tract Society, which it now beai-s, and in 186G 
it was incorporated by the Legislature of Xew York. The same year 
a superintendent of missions was ajipointed for the organization of mis- 
sion chapels and services. The firet of these chapels was established in 
18G7, and known as Olivet Chapel. It is between Fii-st and Second 
streets and Fii-st and Second avenues. Other chajiels and services wei-e 
soon oi'ganized, and the good work (the amount of which is incalcula- 
ble) has gone on with ever-increasing power and beneficence. 

According to the annual report of the society for 1882 there were 5 
mission churches and chapels; 47 missionaries emploj'ed ; 5 mission 
Sabbath-schools, with 2o00 children taught during the year ; aggregate 
attendance upon religious services during the year, 250,000 ; 224-.1 
families and 80SO individuals aided, and 84422 cash distributed ; 2391 
Bibles and Testaments given away, and 10,039 volumes loaned and 
given ; 2ti46 children led to Sabbath-schools and 30(5 to day-schools ; 
13,939 persons persuaded to attend churches and missions ; 998 temper- 
ance ])ledges signed, and 750,000 tracts distributed. It now employs 
18 missionaries. 

During the fifty-six years of its existence tlie society has distributed 
about 53,000,000 tracts, made 2,000,000 missionary visits, supplied to 
the destitute 92,357 Bibles and Testaments, loaned and given about 
189,000 books, gathered into Sabbath-schools 119,309 children, and 
into day-schools 24,09(> ; induced 27fi,llS persons to attend divine ser- 
vices, ol)tained 59,342 temperance pledges, and expended §1,331,483. 
In addition to this sum more than $200,000 have been raised for build- 
ing chapels and churches in the city. In 1870 the mission converts 
were organized in bands of Christian brotherhoods, and the Christian 
ordinances were administered in the mission chajiels. These are 
undenominational. 

The Woman's Branch of the Xew York City Mission and Tract 
Society resolved in 1863 that henceforth their work should be directed 
to raising the money for the sujijiort of the missionary women. It was 
reorsranized in 1875. Tiie board of managei-s constituted five of their 



niiST DECADE, ls:!(t IHJO. 205 

miiiilHT ;m cxi-cutivc coiniiiittcc, to give special attontioii to business 
details. A su|)i'riiU('ii(li-nt was appointed to j^ive instinct ion and direc- 
tions to niissionaiy wonu'n, write uj) a history of their work, and make 
appeals to the benevolent women of tiie city. Accordiiijir to the si.\- 
leeiith annual report (for l^s2l the benevolent work of the Woman's 
llranch has been widely e.vtcniled in its scojw and usefulness. Tiie 
l!i-ancii is separate from the City Mission Society in orj^anization and 
support. It holds intimate i-elations with the As.sociation for Improv- 
ing the Condition of the Poor. It employs eight female missionary 
muses who have been trained in hospitals, and thirty-three missionary 
wonuMi. It has scwiny schools and sewing meetings for the poor; 
promotes the cause of temperance among children of intemperate 
pai-ents Iiy Bands of IIo])(^ ; has a ])leasant Ciii-istian Workei-s' Home 
foi- the missionai'ies, which emliraces, in the family, twenty-two mis- 
sionaries and nni-ses. It distributed in 1SS2 lU.oiHi tracts and about 
lino Uibles. took about >ioi) children to Sabbath-schools, made 2.5. ooo 
missionary visits, gave away over .">i"h» gannents, gave for the relief of 
the sick and destitute s:',:;-_'."), and furnished the services of nurses to 2Tn(i 
patients.* 

* The officers of the Cit.v Missinn and Tract Society for 1883 are : Morris K. .lesnp, 
president ; .John Tiiylor Johnston, vice-president, and Lewis E. Jackson, recording sec- 
retary and treasurer. 'I'liere arc forty-ciylit directors. 

The otBcers of the Woman's Branch are : Mrs. Morris K. Jesnp, first directress : Mrs. 
Horace Holden, second directress ; Miss JIary N. Wright, treasurer ; Jlrs. R. M. Field, 
secretary, and Mrs. A. It. Brown, superintendent. There are thirty-two active managers, 
representing fourteen churches, all Presbyterian or Reformed. 



CHAPTEK X. 

OXE of tlie most important associations in a commercial city is an 
oi'ganization of judicious men having a sjiecial ovei-siglit of every- 
thing pertaining to its trade, ever watchful of all its industrial interests, 
vigilant in the detection of legislation inimical to those interests, and 
wise in its suggestions regarding enactments which touch, for good or 
evd, the springs of prosperity of the country. 

Among these org-anizations the Xew York C'iiA>risEK of Cojoierce is 
the oldest and most influential of its kind in the United States. It was 
constituted in 176S by twenty leading merchants in that city, some of 
whom afterward appeared conspicuous in ]mblic affairs, especially dur- 
ing the war for independence, Avhich broke out soon afterward. Some 
of them were on one side and some on the other, in the discussion of 
the vital political questions of the day. 

These merchants associated for the avowed purpose ' ' of promoting 
and extending all just and la^A-fiil commerce, and for affording relief to 
decayed members, their widows and children.'" The association 
received a charter from Lieutenant-Governor Colden, dated Jfarch 13, 
1770, giving it the name of *• The Coqioration of the Chamber of 
Commerce in the City of Xew Tork." The privileges of this royal 
charter were confirmed by the State government of Xew York in 1 781. 

That association was organized in troublous times. The industries of 
the English-Amcriciin colonies were in a depressed state. Unwise and 
unjust navigation and revenue laws, and persistent resistance to the 
operation of these laws, had deranged commerce, and uncertainty had 
paralyzed Ijiisiness of every kind. The great quarrel between Great 
Britain and her American colonies, Avhicli speedily led to a dismember- 
ment of the empire, was then waxing hot. Xon-importation agree- 
ments and ministerial menaces had created a feverish state of mind on 
both sides of the Atlantic. It was at this juncture that these twenty 
merchants met and formed the venerable association whicli exists in 
full vigor and abounding usefulness to-day. It resolved, at the outset 
of its career, on motion of Mr. Ver|)lanck, that none but merchants 
should be members of that body. At that period the merchants con- 



I'lUSr DElADE, 1830-1840. 2u7 

trolled tlip |M>litics of. New York. A majority of tlic I'lovinciul 
Assi'inl)ly wvw mercliants. 

Altiiougii Mas.-iiiciiiisi'tts liad just issued its famous circular letter to 
its sister colonies, asking them to unite in resisting the oppivssive 
measures of Parliament ; altiiougii New York t'ity was in a Ijlazi- of 
excitement, and the Sons of Liiieity were stoutly defending their lib- 
erty-pole against the ruthless hands of insolent British soldiers — force 
ag^iiust foix-e — and civil war seemed imminent, these twenty merchants, 
calm and dignilietl in the midst of the storm, made only the following 
minute of their proceedings at the momentous meeting on April 5, 
ITf.S : 

" W/i>i<<(.\; ^lercantile sf)cieties have heen found very useful in tnul- 
ing cities, for promoting and encouraging commerce, sup])orting indus- 
try, adjusting disputes relative to trade and navigation, and ]»i<K'uring 
such laws and regulations as may i>e found necessiiry for the bcnelit of 
traile in general : 

'• For which jmrpose. and to estaiilish such a society in the city of 
Xew York, the following peisons convened on the lii"st Tuesday in, 
and being the 5th day of, Ajn-il, ITtiS : 

" John (I'uger, Thf>mas White, 

Elias I)esi)rosses, Miles Sherhrooke, 

James Jauncey. "Walter Franklin. 

Jacob Walton. Robert IJoss Waddel, 

Robert Murray. Achei-on Thompson, 

Hugh Wallace, Lawrence Kortright, 

(ieorge FoUiot, Thomas Randall, 

William Walton, William McAdam, 

Samuel Ver Planck. Isiuic Low. 

Theophylact Bache. Anthony Van Dam, 

who agreed that tlie sjiid society of merchants should consist of 

" A president, vice-pi-esident. treasui-er, and secretary, and such a 
number of merchants as already are, or hereafter may become, mem- 
bei-s thereof, to be called and known by the name of Tin-: Xkw Yoi;k 

ClI.VMBKR OF CoMMKRCK. 

" The membei-s present unanimously chose the following gentlemen 
their officers for the year, to commiMici^ on tlii> lii-i Tin-^d.-iv in "M.i'.- 
next : 

"John ("ruger. president ; Klia.s 1)^.^1 irussos, U'oa.-^urcr ; 

Hugh Wallace, vice-president ; Anthony Van Dam, secretary'. 



208 IIISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

" The following gentlemen, wlio ai'e of the society, not being ])res- 
ent, assented to the same : 

" John AIsop, T^hilij) Livingston. 

llenrv White, James McEvere. " 

John (h'uger, the first jiresident of the Chainl)er of Commerce, was 
mayor of the city at the time of its organization, and was speaker of 
the Colonial Assembly from 1769 to 1775. Dui'ing the perilous times 
preceding the outbreak of the Revolution his influence was powerfully 
exerted in maintaining order among the citizens. An active member 
of the Stamp Act Congress which met in Xew York in 1705, he was 
cho.sen to prepare the famous Declaration of Eights which was put 
forth by that body. Mr. Cruger left the city befoi'e it was occupied 
by the British in 1770. 

The brothers "Walton, Jacob and William, were among the most 
eminent and opulent merchants of iS'ew York in the middle of the last 
century. Jacob died in 1769. William, wlio was a son-in-law of 
De Lancey, built the lieautiful mansion in Pearl Street, Xew York, 
opjiosite the (present) publisliing establishment of Harper & Brothers, 
and known as the Walton House. It disappeared a few years ago, 
l)efore the march of commercial business. It was, when built, the 
most elegant mansion on the continent. 

Ilobert ]\Iurray and Walter Franklin represented the Quaker element 
in the commercial features of New York at that time. Murray had a 
c-ountry-seat on tlie Incleberg (now known as ]\Iurray Hill, in the city), 
and it was at that mansion where Mrs. Murray detained the British 
olTicei-s, l)y good cheer and fascinating conversation, while General 
I'utnam, Avith a detachment of the Continental army, flying from the 
menaced city of New York, made good his retreat to tlie main array, 
encamped on Harlem Heights. 

Tlie Chamber of Commerce maintained its organization and held 
meetings pretty regularly during the later jiortion of the stirring period 
of the Revolution. Its sessions ended in May, 1775, but on the 21st of 
June, 1779, such of its members (mostly Tories) who remained in the 
city met in the Mei-chants' Coffee-House, corner of Wall and Water 
streets, and with the consent of the British commandant renewed the 
sessions of the Chamber. Its operations were chiefly directed to aiding 
the military governor in municipal affaii-s, such as regulating the prices 
of ])rovisions, tlie rates for carmen's services, and also for tlie encourage- 
ment of ]irivateering, by as.sistanee in recruiting for that service under 
the proclamations of the British admirals. 



I 



^,10^ LUH.,, 




FIltST DKCADK, \Km isin "-'09 

111 ITTh Mr. Cniircr retired t'ntni tlin pivsitloncy. His successors in 
tiic olticc until the letuiii of iieacc were lluu'li Wallace, Elias T)es- 
hi-osses. Ilenrv AVliite, The()i)liylact Buche, "William Walton, anil Isiuu; 
T,.>\v. The act of leincoiporation jiassed the Legislature of New York 
on April 1:5, 17s4. The corjioiatoi-s nained were Samuel Hnwnnc', 
.lereniiah I'latt, .John i'mome, JJenjamin I^dyaiil. Thomas I'andall, 
liohert llowne, Datiiel Pluvi\ix, .lacoW Morris. Eli])lialet Brush. James 
Jarvis, John Bla-ri^'e, Viner \'an Zandt. Stephen Sayre. Jacobus Van 
Zandt, Nathaniel Hazard. Abraham P. Lott, Abraham Duryee, William 
^lalcolm, John Alsop. Isjuic Sears, James Beckman, Abraham Lott, 
Comfort Sands. Josei)h Blackwell, Joslma Sands, Lawi-ence End)ree, 
Georj,'*" Embree, (ierardus Duyckinck. Jr., Cornelius Kay, Anthony 
Gritiiths. Thomas Tucker, John Berrian. Isaac Roosevelt, John Frank- 
lin, John H. Kip, Henry H. Kip. Archibald Currie. David Currie. and 
Jonathan Lawrence. 

The descendants of most of these men who revived the Cluuuber of 
Commerce after ])eace was established, and were the active coadjutors 
of the first president of the reincorporated institution (John Alsop *), are 
rect)frniziHl among the leading architects of the commercial greatness of 
New York City, \vhich developed so wonderfully after the completion 
of the Erie Canal. They have ranked among the most enterprising, 
hon(>rai)le, and prosperous merchants, and by their business probity 
and high jicrsonal character as citizens have contributed largely to the 
eletnents which constitute the good name of the metropolis. 

From May, 177.^, until June, 1770, the Chamber of Commerce, as 
we have observed, did not hold a meeting. From the time the British 
took pos.session of the city in 177*1 until they eviu-uated it, many of the 
members, of Englisii descent, co-oiK^rated with the British authorities, 
naval and military. From its recharter in 1784 it has been an active 
Ixxly in New York, having cognizance of most of the subjects of a 
commercial nature which have been before the community. 

The Chamber of Commerce jjroposed the union of the Great Lakes 
with the Hudson River so early as 17Sti— the .suggesticm of the Erie 
Canal. Of the entire canal jiolicy of tlie State, especially that of De 
AVitt Clinton and his coadjutors, from ISil until the conii)letion of the 

» .John Alsop was fin opulent merchnnt find n. most onrm-st pntriot. Ho wns a native 
of MidcUetown, Conn., to which place he retired when llio British took i>08ses.sion of 
New York in 1770. .\lsop wns a man of preat intelleotii.il strength. He was a represen- 
tative of New York in the first Continental Congress in 1774, and remained in that body 
tintil 177G. His daughter Marj- became the wife o£ the eminent Rnfns King. Mr. 
Alsop died at Newtown, L. I , in November. 17'.U. 



••ilO HISTORY OF XEW YORK f'lTY. 

great artificial aciucous iiiglnvay in isi.5. tliis body was a iinifoiiii and 
powerful supporter. Wliile othei-s doubted and many sneered, the 
wise and enterjjrisiiig merchants of New York ■>\iio composed the 
Chamber of Commerce were its firin friends. 

The Chamber made the first movement in favor of fortifving the 
city of New York, by a memorial to Congress, sent by tlie hands of 
Colonel Ebenezer Stevens in 1798, when war with France seemed im- 
minent. Stevens was an active member of the Chamber. One of its 
most efficient members at its revival was John Pintard, who, as we 
have observed in speaking of the New York Plistorical Society, Avas 
foremost in every good work in the city for a quaiter of a century. 

In all the vicissitudes in public affairs which at different periods have 
unsettled the national policy and disturbed the relations of commerce, 
this Chamber has steadily atlhered to the line of duty it had oi-iginallv 
assumed, abstaining from all interference in the affairs of government 
in time of peace, excepting advisory, taking no pait in political discus- 
sions, but always faithfully performing its obligations to support the 
cause of law and (jrder, and to defend the honor of the country. When 
the Republic was in peril after the attack on Fort Sumter, the Cham- 
ber of Commerce wtis the fii-st body in the city of New York that flew 
to the rescue, as we shall observe hereafter. 

The fii-st meeting of the members of the Chamber of Commerce for 
the puqiose of organization was at the house yet standing at the corner 
of Pearl and Broad streets. It was afterward Fraunce's Tavern, 
where (ieneral Washington jiarted with his officers at the close of the 
Revolution. The next year rooms were rented in the Exchange, at the 
lower end of Eroad Street. Ten yeai-s later the Chamber occupied 
rooms at the Merchants' Coffee-House, corner of Wall and Water 
streets. In 1817 it was located in the old Tontine Coffee-House, on 
the next corner above. From the completion of the Merchants' 
Exchange in Wall Street, in 1827, it occupied rooms in that building 
until driven out by the great fire in 1835. From that time until 1858 
its meetings were field in the directors' room of the Merchants' Bank, 
in Wall Street, and s'nce then it has occupied its present quartei-s, at 
No. 03 William Street. 

In 1875 a Court of Arbitration of the Chand)cr of Commerce was 
established by act of the Legislature, with an arbitrator at its head, 
who holds office during good behavior. He has power to administer 
oaths and affirmations to be used before any court or officer ; to take 
l))-oof and acknowledgment of any charter jiarty, marine ])rotest, con- 
tract, or other written instrument, and to requii-e any witness to appear 



I'IKS'l DKlAlU"., 1h:10 1S4(I. 211 

ami tcstil'v iM'foit' liim, '"' tlic Cniiil of Ai'liitiiitinn. or lii-lnrc tlio 
IjoanI iif iirliitratdi-s. llis sjilary is ^ln,(MM» a year. i)ai(i nut of tho 
State treasury, tiie (iiaiiilicr of Coinniorc-c jutividiug rooms for tlie use 
of tiie Court of Arl)itratioii. Eitlier ]>;irly to a eonti-ovcrsy may, 
witliiii a spec-ilied time, ai)i)oint in writing out; ]K>i-son to sit witli the 
otiitial arbitrator to iiear and determine the matter. 

Parties iiaviiif; cases to he adjudicated in tliis court— controversies or 
matters of (Ulference arising within the jM.rt of New York, or ivhiting 
to a subject matter situate or coming witiiin that port — may vohintarily 
submit the sauie to this Court of Arbitration, by written suljmission or 
l)y ])ersunai appearance in the court and an oral submission. Tiiis 
measure works with success in iivijiding ]irotracted litigation in the 
ordinary courts of law.* 

A Mkk( iiA.NTs'' E.xcuAKGE— a gatiieriug-place for merchants for con- 
ference and an e.vchange of ideas and values— has an intimate relation 
to a Chamljer of Commerce, in its chief mission. These exchanges 
originated in the commercial cities of Italy, Genuany, and the Nether- 
lands, aiul were introduced into Ejigland Viy Sir Thomas (4reshani at a 
little jiort in the middle of the seventeenth century. lie resided some 
time in Antwerp, and he chose the Binirs,\ or Merchants" E.xchange 
iiuiltling, of that city as his model for the great London E.xchange 
edifice which he erected. 

The first Merchants' Exchange in New York City was in a building 
at the fcjot of Broad Street in 1752. When the Tontine P.uilding was 
completed, at the corner of Wall and Pearl streets, it was removed to 
that fine edifice, which was erected for the express purpose of a Mer- 
chants' E.xchange. In 1S25 a fine stnicture of white niarl>le from 
AVestchester County, for a Merchants' E.xchange, was begun in Wall 
Street, below William Street, and was completed in 1S27. At that 
time it was the finest building in the city excepting the City Ilalhf 

» The officers of the Chnmber of Commerce for 1882-83 were : Samuel D. Babcock, 
president. iin<l Georye Wilson, secretary. 

t Tho City Hall sUinding in the Park was ereoteil early in this centnry-1803 to 1808 
—at a cost of more than half a million dollars. Wlien completed it was on the outskirte 
of the city. It is bnilt on tliree sides of white marble, and on the fourth side (the north) 
of brown freestone. It is in the Italian style of architecture, two hundred and sixteen 
feet long and one hundred and five feet wide. The City Hall is the head.niarleis of Iho 
municipal t;oveinment. Below are the offices of the mayor and clerk of the common 
council, the common council chamber and other city offices, and the libmrj-. .\bove 
(second .stors) is the •• Governors' Room," containiuR portraits of all the Rovemors of 
the State, of the mayors of the city, and of men of national renown, and used for official 
receptions. The building is surmounted by a cupola coutainiuK a four-dial clock, which 
is illuminated at ni-ht. The City Library is in the east wiu).! of tho City Hall 



212 HISTOKY OF NEW VOUK CITY. 

not excepting the ^lasonic Hall, on Broadway, nearly opposite the City 
IlosjHtal. It had a iront of 115 feet on Wall Street, and was three 
stories high above the basement, which was considerably elevated. It 
extended through to (warden Street, 150 feet. The designs and plan of 
the building were furnished by M. E. Thompson, one of the founders 
of the National Academy of the Arts of Design. 

The first and second stories of the Exchange comprised one order, 
which was the Ionic, in imitation of the Temple of Minerva at Priene, 
in Ionia. A recessed portico about forty feet in width, in an elliptical 
form, was introduced in front. A screen of four large columns and two 
antae extended across the front of the portico nearly on a line with the 
front of the building. These columns were 30 feet high and 3 feet 4 
inches in diameter at the base. The shaft of each column was com- 
posed of a single block of marble. They supported an entablatm-e, 
upon which rested the attic or third story, making a height of about 60 
feet from the grounil. 

The interior of the Exchange was cliaste and classic in architecture. 
The building was surmounted by a cupola 24 feet in diameter, and 
about (JO feet in height from the roof of the Exchange to the top of the 
lantern which stood on this superb dome. The observatory was circu- 
lar, and was supported externally by Ionic columns. From this observ- 
atory was an extensive view of the whole city and the rich and varied 
scenery on every side. This fine edifice, with a marble statue by Ball 
standing in the centre of the Exchange room, was destroyed by the 
great fire in ]S"ew York in December, 1S35. 

The Masonic Hall above alluded to was, next to the Merchants' 
Exchange, the finest edifice in the city of New York (excepting the 
City Hall) in 1830. It was designed by Hugh Eeinagle, and was in 
the \mvQ pointed Gothic style. The ornamentation of the interior was 
after that of the chapel of Henry YII. The corner-stone of the 
building was laid on St. John's Day (the sunmier solstice), June 24, 
1826. It had a front of 50 feet on Broadway, and a depth of 125 feet. 
The entrance hall, at the centre of the building, was 10 feet in width, 
and was enriched with arches, pendants, open friths on the spandrels, 
and a beautiful frieze of raised Gothic ornaments. On each side of 
this hall were stores in front, and places for refreshments in the rear. 

The second story was one grand Gothic saloon, 90 feet in length, 47 
feet in width, and 25 feet in height. It was intended for concerts, 
balls, and jniblic meetings. Tiie third story was arranged in richly 
furnished rooms for the use of the Masonic fraternity. A writer of 
that day describing the edifice put the record of its dimensions in 



KIUST DKlAIlK. 1h;!() IHKl. 213 

iUilic-s, with ill! .■xcliinmti.m-iH.mt :it the end. i<.r tlii" huildiiif,' se.-m.'d 
of iii:iVv.'ll<msiii|):intv and l.canty. Conipaivd with scores of cdilui's 
s.>cn in tlu'i-ity to-day, tliis Masonir Hall and the Mcivhants' Exchange 
appear insi;;nitk'ant in dimensions. 

The front of tiie Masonic Hall was l.iiill of li^dit granite. The eenti-e 
(l(M)r was made of solid oak, with carved jianels and nia.ssive franie- 
worU. The central window was a splendid piece of Gothic architecture 
21' feet m height and lo feet in width. The sites of tins liall and of 
the old Tal)ernacle near by are now covered with connnercial Imildings. 

While the Masonic I'lall wa.s a-building, inil)lic indignation was 
vehemently aroused by the alleged murder of William ^rorgan, in 
western New York, by the Masons, because he had dixidged some of 
their secrets. Shrewd ]X)liticians took advantage of the excitement, 
formed a iiolitical Anti-Masonic party, and endeavored to make the 
Ma.sonic order odious in the public mind. They succeeded for a while, 
and so uni^pular became the very name of INIasons that as a matter of 
policy the name of the new echlice devoted to the use of the frateniity 
was changed to Gothic Hall. 

The building of the Merchants' Exchange and the Masonic Hall 
marked the opening of a new era in domestic architecture in New York 
City, both in stvle and materials. These structures were seeds sown in 
rich soil, and have produced a wonderful harvest. They were i)roplie- 
ciesof maiini licence and of extravagance in expenditure in buildings, 
when dweiling-houses should be superbly palatial in size and decoration, 
and mere business houses should vie in spaciousness and elegance with 
tlie municiiml halls an.l the gathering-places of the guilds in the old 
commercial cities of Europe. That prophecy has been fultilled in our 

dav. 

In less than a decade of rears after the completion of the structures 
just menti.med a cilv new.spaper remarked : " New York is undergoing 
a wonderful transformation, esjiecially Broiulway ; and very soon it 
will l>e a citv of brick instead of wooden buiUlings." Since that time 
—a peri.)d of fiftv veai-s— \vhat marvellous transformations liave taken 
place in the great, growing city ! It is now largely a city of freestone 
dweUings in its best sections, and of stone and iron in its business 
streets. The rough cobble-stones that covered the streets have givc-n 
place to pavements almost as smooth iis tile-flooring, and alin(.st assohd 
as unseamed rock. Already in \m^ the transformation had begun, 
under the stimulating ]V)wer of ent.M-i)rise, prosperity, and raiudly in- 
creasing wealtli. 

At the l)e.'inning of tli.- Iir<t .ic.iMle (is30-4n) the commerce of the 



214 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

city of New Yorlc luid begun to feel the exjmnsive energies of new 
life. There was marked vigor in all its functions, and tiie city pre- 
sented valid claims to the dignified title of tlie Commercial ]Metro]X)lis 
of the Republic. Its foreign commerce (imjiorts and exports) in 1823 
was, in value, about S88,0()0,(»00 ; in 1830 it exceeded 8o",<»>0,000. 

Down to the year 1830, and even somewhat later, some of the lead- 
ing branches of trade had particular localities which were really 
business centres of each branch. The hatters and fur-dealers were in 
"Water Street, where damj) cellars were considered desirable, especially 
for tlie raw materials of the hatter's wares. Swift <fc Hurlburt, who 
began business in 1835, were the first in the hatter's trade who broke 
out fi'om the environs of Water Street and opened an establishment on 
Broadway. 

Tiie stove-dealers were also in Water Street, and that is still distin- 
guislied by the numerous establisliments of this kind, in the neighbor- 
iiood of the foot of Fulton Street. Tlie wholesale dnion-ists were 
chielly in Fletcher Street, which extended from Pearl Street to the East 
River. The shipping merchants were chiefly in South Street, below 
Peck Slip. The wholesale grocei-s were in Front Street. The leather- 
dealers were in the region known as The Swamp, Ijetween Beekman, 
('liff. Pearl, William, and Frankfort streets, embracing the area of the 
<jld Beekman Swamp, Avhich found an outlet for its surjilus water into 
the East River below Peck Slip. The wholesale dry -goods merchants 
were in Pearl Street, below Coenties and Peck slips ; the silk mer- 
chants were in Hanover Square, and the merchants' clothing estabhsh- 
ments were also in Pearl Street. 

South Street still I'emains the headquai-ters of shipping merchants 
and the shipping business of all kinds. About 1830 a few large 
shijipers built wharves and stores on Washington Street, then the 
Hudson River fi-ont of the lower part of the city ; but the river was so 
frequently filled Avith ice during a part of the year that they returned 
to South Street. Among those who thus retraced their steps and 
amassed large foitunes was the late Jesse Hoyt. 

Lent's Basin, between Wliitehall Street and Coenties Slip, was occu- 
pied by the largest vessels that brought Western produce fi-om All)any 
to New "V ork. The larger commission merchants were on the soutli 
side of Coenties Slip, such as Suydam, Sage & Co., Samuel Tooker & 
Co., Peter Nevins, James X. Cobb, and others. On the south side of 
the shp Avas the landing-place of the Boston ])ackets. These packets 
carried most of the merchandise from the West, by the Erie Canal, for 
tlie Huston merchants before the railroads were Iniilt. " The ' Hub ' 



FIUST DKOADK, 1«:10 ISIO. 215 

has jnit on a pood many airs since it was c(.ni|KMlt'<l to ;ri. to New Yoriv 
for a l)arrel of Hour," wmtc an old New York nieR-iuint.* 

Old Slip and ("olTee- House Slip were often crowded with tiie larf,'er 
siiilin- packets from Ualtimore, I'liiladelpliia. Richmond. Charleston, 
an»l S^ivannah, before <M.-ean steam navij^ation was introduced, liurhii',' 
Slip was till' haven for transient sailing vessels. 

The Swamp continues to he the business centre of the leather 
trade in New York, and now embraces ab<jut one hundi-ed busmess 
firms. These merchants are towei-s of strength in the business and 

financial world. . , , . . x- 

The tanning of leather was one of the leadmg mdustries of New 
York so early as the period of the Dutch occupation of ilanhattan 
Island I'or" generations it was always connected with the business of 
shoemakin.r. "iMie firet tannerv and shoe manufactory wa.s established 
bv C'oenradt Ten Evck, on Broad Street, in U!53. He died there m 
li;so, leaving his business to his three sons. At that time the tannere 
maile up their own leather into shoes. 

About If.C.l Abel Ilardenbroeck carried on the same business at the 
corner of P-road Street and Exchange Place. He appears to have been 
•I rowdv for he was complained of antl brought before the magistrate 
on charges of " creating an uproar with soldiers," breaking windows 
and other disturbances of the peace. He ai.pears to have been a sort 
of ro-ue also in business, for he wa.s charged before the Inirgoma.ster of 
New^Amsterdain with " making shoes that ripped in the soles. ihe 
punishment awanled for the last-named offence wii-s the making of a 
new pair ami paving several guilde.-s to the burgomaster who re,n-i. 
manded him. P.ioad Street was for some time the centre of the tan- 
nin" and shoemaking business in the city. 

In ltit;0 (after the first Encrlish occui.ation of the city) a patent was 
oranted to A. & C. Van Laer for a mill for preparing tanning-bark tor 
^e It was not lonir after this that the business was driven trom the 
city, beyond the pali^ules at Wall Street. The tannei-s were as.signed 
sixteen acres of land for their pursuit, extending from the eiist side of 
(present) Mai.len Lane to Ann Street, between Ciold Street and P.-oad- 
wav, to the site ..f the New York Iferuhl publishing house. This lot 
of "land w.'us caUed the "Shoemakers^ Portion." Their tann.ng-pits 
were near the junction of Maiden Lane and William Street. One of 
the wealthiest proprietors of the Shoemake.-s' Portion g-.ive the land on 
which the North Dutch Church was erected, on the corner of (i)resent) 
p'nlton and William stivets. 

■ .John W Dogmnw, in the New York £'if iii";; Post. 



216 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

When tho pojralation spread beyond the city limits of New Amster- 
dam, and away toward the (])resent) City Hall Park, the tanners were 
again compelled to remove tlieir works. They settled along the line of 
the " Collect" or " Fresh "Water Pond," to (present) Canal Street, 
where they continued to pursue their trade until after the Eevolution, 
when they located \vithin the area of the Swamp, which had been 
closed up and several streets had been made through it. Ferrj' Street 
was so called because it led directly to the Brooklyn ferry. 

William Beekman, the original owner of the Swamp, came to 
New Netherlands in 1047, in the employ of the Dutch West India 
Company. He was an enterprising citizen, became wealthy, and built 
a residence on the edge of the Swamp, on the high ground near the 
corner of Beekman and Cliff streets, where St. George's Chajiel after- 
ward stood. He died there in 1707. His landed property there was 
first sold in lots in 1717. Balthasar Bayard owned seven acres adjoin- 
ing Beekman's land, and these acres constituted a part of the Swamp. 
This included Franlcfort and Yandewater streets, and extended to 
Pearl and Rose streets. A part of Bayard's land was sold in 1783 to 
the widow of Hendrick van de Water.* 

A hundred years ago the vicinity of the Swamp was the most popu- 
lous part of the city. On its eastern border, Pearl Street, Franklin 
Square, and Cherry Street formed the extremely fashionable (juarter 
of New York. The Waltons, the Franklins, the Pearsalls and other 
notable! merchants dAvelt there. In the residence of Walter Franklin, 
the fii'st tlw(;lling-place of President Washington, De Witt Clinton was 
married to that Quaker merchant's daughter. 

After tho Hevolution the tanners began to desert the vicinitj^ of tho 
Collect, and located around Jacob and Frankfort streets, in the Swamp. 
The old vats at the Collect were left open, and became a subject of 
complaint in 1797 as dangerous. 

From the time of its first occupation by tanners and manufacturers 
of leather until noAV, the occupants of the Swamp have grown in 
wealth and business and social influence. The Swamp has been trans- 
formed from a place of manufactures f to a mart. Within the last 
fifty or sixty years its volume of business has enormously increased. 
In 1827 the number of hides of solo leather received in New York 

* For these facts I am indobtod to a series of intereRting articles in the Shoe and Leather 
Tteporter, vol. xxiv., ■written by F. W. Noroross. 

\ There are, perhaps, persons living who then saw no house in the space bounded 
by Jacob, Gold, Ferry, and Frankfort streets — nothing but tan-yards or vats. The 
houses surrounding these vats were very small, and all built of wood. 





^'^^/T^^i^ (2J. -"'^.i^'^^^'^^^^'*^^'/^. *y^- ^- 



FIRST DKCADK. IsaO-lHJO. 217 

(almost wliolly in tho S\\;im|)) was 2<>r.,(MMt ; in 1837, 005,0(10 ; in 
1S47, l,lii.s,iMii» ; in isoT, ;i,i'4.s,oO{| ; in l-stiT, .'!,S24,0S7 ; in l!S77, 
4,242,570, and in l^Sl, 5,457,417. 

Among the " mon of tlit' Swamp" were found some of tiie most 
valiialile citizens of the metrojioiis fifty yeui-s a<^o, sucii as Gideon Lee,* 
Israel Corse.t Ahraiiam BloiMlgood,* David I'ryson.^ .laeoh I.orillard, 
Altraiiam I'oliiemus, Peter MeCartee, Uieiiard Cunninjy^iiam, "William 
Kumble, Hugh MeC'onnick, iShepherd Knapp, Jonathan Thome,3 

• Giileon Lee was mayor of the city i:i 1833-^4. A biogrnphical sketch of hiiu will he 
foand on a siibseiiuent page. 

f Israel Corse was a Friend or Quaker, a native of Chestertowu, Maryland, where he 
was horn in 17G9. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to a tanner in Camden, 
Delaware, ^\■hen his ap]>renticeship expired he was wordi just seventy-five cents. On 
that capital he began business, married Lydia Trotts, a fanner's daughter, who brought 
him ipiite a fnrtune, ut that day, in money, and a greater fortune in love, prudence, and 
industry. Only two of their several children (Barney and Lydia) survived. Israel lived 
in Camden until he amassed a fortune of filO.OOO, when he came to New York in 1803, 
where his wife died. He married again. He went into business in the Swamp. His 
son Barney married a daughter of Sauinel Leggctt ; his daughter Lydia married Jona- 
than Thorne, who, on the retirement of Israel from business in 1830, became a proprietor 
of the concern, with his brother-in-law, Barney Corse. Israel lived several years in Van- 
dowater Street. He afterward occupied a house in East Broadway, where he died in 
1842. Israel Corse was one of the devoted band who succeeded in ridding New York 
City of the cur?o of lotteries and made the selling of lottery tickets a crime. 

J Abraham Bloodgood WHS a remarkable man. He died in 1W37. Mr. Bloodgood was 
an earnest Republican or Democrat, and a bright light in Tammany Hall. At one lime, 
when there was a split in the Bucktail party in the city on some local ipiestion, he was 
the leader of the "Swamp Clique" in opposition to the " North Eiver S(iuad," as the 
two factions were respectively called. 

g David Bryson, another remarkable man, was a native of Ireland. He came to .\mcrica 
after the Irish rebellion in 1708. with Thomas Addis Emmet. Dr. Macneven, and other 
Irish patriots. He began business in the Swamp as a tanner and currier, became 
wealthy, and sent funds to Irelaml so soon as prosperity was a.ssured, to enable his 
parents to come to America. David Brjson was a wise business man. and those who 
knew him best loved him most. He was one of tho founders of the Phn-nix Bsink and 
a long time, and until his death, one of its directors. His son Peter was its cashier 
at one time. 

I Jonathan Thome lived in good health of body and mind antil 1884. He was 
bom in the town of Wiushington, Duchess Coimty, N. Y., on April 20, 1801. His great- 
grandfather, Isaac Thome, came from Long Island and settled in (hat region in 1720. 
He was a member of the Society of Friends or Quakers, and so is the subject of this 
sketch. 

Jonathan Thome's father, Samuel Thorne, began life as a merchant in Washington in 
1704, and continued in (hat pursuit until 1814. when he pnrcha.sed a farm not far away, 
and which now con.stitntcs the famous Thorndale estate. He desired his only son. Jona- 
than, to be a farmer, and it was for that purpose that the broad acres were bought. Tho 
young man, after several years' experience, felt a restless desire to try his fortune in 
business in New York. Thither he went in 1820, and engaged in (he dry-goods trade. 



218 HISTORY OF NEW YOliK CITV. 

Thomas Everett, Morgan L. .Smith, James, (ieorge, ami Tiiomiis 
Brooks, I)aiii(!l Tocjker, Peter Bonnett, Ileiir-y Ottery, and otliers. The 
Jate Charles M. Leujjp, a son-in law and partner in business of Gideon 
Lee, once said : 

" The Roman mother, Corneha, wiieti asked to (Usplay her jewels, 
sent for her sons and pointed to them. So can we to these [hide and 
leatlier] fathers, and claim them as our jewels. Let us cherish their 
example, and emulate their noble qualities, so that hereafter our suc- 
cessors may, in like manner, be not ashamed of any of us, but be proud 
to exclaim. ' lie, too, was a Swampier.' " 

At the end of three years hi.s father, needing hi.s assistance on the farm, induced Jona- 
than to abandon his biisiness in the city and join him. The young merchant of twenty- 
three did not return alone, for he had married the amiable Lydia, daughter of Israel 
Corse. She cheerfully left the city for a home in the country for his sake. But her hus- 
band yearned for the f;rpater activity of mercantile life, witL all its possibilities for larger 
l)ecnniarj- gain than that of farming, and in March, 1830, they returned to New York. 
His father-in-law, then grown aged and wealthy, desired to retire from business, and 
offered to transfer it to young Thome. The latter hesitated, for he was ignorant of 
tanning, and indeed of other parts of the business. His brotherin-law, Barney Corse, 
who was his father's bu.siness partner, finally induced Thorne to join him. So it was 
that Mr. Thorne entered upon the business of a manufacturer of leather and a leather 
merchant in 1830, and continued it without interruption until 1880, a period of fifty 
years. For forty years he was at the head of the largest house in the business. 

The new firm went under the old name of " Israel Corse & Son" until 1832, when Mr. 
Thome bought the interest of his brother in-law, and for the first time put up his own 
name over the door. After that there were several changes in the composition of the 
firm. For about fifteen years his son Edwin (now of Thorndale) was a member. 

No merchant ever enjoyed a better reputation for honor and probity than Jonathan 
Thome. He made it a rule from the beginning to win the confidence of his customers 
in bis integrity. There are three kinds of leather— perfect sides, slightly damaged sides, 
and badly damaged sides. He alwaj-s instructed his men when assorting leather to put 
■with the liadly damaged sides the slightly damaged ones. This was his invariable habit. 
Very soon he gained a reputation of immense value to him. His " damaged " leather, 
containing so much slightly injured leather, always commanded a higher price than 
damaged leather in general, and secured for hiin an enviable reputation. He had the 
f-atisfaction of an approving conscience and of illustrating the truth of the maxim that 
" honesty is the best policy." 

Mr. Thorne came into the posse.ssion of the estate of Thorndale on the death of liis 
father, in 1849. He made it his summer residence. Observing the inferiority of the 
live-stock even in the fine farming region of Duchess County, he determined to give 
his country the benefit of an importation of F.ngland"s finest Shorthorn or Durham 
cattle. He paid as high as $5000 for a single animal, but found the venture finally 
profitable. In time the Thorndale stock became famous among breeders on both sides 
of the Atlantic, and animals were exported from it to England. 

Mr. Thorne left business with an ample fortune, and lives in elegant retirement in 
Fifth .\venue, New York. His wife died in the city of London, England, in 1872, and in 
1874 he married Mrs. Morritt, daughter of George S. Fox. 



I'lUST DKCADK, ls;io-l«-IO. 21't 

Al)()Ut tlic vi'ar ls;?i) tlie inclhoils (jf iin-rciuitik' litV in New York 
were rapidly eiiaii;,niijr. I |> l<» aiiout that period radroads lor tnivtl 
were uiikiiuwn in Anieriia. A visit of a countiy niereiiant to New 
York was a marked event m iiis life. He generally went to the city 
twice a year (tail and springi to purchase gtxjds. An advertisement of 
one of these meichants m a l'(>ughkee|)sie newspaper, in the fall of 
1S24. reads : 

" 1 have heen in New Yoik a fortnight makin<r a careful selection of 
g<x>ds, and I now ofTei' for sale, at a moderate proiit. a large assortment 
of articles suitahle for the fall and winter." 

The wholesale dry-goods merchants, as we have rdiserved. were then 
chiefly to he found in Pearl Street. The families of many of them 
lived over their stores and hoarded the clerks, and apartments not so 
occupied were hoarding-houses. These were exclusively for couutrv 
merchants. Those who traded in rural districts kept a variety store — 
dry goods, groceries, hardware, crockery, medicines, etc. Thev 
remained several days in the city, buying their various goods, and it 
Mas an object of jobbers to have one of their best salesiiien board at a 
large lodging-house for counti'V merchants. 

^lerchants' clerks in thos<; days performed manual services unknown 
to their class in 18S;5. There were very few carts then used by the 
dry -goods merchants. Most of their limited business in city trans- 
IKJitation Avas done by street porters, with hand-carts and large wheel- 
barrows. They stood at street corners reatly to t ke or go for a load. 
They were regularly licensed, and wore a Ijrass ])late with their number 
on tiie register engraved ui)on it. Their charges for anv distance below 
Cham bei-s Street was one shilling ( l-_>^ cents) ; for any distance above 
( hamliers Street, a pistareen (ISJ cents). Such heavv trucks as ai-e 
now seen were never heard of. " AVhen our em])loyer would purchase 
a lot of goods at auction," wrote the late "William E. Dodge concerning 
his e.\])erience as a dry -goods clerk, " it was our business to go to the 
auction-rooms ami compare them with tlie bill, and if two of us could 
cany them home we did so, as it wouhl siive the shilling porterage. 
I reiuember that while in this store I carried bundles of sroods up 
Broadway to Greenwich Village, near what are now Seventh and 
Eighth avenues and Fouith to Tenth Street."* 

• William E. Dodge was an eminent merchant aaA philanthropist, lie was boru in 
Hartford, Conn., September 4. ISO.") : went to New York in 1818, and became a clerk in a 
wholesale dry-goods store. In 1827 he be^an business for himself in the same line 
The next vear he mnrriefl M.^lissa. a danKhter of Anson G. Phelps, a dealer in metnls. 
They celebrated their golden wedding June 24. IsTs ..i tl,. ir , ..nntry-seat in Tarrj-town- 



220 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

The retail trade was mostly in William Street and Maiden Lane, 
excepting a few fashionable houses on Broadway. The cheap retail 
stores Avere in upper Pearl and Chatham streets. The trade was 
mostly divided by sections, some selling almost entirely to Soutliern 
merchants, others to Northern and Western merchants, and others to 
Eastern and Long Island merchants. A '' jobber" before 1S30 was con- 
sidered sound and had good credit if he had invested in business 
815,000 to S20,000. Probably not over a half dozen pei-sons in Xew 
York sold goods to the value of over $1,000,000 a year ; now there 
are some \vho sell a million a week.* 

onthe-Hudson, where their seven children, all sons, were present. In 1833 Mr. Dodge 
sold out. his dry-goods business and became a partner with his father-in law, under the 
firm name of Phelps, Dodge & Co. He accumulated a large fortune, continuing in busi- 
ness until his death, February 9, 1883. 

Mr. Dodge was singularly active in various busine.s8 enterprises and in religious and 
philanthropic movements. For twelve years he was a director of the Erie Railway Com- 
pany ; was president of the Houston and Texas Railroad, and one of the founders of the 
Central Railroad of New Jersey and of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. 
He was a director in other railroad companies, in banks, and in insurance, trust, and 
telegraph companies. He w'as'a member of the famous Peace Congress at Washington in 
1801, and of the Indian Commission appointed by President Grant. Mr. Dodge was a 
member of the Thirty-ninth Congress, in which he served on the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs. In 1866 he was a delegate to the Loyal Convention held in Philadelphia. He 
was also for many years an active member of the Union League Club. In 1855 he 
became a memlier of the New York Chamber of Commerce, was its vice-president four 
years, elected president in 1867, and re-elected for three successive terms. 

He was connected with the Presbyterian Church, and was an elder and for twenty 
years a Sabbath-school superintendent. In his early days he assisted in the organization 
of the Young Men's Bible Society of New York, and was at his death a manager of the 
American Bible Society. He was deeply interested in Young Men's Christian A.ssocia. 
tions, in foreign missions, in the cause of temperance, and in various organizations for 
the promotion of religion and morality, and in the physical comfort of his fellow-men. 
He was president of the American Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, of the National 
Temperance Society, and of the Christian Home for Intemperate Men, and was largely 
instrumental in providing a similar institution for women. He was a director of the 
Union Theological Seminary, and did much for educational institutions, especially, of 
late years, among the freedmen. A strict Sabbatarian, he left the direction of the 
Central Railroad of New Jersey because they allowed trains to run on Sunday. 

Mr. Dodge's hand was always open, and his charities are said to have amounted an- 
nually to $100,000. His remains were buried in the family vault in Woodlawn Cemetery. 

* Address by William E. Dodge, at Association Hall, April 27, 1880. 



T 



CIlArTEU XI. 

HE vari.Mis in.liistiial i.msiiits in New York about 1.S80 were 
— stiimilatcil l.v the iiu-ivas.-d activity in (•..ninu-rcial Imsiness. The 
sliinl.uildinf; interest esi.eeially lelt tiie tlirill of the new life. Tl>e ship- 
vards, as the places of Imsiness of the siiipi.uihlei-s were called, were 
clustered on the shores of the E;ust River, from Catharine Street to 
Thirteenth Street. 

Chief amon- tlie sliii.l.uil.l.Ms at tiiat time was Christian Bergh, 
father of llenrv J'.er^'h the pliilaiithropist. whose yard was near the 
(present) (Trand Street ferrv. He was a native of rvhinel)eck. Duchess 
County, N. V., where he was horn, in April, 17«3. His ancestoi-s had 
come to America from (Germany in the seventeenth century. Ilavnifr 
learned the business of marine architecture thorougidy, and being very 
expert and verv honest, he never lacked employment for a day. 

The United States Government appointed him to superintend the 
construction of the frigate Pr.'xhl.-id, a 44-gun ship built at New York, 
and at the beginning of the second war for independence (lsl2-l.>) he 
was sent to Oswego, on Lake Ontario, where, with Henry Eckford, lie 
built the brig (ho'!.J<i. under the direction of Lieutenant Melancthon 
Woolsey, of the United States Navy. After the war he established a 
shipyard at the foot of Scammel Street, on the East River, where he 
built packet-ships for American lines for EHroi)ean ports. There for 
many veai-s :Mr. Rergh's tall ami commanding figure might be seen, in 
blue coat and trousei-s and white neckcloth. He was very popular be- 
cause of his suavity of manner and inflexible integrity. 

Christian P>ergh was a bright light in Tammany Hall, and often inv- 
sided with dignitv at the meetings of the sachems, but persistently 
refuse.1 to take a" public office of any kincL His di.slike of debt was 
almost a passion with him. In his last illness he became imi>resse<l 
with the idea that his physician's bill had not been i.aid. He desii-ed 
his son Ilenrv to fill out a check. On Ijeing reminded that it was not 
yet pi-esented nor yet due. he nevertheless jiei-sisted. and to (piiet him a 
check was filled out. and with trembling iiand he siirncd it. A few 
davs afterwaril the famous shijibuilder and honest citizen died iJune 24, 



222 HIS'IOHY OF NEW VoliK cHY. 

1843), at the age of eighty years. Christian Bergli was the lirst ship- 
huililer who had tiie courage, the huiuanity, ami tlic coiunKm-sense to 
employ colored men in his yard. 

Below Bergii's siiipyard was that of Thorn ik Williams, at the foot 
of Montgomery Street ; of Car])enter & Bishop, near the foot of 
Clinton Street. Adjoining the latter were the yards of Ficket & 
TlK^mas ; of Morgan it Son, at the foot of Eutgers Street, and one or 
two othera below. Above Bergh were the yards of Sneedon & Law- 
rence, near the foot of Corlears Street ; Samuel Harnai'd's, near the 
foot of Grand Street ; Brown & Bell's, from Stanton to Houston 
Street (a part of which Henry Eckford had formerly occujiied, and part 
by Adam and Noah Brown) ; Smith <k Dimon's, from Fourth to Fifth 
Street ; Webb & Allen's, from Fifth to Seventh Street ; Bishop & 
Simonson's, from Seventh to Eighth Street, and higher up were the 
yards of Steers Brothers, William 11. Brown, and Thomas CoUyer. 
There were smaller est;iblislinients, the ^vhoh? numbering more than 
thirty. 

The shore of the East River above the northernmost yard, at the 
foot of Thirteenth Street, presented a line sandy beach, \vhere and at 
the foot of Corlears Street the Bajitists immersed their converts in the 
limpid water, and where, in summer twilight, groups of men and boys, 
women and girls, at a place called Dandy Point, might have been seen 
enjoying salt-water baths. They often arrived in big wagons, holding 
more than a dozen of both sexes, who at different ])laces, the men at 
one sj)ot the women at another, changed good garments for old ones, 
without the convenience of bathing-houses. Near by was a house for 
jilain refreshments, kejit by a Scotchman named Gibson — " Sandy 
Gibson." AVilliamsburgli, opposite, was then a straggling handet of 
cottages, witli orchards and gardens. 

Two of tlie shipbuilders here mentioned were apprentices to Henry 
Eckford, who in the early part of this century was the most eminent 
marine architect in the country. He was a native of Scotland, who 
came to New York in 17iH), when he was twenty-one years of age. 
He and Bergh became acfjuainted at an early day, antl were ever after- 
ward fast friends. They lived near each other, Bergh on the north- 
east corner of Scammel and Watei' streets, and Eckford in Water Street. 
Their chief hap[)iness outside their homes was in visiting each other. 
On a hill near by Miss MacLaughhn ke]it a dairy farm, and supjjlied 
the shipbuilders with milk. Two of Eckford 's apprentices, Thomas 
]\Iegson and William Bennett, are yet living in the city of New York. 

Eckford established a shipyai'd neai' the Brooklyn Navy-Yard, in 



riUST IUCCADK. lH:iO IHIO. 2"23 

isul, iiml snoii iic(iiiiiv(l ;m cxc'i'llont mimtiition. lie Imilt ii ship cf 
111 10 tons lor .loliii -lacol) Astor, and was cni]ilov.Nl liy tlie United 
States (Tovornnicnt in buikling vessels for tl- > navy dui-in;,' tiie war of 
1S12-1"). ^Vfter the war he was made superintendent of tlie l)r(K»klyn 
Xavy-Vard. He was a faithful imblic otiieer. One day he found the 
hlaeksiuith of the vard shoeing the conunodore's horses. He onlered 
them to be immediately removed, saying, - The business of this shop 
is to repair Government vessels, not to shoe commodore's hoi-ses." 

Eckford built the steamship Uoh.ft Fnltm,. which in l^->2 ma.le the 
first successful ocean voyage, by steam, to New Orleans and Havana. 
He also built six ships of tlie line for the government, made a j.lan for 
the reorganization of the navy, at the recpiest of President Jackson, and 
in 1S31 constructed a ship of war for the Sultan of Turkey. He entered 
the service of the Turkish CJovernment as naval constructor at Con- 
stantinople, but died within a year after his arrival there— November 

12, 1S32. ' . , , 

Among the eminent shiiii.uil.lers of tliat .lay who survived to the 
l)eriod ..rtiie i.resent generation may be named Isaac Webb, tlie great 
builder of packet-ships, born in Stamford, Connecticut, in IT'.'-l, and 
died in 1S48 : Stephen Smith, a native of the same town : David 
Brown, who died in ls.-iL> ; Jacob Bell, and Jacob A. Westervelt, a native 
of New Jersey, the son of a shipbuilder, an apprentice with Bergh, 
and aftcrwanl his partner in Inisine.ss, and engaged in i)uilding Havre 
and Lomlon packets before the year 1837. He was mayor of the city 
of New York in 1S.-.2, and immediately afterward built the I nited 
States steam-frigate BriKikh/n. 

Another .)f the old shipbuilders of New York is Joim Inglis. born in 
ISus, and became an apprentice to Stephen Smith. He built the 
steamships MUwaul'.e and R^'<1 .Jooh:t on Lake Erie in 1S37, and on his 
return to New York established an immense shipyard at the foot ot 
East Fourth Street, where he sometimes employed between 4oo and 
500 men. Ilis specialtv was steamship building. He constructed gr.v- 
omment vessels during' the Civil ^Var. He als<i built river and Sound 
steameis of great speed. Before isr..", he had built .•>•> large steam ves- 
sels * The later shipbuilders and the business of shii>building will be 
consi.lered hereafter. About the year 18-14 beg-an the most impoitant 
era in shipbuilding.f 

* .M.ronzeme.l«l was awarded to J.-hu Inglis A Son«. ''^ "'^ .•^"'"77 /"''''".'^.J 
,8G3. for . model of the revenue ctter .../,.,./,.. wbi-U was lost m the ^^^^^ 

^ The labors and the wa«e. of workme.. in the shipya^.l. <'^^^^-^':''\^^'^^Xl £ om 
fiftv rears a^o and now appear in strong contrast. The mechamc then worked from 



224 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

The niamifactui'os in the city of Xew York at tlie boginning of tliis 
decade were neither extensive nor various, but very soon circumstances 
produced a rapid increase in the kinds and products of the mechanic 
arts. The i)eople of our country depended lai'gely upon Europe for the 
products of the loom and the forge, for foreign labor was so low that 
American mechanics could not profitably compete with it. 

To remetly this disability tariffs on foreign goods were established. 
So early as ISK! Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun were associated in 
establishing the '' American system" — that is, stringent tariffs for the 
protection of American manufacturei's of every kiml. The tariff of 
ISK) did not effect much in the way of encouraging our manufacturers, 
neither did a more stringent tariff law in lS2-i, but that of 1827-28 was 
eff<ictual, and greatly stinudated the growtli of the mechanic arts and 
textile manufactures. It did more : it awakened the hostility of the 
cotton-growers of the South, and led to the intense and dangerous 
political tlisturbance known in history as the XuUilication movement in 
South Car'olina. 

At the beginning of this decade there were in the city of New York 
a score or more of incorporated manufacturing companies, organized 
under a State law of 1811, allowing any " five or more pei'sons" to 
form a company for the manufacture of certain specified articles. The 
principal of these com|>anies were : 

The Eagle Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of cotton, 
woollen and linen goods ; the Copper Manufacturing Company, for the 
manufacture of co])per and brass ; the Patent Oil Company, for press- 
ing and straining oil ; the Kew York Gas-light Company, for manu- 
facturing illuminating gas ; the New York Laboratory Association, for 
the manufacture of white and red lead and other paints ; the New 
York Company, for the same purpose ; the New York Steel Company, 
Steam Saw-mill (Company, the Linen Company, the New York Manu- 
facturing Company, the New York Sugar Refining Company, and the 
New York Chemical ('ompany. There were also two chartered coal 
companies, '' for the puri)ose of exploring and working mines of coal 
and other valuable minerals, and for delivering at New York coal for 



sunrise to sunset, or from four o'clock in the morning iintil hiilf past seven o'clock in 
the evening, for $1.25 a clay. He was allowed an hour for breakfast and two hours for 
dinner. Then in the shipyards the hea%iest timbers, now handled by steam or horse 
power, were carried on the shoulders of men ; and many hours were consumed in sawing 
a stick of live oak by hand, one workman standing in a ditch below, his face protected 
from the sawdust by a veil, while now a circular saw driven by steam or horse power 
would do the same work in about one minute. 



IMUST DKCADK, l-^.in l•^ll^ 225 

fufl. fiom tlio 0\iu> liivt'i," flv. Tlieso oitiil CKmiiiiiii'vs luul l)oeii 
()r;Li;aiiiz"(l aiiil cliarloreil in lsl4. wlion initliracilo lii-st bocaine imliliclv 
kniiwii as I'liel. It was not gononiUy iiitroduei'd into the city of New 
Yoik l)eloiv lSi'.->. 

Aliout 1s;!l' Enm^isii nieclianies, (lisliearten(>(l hy " dull times" at home 
ami attracted Ity " Hush times" in New York and rhiladi'l])iiia. heji-iin 
to come over in (luite lai-ge nunil»ei"s. Tliey intiodueed new hi-jinehes 
of meehanieal husiness. These took permanent I'oot. Inventive^ •^enius 
was stinndate<l in a remarkahh; degree, and fi-om small heginnings fifty 
yeais ago New \'ork has heeome the leading manufacturing city in the 
llepuhlic. In lSS(t the numlier of its manufacturing estaldishments 
was 11,;^3!1, employing over $lsl,(i(i{»,(HiO of capital, and producing in 
that year goods of the value of ^472. '.>2t:. 4:17. 

The increase in the commercial and manufacturing o|)erations in the 
city at that time demanded an increase of hanking facilities for furnish- 
ing currency and aiiling a nnivei*s;d credit system. Tiiere were then 
si.xteen hanks of issue and deposit in the city of New York, including 
a hnmcli of tln> United States Bank, with an aggregate ca])ital of 
§17,f'>4(t,(MM). They were : The U. S. Hranch liank, ^2,."j<Mi,(Hin ; Bank 
of New York, incorporated in 1791, §;l,(i(i(»,(Mi() ; Manhattan Bank, 
incorporated in 17'.''.', .s2, <•."><•, Odd ; Merchants' Bank, incoi-]iorated in 
ISo.S, :s1,4mO,(I(10 ; Mechanics' Bank, incorporated in isin, Sl,5nn,(MM( ; 
Union Bank, incorjiorated in 1.S11, §l,(i()(i,(iO(( ; Bank of America, 
chartered in 1>^12, ,sl',(IO(»,<I(»i ; City Bank, incoi-jjorated in 1812, 
§;l,25ii,t>(M) ; Phoeni.x Bank, chartered in 1812, ^jO(»,00(> ; P'ranklin 
Bank, incorporated in 1818, ^500,000 ; Xorth River Bank, incorpo- 
rated in 1S21, ^.")()n.(«M» ; Tradesmen's Bank, chartered in 1S23, 

SfJoo, ( ; Chemical Bank, incorjiorated in 1S24, §.5ii(t,(H»> ; Fulton 

Bank, incorporated in 1824. ^5(H),(iiM» ; Delaware and Hudson Canal 
Company, incorjjorated in lS2.i, $I,(i(tO,(i(Mi, of which S.Vhi.ooo was 
employed in i)anking ; and the New York Dry Dock Company, char- 
tered in 1825, S7iiO,(i(Ml. Eleven of these banks are in existence in 188;3. 

There was then only one sa\ings bank in the city, located in Cham- 
l)ei"s Street, and open only on ^londay afternoons fi-om four to six 
o'clock, and on Saturday afternoons from four to seven o'clock ; on 
quarter days, from eleven to one o'clock. Tlie genesis of tiiis first sav- 
ings bank in the city of Xew York is interesting. It was the offspring 
of the active brain and l)enevolent natiu'c of Jolin Pintard. 

Pintaiil called a meeting of a few gentlemen at the City Hotel, on 
November 2!t, is]t;. The philanthmpist, Thomas Eddy, was called to 
the chair, and T. H. Comreshall was chosen secretarv. Pintard had 



226 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

prepared the followinor i-esolution before he went to the meeting, wiiicli 
was olfered l)y Jolin Grisconi. and unanimously adopted : 

'■'/i'lKoh'f'i/, Tliat it is expedient to establish a savings bank in Xew 
York City." 

Pintard had also prepared a constitution. It was offered by Zacha- 
riah Lewis, and adojrted. The association Avas organized by the choice 
f)f twenty-eight directors, with De Witt Clinton at their head. The 
officers chosen were William Bayard, president ; Xoah Brown, Thomas 
II. Smith, and Thomas C. Taylor, vice-presidents.* 

The institution did not go into operation until Saturday evening, 
July 3, 1819, at six ox-lock, in a basement room in Chambers Street. 
The office of deposit was kept open that evening until nine o'clock, 
when the sum of S2S(t7 had been received from eighty-two dejiositoi-s. 
The largest deposit was §300, the smallest S2.i- Within the following 
six months there had been received 8153,378, from 1537 depositors. 

This fii"st Bank for Savings, the firstorganized in the city of Xew 
York, is yet a flourishing institution, occupying an elegant banking- 
house built of white marble, in Bleecker Street. In 1883 there were 
twenty-three savings banks in the city of New York. The original 
Bank for SaAings, established in 1819, had received, during (>3i years, 
from 490,5-11 depositors, the sura of 8162,032,515 ; to which add 
interest up to January 1, 1883, 829,501,761, making an aggregate of 
8191,534-,277.i 

When tliis savings bank was firmly established, Mr. Pintard, in pur- 
suance of his usual custom when he had achieved a great success, with- 
drew, but in 1828 he accepted the presidency of it, and held that 
office until 1 8-11 , when lie was eighty -one years old, and was growing 
l)lind. It lias been well said, " There never was a man in the c\tj Avho 
could start great measures as John Pintard could. He could indite a 



* The following named gentlemen were chosen directors : De Witt Clinton, Archibald 
Gracie, CiulwallnderD. Coiden, William Few, John Griscom, .Jeremiah Thompson, Duncan 
P. Camphell, James Eastburn, John Pintard, J. H. Coggeshall, Jonas JIapes, Brockholst 
LiWngston, Richard Varick, Thomas Eddy, Peter A. Jay, J. Mun-ay, Jr., John Slidell, 
.Andrew Morris, Gilbert Aspinwall, Zachariah Lewis, Thomas Buckley, Najah Taylor, 
Fiancis B. Wintlirop, William Wilson. 

-f John Pintard, John E. Hyde, Dnncan P. Campbell, William Bayard, Colonel William 
Few, James Eastburn, Thomas Eddy, Zachariah Lewis, John Mason, Jacob Sherrel, 
William Wilson, and Jeremiah Thompson were present that evening. 

t The officers o£ this Bank for Savings for 1883 were : Robert Lenox Kennedy, presi- 
dent ; Wyllis Blackstone and Benjamin H. Field, vice presidents ; George Cabot Waid, 
secretary ; David Olyphant, treasurer ; 'William G. AVhitc, comptroller, and James 
Knowles, accountant at the bank. 




^a^-^^^^1^ ^J/t^-^^ 



KIUST UKf.\l>K. lH:ti»-Isi() 227 

liainlliill tliat would iiillaiiic tlic minds (if llic iifuplc t'ui- any ;,'<«mI 
work. He i-Duld fall a iiu'ctin<r with tlic pen (.!' a pod. and iM't'orc tlie 
jn'opie met he would have arraii^a-d the doings for a pei-fect suceess." 

At the time we are considering there were ten marine-insurance 
comi)anies and twenty-eight lire-insurance companies in the city of 
New York, with the agencies of four outside companies— namely, the 
Duchess and the Orange County, tiie Western (at IJutTalot, and the 
Utica fire-insuianee companies. 

The marine-insurance comjianies were : the New York, tin- < )cean, 
the American, the Pacific, the Union, the Atlantic, the .Moliawk (for 
marine, canal, lake, and river insurance), tlie Neptune, and the Niiigara, 
with an aggregate ca])ital of !s4-,fiiiii,<MH). 

The tire-insuranco companies were : the ^Mutual, the Washington, 
the Eagle, the Hope, the (41ohe, the Franklin, the Merchants', the 
:\rercan'tile, the ]\Icchanics', tlie ISfanhattan, the Fulton, the Farmei-s\ 
the North Kiver, the Chatham. tlu> Equitable, the Tlia-nix, the New 
York Contrilmtorshii), the JefTerson, the I'nited States, the /Etna, the 
Sun, the Protection, the Howard, the Tnulers", the Tiadesmen's, the 
Firemen's, and the Lafayette, with an aggregate capital of over 
$10,000,(1(10. 

The fire department was then a volunteer association, and remained 
so until the year ls(!5. It was an ancient institution in the city— as 
ancient as the beginning of the administration of Peter Stuyvesiint of 
the government of New Netherlands. 

In 104?^ Stuyvesant ap|K)inted fmir fire-wardens to insi>ect the 
wooden chimneys of the little village of New Amsterdam. A fine of 
about §1.?.0 was imposed upon all whose chimneys were found to be 
iin])erfectly swejit. These fines were to be used for providing leather 
fire-buekets and hooks and ladders. The fire-warden was among the 
official dignitaries of the town, and was not to be treated with dis- 
respect. Madalino Dircks, one of the good dames of New Amsterdam, 
wa.s fined " two pounds Flemish" for saying to a fire-warden as she 
passed liis do<jr (only in a joking way, she pleaded), " There is the 
chimney-sweep in the door ; his chimney is well .swejrt.'" "Such 
jokes," the court sjiid. " cannot be tolerated," and the dame was 
made to jiay dearly for her fun. One half of the fine went to the 
church and the other half to the ])oor. 

After the English occupation (1(!S3) the office of "viewer and 
searcher of chimneys and fire-hearths" was estai)lished. and a fine of 
fifteen shillings was imposed upon those who should allow their chim- 
neys to take fire ; now the fine is §5. 



228 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITV. 

As the city increased, numerous hooks and ladders were added to tha 
scores of lire- buckets. There was no fire-engine in the city before 
1731. In May of tliat year the city authorities ordered the purchase 
of two engines, and appointed the mayor and two aldermen a commit- 
tee to " agree with some proper merchant or merchants" to send to 
Lontlon for the same. A room in the old City Hall, in Wall Street, 
was fitted up for their reception and security. These engines were 
queer looking machines. Each consisted of a short " oblong-square 
box, with the condenser in the centre, and was played by short arms 
at eacii end, and mounted on four block-wheels, made of thick plank. 
There was no traveller forward for wheels to play under the box ;" so, 
when it turned a sharp corner, the engine must have been lifted 
around.* The engines were filled by means of fire-buckets. Xo 
suction-j)ipes were used before the year 1806. 

In 1737 the Legislature of New York, sitting in the city, passed an 
act for the appointment of twenty-four " able-bodied men, who shall 
be called the firemen of this city, to work and play the fire-engines, 
and who sliall be exempt from serving as constables, or doing militia 
duty during their continuance as firemen." This was the beginning of 
the New York fire com])anies. This act was jJassed in consequence of 
a large fii-e which had recently occurred in the city. Thirty '' strong, 
able, decent, honest, and sober men' ' were chosen for the service out of 
the six M'ards of the city — five from each ward.f The first engine- 
house had been ei'ected at the comer of "Wall and Broad streets the 
year before. 

Near the close of the last century each engine-house was furnished 
with long poles, on each of which twelve leather fire-buckets, i)rovided 
by the city, might be carried, for it was found inexpedient to depend 
upon private houses for a sufficiency of fire-buckets. 

In 17!)S " The Fire Department of the City of New York" was in- 
corporated by act of the Legislature. It was to consist of all ])ersons 

* In " The Story of the Volunteer Fire Department of the City of New York, " by 
George W. Sheldon, p. 6, may be seen a picture of one of these engines. To that excel- 
lent work the writer is greatly indebted. 

\ The men who composed the first fire company in the city were : John Tiebout, 
Hercules Wardeven, .Jacobu.s de la Montagne, Thomas Brom, Abraham Van Gclder, 
William Koome, Jr., Walter Ileyer, Johannes Alstein, Evert Pells, Jr., Jacobns Stouten- 
bnrgh, Peter Lote, Peter Braner, Albertis Tiebout, John Vredenburgh, John Duuscombe, 
Johannes Eoome, Peter Mnrschalk. Petrns Kip, Abraham Kip. Andrew Meyer, Jr., Robert 
Richardson, Rymer Biirgns, Barent Bnrgh, Darid Van Gelder, .Johannes Van Dnerson, 
llartinus Bogert, Johannes Vredenburgh, John Van Suys, Adolphus Brase, and John 
JIann. 



IIUST DKCADK, IHItO Isjii 229 

tlu'ii or who riii^'lit ln' tln-ivaftcr mciiil)ci's of any life coiiipany ol' llic 
city of New Voile. Tiiis i)ron<rlit tin- liivmen <»f tiie city into closer 
social relations, and tlic spirit of the cofps was vci-y hi;^li. They served 
without pay, excepting in the form of some privileges, and they l""'"- 
forme<l the arduous and sometimes dangerous service of the department 
with the utmost enthusiasm. " The pride ami ambition of each lire 
company," stiid the now venerable Front Street merchant, Zopiiar 
Mills, the president of the E.xenipt Firemen's Asscx-iaticm, to .Mr. 
Sheldcm, " were to be tlic liret to reach a lire, and the mo.st eHicieut in 
putting it out. We had as nuich love for that as wc possibly could for 
anything else. Wc would leave our business, our dinner, our anything, 
aiul rush for the engine. The night I was getting married there was a 
lire. I could see it, and I wanted to go innnediately. I5ut the next 
morning early, before breakfast, there was another lire, and 1 went to 
that. So you may judge how we liked it. If we had a jiarade, we 
paid the expenses oui-selves. We always ])aid for the painting, repair- 
ing, and decorating our engines. The engine to whidi I i)elonged 
(No. i;i) was silver plated — the first that was so — at a cost perhaps of 
^JuOO. We didn't ask the cor[)oration to foot the bill. . . . There 
were few ' roughs ' then, as in modern times. Nor were there any 
SJilarics, except in the ca.se of the chief engineer and temporarily of the 
assistant engineer. Firemen now are liberally c<»mpensated ; they get 
^12o0 a year each, and arc retired on iialf |)ay. if iiilirm. after ten 
veal's' service." * 

^Ir. Mills is a most remarkable man. His physical and mental 
energy was always marvellous, and he retains these characteristics 
now, at the age of seventy-five yeai-s. For thirty years lie was an 
active member of the fire dejiartinent of Xew^ ^'ork City, as a ])rivate, 
foreman, assistant engineer, and ]iresident of the department. He 
began the jieculiar service by running with F]ngine No. 13, when he 
was a boy thirteen veal's of age. " For a number of years," siivs Mr. 
Sheldon, " he acted as leader of the floor at the annual ball of the 
department, and also as treasurer of the ball committee. In a single 
niirht often he woukl be at the tresisurer's olfice, would leave for the 
liall-room and show the firemen how to dance, would run with his 
engine to a fire, and then return and dance until moining. 

Jlr. Mills, in his prime, had a voice of wonderful po\v(^r. " He had 
a throat like a lion," s;iid an old fireman to Mr. Sheldon. " I slept in 
the attic of iny house in order moi-e easily to hear alarms of fire. I've 

• Sheldon's " Slury nf the Vnlantopr Firp Depnrtnieiit." p. '20. 



•^'30 HISTORV OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

heard Zophai' ]\Iills's lialloo from Pearl Street, when I was in bed in 
WiHiain Street, ' Turn out ! tuni out ! Fire ! fire ! ' Of course wlien 
lie yelled that, out I went. The tones of his voice had come to me 
tlirough five blocks — from Pearl to Cliff Street, from Cliff to Yande- 
water, from Yandewater to Rose, and from Rose to William — say 
eight hundi-ed feet at least, and they could be heard distinctly at that 
distance." On one occasion he ran all the way from Pearl Street to 
the Hell Gate ferry, at Eighty-sixth Street, and then crossed the river. 
Mr. Infills was born in the city of jS^ew York in September, isou.* 

The New York Fire Department has always been ])rompt and ener- 
getic in responding to the public desires when any great parade of citi- 
zens was to take place, like that of the reception of Lafayette in lH2i, 
the great canal celebration the next year, in honor of the revolution in 
France in 1S30, the introduction of the Croton water in 1842, and the 
coni])letion of the laying of the Atlantic cable in 1S58. 

In 1791 some memliers of the Yolunteer Fire Department, at a con- 
vivial ])arty, initiated measures for creating a fund called the ' ' Fire 
Department Fund," for the benefit of indigent and disabled firemen. 
In the charter of the department, obtained in 1708, there was a provi- 
sion for the maintenance of such a fund. For a long series of years the 
recipients of the benefits were few, and a surplus was aecuiimlated. It 
was invested in fire-insurance stock, and was all lost when the great 
fire of 1835 ruined many insurance companies. But the citizens of 
New York, appreciating the services of the department, came to the 
rescue, and contributed $24,000 toward a reinstatement of the fund. 
It experienced vicissitudes afterward, and the Legislature gave it aid 
at one time. 

After the volunteer system was succeeded by a Paid Fire Depart- 
ment, this trust was conlided to the Exempt Yolunteer Firemen. It 
then amounted to S90,00() ; it is now (1883) over SlSo.oOo. The Paid 
Fire Department has a fund of more than $4-0o,(mi(>. From time to 
time this fund of the volunteer firemen was increased by the pro- 
ceeds of entertainments freely given by tlieatres, etc. Among the 
most active promoters of that fund Avas the now venerable John W. 
Degrauw, who was an energetic fireman from 1816 to 1837. For 
many years he was i)resident of the fire department. f 

* In December, 1853, on the retirement of Mr. Mills from the office of president of the 
fire deimrtinent, a series of complimentary resolutions was passed, and in .Vnfjiist, 1853, 
the representatives of that department presented him with a tea-service of silver which 
cost $1000. 

t John W. Degrauw was an active merchant at the beginning of 1883, although then 



KIHST DKC'ADE, 1830-1840. '^lil 

Tlio Association of Kxt'iu])! Kiromen was runncd m l^41, lor tho 
pui'posi' of iiroti-ctiii'; till' IjL'nt'Volcnt fuml of tlic (Icpartiiieiit, for then? 
luul \Kvn at that early day soiiu- talk of a Paid Fire Department. In 
the fall of lS4:i the name of the society was change<l to '• Tiie Ass<xia- 
tion of Exempt Firemen of tlie t'ity of Xew York," with the avowed 
object of atfoiding such aiil to the lire department in tlie city as lay in 
their jH)wer. The fiist president of tlic association was Fzziah Wen- 
man ; the pi-esent (iss:}) incumbent is Zoi)har Mills, elected in isTt!. 

Tiie bill establishing the Paid Fire Department in tiie city of New 
York was passeil by the Legislatui'e on the :5nth of ^larch, isc.J. Tiie 
dejiartment as a body had vehemently opposed the measure. It was 
intimatt'd tiiat tiie firemen woulil. in a body, resign and aliaiidon their 
a]>panitus. There was mucii e.xeitement in tiie city. On one engine- 
liou.se were posted tlie words " To let ;" on another, " Closed in conse- 
(|iienee of a death in tlie family ;" and on anotlier. " Sliut U[) for one 
year ; occupants gone to Saratoga." Tlie firemen met in most of the 
engine-liouses to consider the situation, and most of them " took the 



nearly eighty-six years of n^o, having been born in May, 1707, in the ward in which his 
store now is. No. i;7 Washington Street. He is of Huguenot descent. Hi.s father and 
grandfather were soldiers during the whole of the old war for indejiendence. He went 
into a .store as clerk seventy-five years ago, and has been in business ever since. 

" I'll tell you how I live," llr. Degrauw said to the author of " TheStory of the Vol- 
unteer Fire Dopartuienf ' in 1880. '• I ride every day, and go to bed everj- night at nine 
o'clock. I get my dinner here [in his store — he lives in Urooklyn]— they send it to me 
from homo -and take a little drop of brandy and water. I'll show yon my dinner to- 
day." He brought out a little basket containing a bottle of preserved berries, a cup of 
cnstard, and some bread and butter. " I go homo for snpper ; no meat, but a piece of 
toast, something light, and a cup of tea. Then to bed (unless somebody comes in), 
and half a wineglass of brandy or gin. I never chewed tobacco. I have smoked about 
all my life, but I've given that uj) now. .\t present I burn only two or three cigars a day." 

Mr. Degrauw is a remarkable man. His memory goes back to the earlier days of this 
century, when " boys skated from Broadway near Pearl Street to the North Eiver," and 
flew their kites on the green hills at Leonard Street, beyond the old ho.spital, " away out 
in the country." He helped cast up intrenchments at McGowan's Pass (now in Central 
Park), Manliattanville, and Brooklyn during the war of ISl'i. He served a term in the 
State Legislature, and at an early age became an active volunteer fireman. He has ever 
been a passionate lover of flowers, and he introduced the custom of decorating the coffin 
and the church with flowers at funerals. For thirteen years he was president of the old 
Brooklyn Horticultural Society. Of music too he is fond, and has been for many years 
a member of the executive committee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

Mr. Degrauw was a volunteer fireman twenty years, a nipmber of Company Ifi during 
tho whole time. For several years he was a trustee ami president of the fire depart- 
ment : chairman of the school committee of the Trustees' Fund provided tor tho educa- 
tion of firemen's children ; helped to make arrangements fnr the earliest firemen's balls, 
and secured benefits from the managers of theatres. 



232 HISTOKY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

matter philosopliically. " At a meeting at Firemen's Hall, on the first 
of April, Chief- Engineer Decker advised the firemen to continue their 
services to the city, and ther« was a most generous sjnrit displayed. 
By their conduct at that crisis the firemen of New York won the 
respect and gratitude of the citizens. The Volunteer Fire Department 
was disbanded, and the Paid Fire Department took its place. Tiie 
property of the tlepartment was turned over to a Ijoaril of lire commis- 
sionei"s, appointed by the governor of the State. 

The changed conditions of the city made this revolution in the fire 
dejxirtment necessary. The introduction of steam lire-engines dimin- 
ished the number of men necessary to the successful working of the 
machines. The rapid extension of the area of the city and other con- 
ditions made it advisable to have a lire department composed of men 
who would give their entire time to the extinguishment of fires. 

The firemen of Xew York City have ever been ready to act promptly 
and bravely in defence of their country. In the war of the Revolu- 
tion, in the second war for independence, and in the late Civil AYar, 
their conduct, at home and in the field, was ever conspicuous.* 

The steam fire-engine was introduced into the city of New York in 
1841. The frequency and extent of conflagrations in the city during 
the winter of 1839-40 called the attention of the citizens generally, and 
of the insurance companies in particular, to the subject of adopting 
more efficient means for extinguishing fires than the city possessed. 

* Scores of anecdotes, amusing and pathetic, have been related concerning the oomhict 
of New Y'oi'k firemen. The following characteristic one will suffice as an example : 

" In Barnum's old Museum, on the present site of the Reral.d office, some firemen once 
appeared as actors in a play entitled The ralrkits of '76. Barnum's manager had ob- 
served that the Ijady Washington Light Guards, a target company composed of members 
of Engine Company No. 40, luarehed with considerable precision, having been drilled 
industriously. ' Why not get them to perform some of their evolutions in our new mili- 
tary play ? ' he thought. The idea was not distasteful to the men of the engine com))any. 
and they agreed to accept the jiroposal and turn over the proceeds of the engagement to 
some of their number whj were out of work. In due time they appeared on the stage of 
the lecture-room of the Museum, some dressed as Hessians and Continentals, others as 
Indians, and one as Moll Pitcher, the famous heroine of Eevolutionary days ; but while 
in the midst of a most exciting act the City Hall bell sounded an alarm of fiie. ' Boys,' 
cried their foreman, who was acting with them, ' boys, there's a fire in the Seventh Dis- 
trict ! ' The words had scarcely escaped his lips when his thirty comrades bolted from 
the stage, rushed up Broadway for their engine, and soon returned with it — the most 
extraordinary looking fire company ever seen in the streets of a civilized or uncivilized 
community, JIoll Pitcher at the head of the rope, and a live Indian brandishing a fore- 
man's trumpet. On reaching the fire, followed by a motley and jeering crowd, they 
applied themselves earnestly to the brakes, while the manager in the Museum was 
endeavoring to explain to his audience the cause of his sudden dilemma." 



FIRST DECADE, 183a-lS40. 233 

TIic untirin<r efforts of tlio wi'll-orifiinizcd Voliintocr Firo I)p]iurtiiiont 
si't'incd iiisiitlk-ii-nt to |)(Mfonii tlii' arduous dutk-s iv(|uin'd of tlicm, and 
general alarm ))('rvaded the eoininuiiity. 

At this juuctuiv tlie Mecliaiiics' Institute of t lie City of New Yoric 
otfered its /,n)ld medal — the highest lionor within its gift— as a ivward 
for the liest method of applying steiun as a motor for fire-engines. 
Several plans were submitted, and the awaid was given to Ca])tain 
John Eriesson, an eminent Swedish engineei-, wiio had i-ecently come 
to America fiom England. He estimated the |Mjwer of the engine 
which he proposed to he f(|Ual to that of lOS men.* 

Boston. Philadelphia, lUdtimoiv, and Cincinnati had steam lire- 
engines hefore Xew York, owing to the opposition of the Volunteer 
Fire Department in the latter city. It was seen that if four or five 
men could handle a machine, there was no use of having sixty men and 
several assi.stants to do the work. The occupation of the Volunteer 
Department would be gone. This opjKisition was effectual to prevent 
their introduction for many years. The chief engineer, so late as 1S59, 
stiid to the common council that their introtlucticjn " would embaiTa.ss 
seriously the volunteer system.'' 

Through the exertions of the underwriters a steam fire-engine 
apjwared in the city in 1S41. It was huilt by Paul Ilodge tfe Co., in 
Laight Street. It could throw 1(1,()(H» |)ounds of water through a two 
and one eighth inch nozzle to a height of 160 feet a minute. But it 
was embarrassed in various ways hv the practical ojijiosition of the 
firemen. Nevertheless the steamers by their own merits finally con- 
(juered all opjxisition, and when the volunteers perceivetl their intro- 
duction inevitable, they wisely concluded the new machines would be 
valuable auxiliaries of the hand-engines. In time the steamei-s su- 
l)ei'seded the latter, and now (1883) the city of New York possesses 
aitout fifty steam fire-engines and as many hose-tenders. 

* Engravings of tbis engine, elevation nnd plans, were mnde by the author of this 
work, and published in Mapes's /ft/wWoi-i/ </ .IW.«, Science, and ^fanufactures fot October, 
1840 ; also in the Family Mwfuinc, edited by the present writer. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

AT tlie beginning of the first decade tlie cit}' of Xew York was 
furnislicd witli an amended charter. A city convention, com- 
posed of five members from each ward (sixty-five in all), cliosen by the 
jieople in pursuance of a recommendation of the common council, met 
in June, 1 S29, for the purpose of revising and proposing amendments 
to the charter. A series of amendments was agreed to, after a pro- 
tracted discussion. These were submitted to the people of the several 
wards, and approved by them in ratification meetings. Application 
Avas then made to the Legislature to ratifj'^ these amendments by law, 
and to make them a part of the charter. This was done on Ajjril 7, 
1830. 

The essential alterations in the charter consisted in a division of the 
common council into two distinct boards, consisting of a board of alder- 
men and a board of assistants, to sit and act sejiarately, with concurrent 
and equal powers. These tM'O boards constitutetl together the legisla- 
tive department of the municipal ^'overnment. It provided that every 
law, ordinance, or resolution of the common council must pass both 
boards, and be submitted to the mayor before it passes, and if he, 
within ten days, i-eturned the same with objections, it must be reconsid- 
ered, and pass both boards by a majority of all the members electeil to 
each before it became a law of the corporation. 

It ])rovidcd for the choice, for one year, of one alderman and one 
assistant alderman in each ward. The two boards were eni}^ou-ered to 
direct a s}iecial (Section to fill any vacancy that might occur in their 
respective boards. Each board was given authority to compel the 
attendance of absent members, to punish members foi- disorderly be- 
liavior, and to expel a member with the concurrence of two thirds of 
the members elected to each board. Any law, ordin;ince, or resolution 
might originate in either board, and might be amended or rejected by 
the other. 

It prohibited any member of either board from holding any office of 
which tlie emoluments were paid from the city treasury, or by fees 
directed to be paid by any ordinance of the common council, or IVom 



FIKST DKCADE, l«:!0-tS.|0. 235 

l)ein^' intcrosted, diivctly or iiulircctly, in any contnict, tlic cxpciisf of 
wliirli slmnld Ix* paid i)y tin- city j^ovornmpnt. 

llitlit-rto till' niayitr and recordor wpiv i:f-nf}ii-li> nicniljt'rs of the 
coinniiin council ; the amended cliarter declared that neitlier of these 
otliceis sliould be a nieini)er of tiie council after the second Tuesday in 
.\[ay, ls:il. The mayor, as Ijefore, was to be appointed by the irov- 
ernor of the State, by and with the consent of tiie State Senate ; Imt 
by the alteration of the charter, and by act of the Legislature, March 
3, is:i4, it was provided tliat the chief magistrate of the city should be 
chosen annually i)y the eleitoi-s of the municipality. 

The amended charter provided that in the absence of tlie mavor, or 
when there should be ii vacancy in the otfice. the ])i'esident of the iioard 
of aldermen should exercise the functions of mayor. The mavor was 
re(juired tt> communicate to the common council at least once a vear 
(oftener if re(|uired) a general statement of the conditiitn of the city 
govei-nment, finances, and imjirovements, and recommend such meas- 
ures as he should deem expedient. The common council were proliib- 
ited from borrowing uumeys on the credit of the corporation, exce|)t in 
anticipation of the revenue of the year, unless by a special act of the 
Legislature, and their intention to do so must be ])ublished two months 
preceding the charter el(>ction. It provided that the executive business 
of the corpoi-ation should be ])crfonned by distinct departments, which 
it was the duty of the common council to organize and appoint for that 
purpose. 

This ch.artei' remained in force and unauu-nded until 1849, exce|)ting 
in the matter relating to the election of the mayor by the people. The 
fii-st chief magistrate of the city chosen by the electoi-s was Cornelius 
W. Lawrence, who was elected by the Democratic jiarty in 1S84. 

For several years previous to the creation of this amended cliarter, 
^ew York had been governed by one body, composed of the mavor, 
recorder, and common council (the latter consisting of one alderman 
and a.ssistaut alderman from each ward), sitting in one chamber. The 
corporation was vested with the power of enacting municipal laws and 
of enforcing their observance, under proper penalties. The mayoj", 
recorder, and aldei-men were i'.r-iijfifii> justices of the peace, having 
jwwer to hold courts of (General Sessions and to decide a.s to all olTences 
coming under the cognizance of th(> regular justices of the peace. They 
were liUewisc included in the commission of Oyer and Teiniiner for the 
trial of capital offences, and were emjiowei-ed to holil a coui-t of 
Common Pleas, which had been called the Mayor's Court, in which 
civil actions of every desci'iption were ti-ied. 



236 HISTORY OF NKW YURK CITY 

In 1S21 a pcnnanont law j»<lge was appointed to preside in the 
Mayor's Court, an act having been passed ciianging the name to the 
Court of Common Pleas for the City of New York. This act was 
h'awn by John Anthon, tiien tlie most prominent practitioner in the 
Mayor's Court. Tlie officer thus created was called the first judge, 
to hold office during good beha\'ior, or until he should attain the age 
of sixty yeare. In 1822 the term of this office was changed to five 
years, and the jjoAver of appointment, theretofore lodged in the Council 
of Appointment, was vested in the governor of the State. The mayor, 
recorder, and aldermen were still authorized to sit in that court, but 
the fii-st judge was empowered to hold the court without them ; indeed 
it was made his special duty to hold it. John T. Irving, a brother of 
Washing-ton Ii'ving, was the first judge appointed under this law, and 
the mayor in 1821-23 (Stephen Allen) ceased to preside in this court. 
In 1823 Richard Riker, the recorder, took the place of the mayor as 
the presiding judge of the Court of Sessions, and Irving sat as the 
judge of the Court of Common Pleas. This court was cliiinged in 18-1(!. 

Judge Irving (born in 1778) was, in many respects, a model judge. 
He wa.s remarkable for strict integrity, a strong love of justice, and for 
exact and methodical habits. He was attentive, careful, ])ainstaking -, 
considered every case so attentively that his judgments were rarely 
reversed, and were uniformly treated l)y courts of revision with great 
respect. 

Like his brother Washington, he had talent and taste for literary 
composition. He published in the newspapers, particularly in the 
Morning Chronicle, a Democratic journal started by his brothers, prose 
and poetical pieces, especially poetical attacks ujwn his political oppo- 
nents, remarkable for their point, brilliancy, and satire. "When he 
became judge his conscientious appUcation to his duties ended his lit- 
erary career, and no doubt shortened his life. At his death, which 
occurred in March, 1838, at the age of sixty, the bar of New York 
caused a handsome marble tablet, with his bust in rehef and a suitable 
inscription in Latin, to he placed in the court-room. The following is 
a copy of the inscription ; 

' ' ^lEO . HONOKATO 

•JoAXTjE • T • Ieving 

QVEM • JVDIOES ■ OFFICIO • MTLTOS • PEB • ANNOS • FVNCENTEM 

ET • LEGVM • DOCTKINI ■ ET • MORVM ■ INTEORITAS • PELICISSIME • CONDECORABANT 

ITBI3CONSTLTI ■ NED • EBORACEXSES • QVIBTS • ET . AMICI ■ ET • MAGISTRI 

TAM • TniSTE • KELQVIT • DBSIDERVM 

H ■ M ■ PONENDVM • CVE AVERVNT. " 





y^ir~^.:^£^ 



KIUST DKCADK, IWiO-lH-KI '^.i7 

It was (liirmL;- the pi'osidcncy of .ru(l<;e Irvinu; in tlii- Court of ("om- 
nion I'Icas that New York i)ivsonte<l a rciiiaikalilc array of lirilliuiil 
lawyers. In tliat court niiglit luivo bei-n si-cii Tlioiiiius Addis Kimin-t,* 
relor A. .Iay,t I'eter W. Uadcliffo, Samuel M. lIo|)kiiis, .lolin Antlioii^ 
Martin S. Wilkins, Elislia W. King, David 1!. Ogtlen, William Sainson, 
William Slosson, Pierre C. \'an Wy<k, .lolin T. Mulligan, Koliert 
Bogardus, Thomas PhaMiix, J()sei)li I ). I'ay. I )avid firaliam. Sen., Hugh 
Maxwell, John Leveridge, Ogden llolfman (then raiudly rising in the 
]irofession), and others. 

There was a Court of Sessions, a Court of Oyer and Terminer, a 
Marine Court, and ward district courts. The Court of Sessions was a 
trihunal for determining in all cases of felony and of offences committed 
within the city, anil had power to appoint special sessions of the peace 
for the sjime purposes. The judges of the Court of Sessions consisted 
of the recorder and two aldermen ; that of the Court of Oyer and 
Terminer consisted of the recorder and aldermen, and was empoweied to 
try all cases of treason, felony, and other inferior crimes. The ^[arine 
Court was a tribunal consisting of three judges, two of whom were 

* Thoums AdiUs Enimct, LL.D., n political rcfiiKL>e from Irolnnd, \vi\s an eminent 
menil)er of Ibc Xew York bar. Ho wns born in Cork in 17(!4, and died in New York City 
in November, 1827. An obelisk ot white marble marks hi« grave in St. Paul's church- 
ynrd, near Uroadway. He was a brother of the colebrnted Irish jiatriot and martyr, 
Kobert Emmet, and a son of a distinguished Dublin physician. He studied medicine in 
Edinburgh and law in England, wa-s admitted to the Dulilin bar in 1791. and soon rose 
to distinction in his profession. He was a leader of the league known as United Irish- 
men, and was one of the general committee of that body. During the outbreak in Ire. 
land in 1708 he was arrested, with others, and suffered imprisonment in Scotland more 
than two years, dnrlng which time he wrote a work entitled " Pieces of Irish History," 
on which he had been engaged, and illustrative ot the condition of the Roman Catholics 
in Ireland, which was printed in New York in 1807 lie was finally permitted to with- 
draw to Fnince, where he was joined by his family, and came to America, arriving at New- 
York ill November. 1801. There he soon became distinguished in his profession as a 
laborious and successful pleader and finished orator. In 1812 he was attorney-general of 
the State of New Y'ork. but served only six months. In 1824 Columbia College conferred 
on XIr. Emmet the honorary degree of LL.D. 

t Peter Augustus Jay was the eldest son of Governor John Jay, and was his private 
secretarv while governor and chief justice. He was president of the New York Histori. 
cal Society, and an active member of the New York bar. In 181C he represented a dis. 
trict in the New Y'ork Assembly, and was recorder of New Y'ork City in 1819-20. Colum- 
bia College conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D. 

t John Anthon, LL.D., was a native of Detroit, where he was bom in 1784. He was 
in the militarj- service in the war of 1812. He wag a most industrious lawyer, and tried 
more causes, it is .said, than any other man. at the New York bar or elsewhere. He was 
instnimental in establishing the Superior Court in the city of New York, and the Law 
Institute. He was president of the latter at the time of his death, in March, 1863. He 
published several works of great interest to the legal profession. 



■238 IllSTOltV OF NEW VOHK (ITY. 

ahviivs pi'esent at a trial, or no legal decision could lie obtained. It 
was empowered to try actions for debt to the amount of 81i'" or less, 
to determine seamen's wages to any amount, and in actions of assault 
and battery or false inij)risonment among seamen and i)assengers. It 
was ilistinct from all other courts of justice ; it had no power to hold 
sessions of the peace, but as to keeping the peace its otficei-s had the 
same power as other magistrates. The ward district courts tried (jues- 
tions of debt and trespass to the amount of §50 ; also all petty cases, 
such as came under the cognizance of justices of the ])eace in towns. 
The sessions were held every day excepting Sundays and holidiiys. 
The district courts now are similar to those of 1830. 

The duties of the police of the city at that time were regulated and 
discharged by three justices appointed for the purpose by the common 
council. The chancellor, justices of the Supreme Court, and members 
of the common council might attend the sessions of the Police Court, 
which were held every day excepting Sunday, and assist the police 
justices. At least one police justice and the police clerk had to be in 
attendance at sum-ise eveiy morning to take cognizance of offences 
committed during the night against the peace and good order of the 
city. Besides the ordinary duties of examining persons brought up for 
bi'eaches of the peace and other offences, and binding over the parties 
to be prosecuted at the sessions when that appeared necessary, the 
police magistrates jwssessed powers, in certain cases, similar to those 
exercised Iw aldermen of the city in certain cases out of the sessions, 
such as "illegitimate children, apprentices, servants, vagrants, vaga- 
l)onds," etc. For these sessions they received the same fees as alder- 
men, besides a fixed salary. 

The night guardians of the peace <uid of the property of the citizens 
of Xew York before 1831 were a few watchmen, stationed ujion j)i'e- 
scribed " beats" and subject to cert.iin i-ules. They were appoint- 
ed by the common council. A prescribed number of men — trust- 
worthy men — were chosen from among the householders who were 
citizens, as "captains of tlu; watch." The.se, under the Watch Com- 
mittee of the coqioration, fixed the rounds of the watchmen, who were 
also appointed by tlie c-ommon council, ])rescribed their duties, visited 
the stations, reported delinquencies, suspended an offending ^vatchman 
till the pleasure of the common council should be known, and made a 
return every morning to the pohce justices of the names and number of 
watchmen on duty the preceding night, and the delinquents, if an}^ 
For these services each captain of the watch received S1.87|- as a com- 
pensation for each night's service. 






ThewatcluM.M, we,-e divided int.. co.ni.anu.s, .md to «-'' --i;;;;^:; 
wove add.l tw..lve suhstitutes, to act in .as.- ..f '^ -'-^^^ j'^^^: 
w.tclm.ou The watehn.en were siunmaiilv disn.i>M-il fuund sleep 
nf . i^^Uovicatod wi.ile on duty, or absent without sulhc.ent exeuse. 
U^«"s thdr dutv to anesl otlen.le.s and detain then, untd chsehar.a-d. 

kCrite n.en, the watchn.en in the city of New ^ ...k h t> yea.^ ago 

„„., an estimable <i.i».„. lie send as .™.nle ' o «K^ "^ ^ , ■, 

Jval ,u^- u!:™. .;. 0.e S.a.e of N^- Vc." gives n,»t ag..aUe 
,li„„.s of ^':;:;;--«-;;:l:r" rt. J"^»n.ainin, c,.in,- 

in:;^r:; .;;::':..'-,. .;.-. ----;-::-? '^^:^ 

1 • .ti-H.wl tlv.t he was a sound onminal la\\\(i. i^i'' "^'- 

;:--:^^;;:;:ef,,.u......»^^^^ 

he used. But with liini .t was honesty of heait. Ul 

denortnient. treating all pei-sons ot high oi '°^\ '^^ ^^^ sittin - at 
-. II ,.-..^ ^r. fliildlike in lis conhdence, that \\ ncn siiiiUo ''" 

SiJ-;:rt.i,iei,H^^^-...;- 

fiK«l Statute, he sel.lon, looked over ''^ W?!; "'"'"„ ,,. „,v. who 

:ru:';r::,irrJ;:v^ri;^t^-;;'.r.^ 

;^:'rirS;-" tI::;:. " haS s:,„e,l a,.,....! the sheriff 



p. 389. 



240 HISrOKV OF NEW YORK fITV. 

of New York City and County to "commit Richard Riker. Esq., 
recorder and supreme court commissioner, to the common jail !"' 

At the Ijeginning- of the century, when Mr. Riker was a young man 
and jioHtical jwrty sj)irit was fierce between Re])ubHcans and Fedei-al- 
ists, after tiie election of ilr. Jefferson to the Presidency, a duel had 
been fought between De "Witt Clinton, then mayor of New York, and 
Colonel John Swartwout. Riker, then about thirty years of age, was 
a wai'm political partisan and an ardent personal friend and admirer of 
Clinton. They had studied law together, and were as intimate as 
brothel's. He had been Mr. Clinton's second in the duel. After that 
event Clinton was scandalously maligned in the opposition newspapere. 
He was satirized and caricatui'ed. Mr. Riker was indignant, and pub- 
lished his sentiments in defence of his friend so freely that it caused a 
challenge to fight to be sent to him Ijy Colonel Swartwoufs brother 
Robert. 

Young Riker, brave as he was generous, accepted tiie challenge. 
They fougiit at "\Yeehawken, near where General Hamilton fell a few 
months later. Mr. PieiTe C. Van Wyck was Mr. Riker's second. At 
the Avord given Riker fell, severely wounded in tiie right leg a little 
above the ankle joint. 

The wounded man was taken on a litter to his iiouse in Wall Street, 
near the old City Hall, where he then kept bachelor's hall with his 
brother. Dr. Richard Kissam, his warm friend, was in iinmetliate 
attendance. 

" "Would you like a consultation of surgeons ?" asked Kissam. 

" Wliat woukl lie the result V' inquired Riker. 

" The result would be that the leg must be taken off." was the reply. 

"What chance do I stand for my life by keeping my limb ?" in- 
quired the suffei'er. 

" One chance in ten,"' was the reply. 

" I accept the chance cheerfully,'' saitl Rikei ; •' so ncnv. mv friend. 
do what you can, and by the aid of the Almighty and a fine constitu- 
tion I.may yet save both limb and life." 

Tliis duel was fought on November 1-t, 1S{»3. When Swartwout was 
afterward asked iiow Riker appeared on the field ho rei)lied. " .\s l>rave 
as Julius Ca>sar. " 

Mr. Riker's ])olitical enemies tried to have the wounded man ai'rested 
for the misdemeanor of fighting a duel, but his friend General Hamilton 
jiersuaded the law olRcei-s to stop tlie proceedings. At that time Mr. 
Riker was deputy attorney-general of the State. The wound made 
him lame all his life. 



• KIKST DKC'ADK, 1830 1H4(I 241 

■ It is :i pity," siiys Eihvards, " llulleck, so full of iicart iiiiuself, 
slioiild, in inei-e playfulness, have penned and allowed the follo\vin<^ 
incon-ectness to go in type in his poem, * The Ilecoi-der,' published in 

l-^i^^ : 

•' ' The Kocorder, like Bob Actch, Htooil 
Edgewise upou u tlcld of blood. 

The why iind wherefore Swnrtwout knows ; 
Pulled triHKor, ns a bravo man sliould. 

And shot. God l)le8s thorn, his own toes.' " 

In the sjime poem IlaUeck wrote : 

" My dear Recorder, you and I 

Have tioated down life's stream toRether. 
And kept unharmed our friendship's tie, 
ThrouRh every change in Fortune's sky, 
Her pleasant and her rainy weather." 

As an instance of ^fr. Hiker's engaging manner, it is related that 
when John Van Wyck took Swartwout's challenge t(j him (who was 
ap])rised of the errand), he cheerfully invited the bearer into his office, 
siiying unconcernedly that iie had an interesting law case, and would 
like to have Van Wyck's views upon it. So pleasant and kindly was 
the impression which was made of Hiker in the mind of Swartwout's 
messenger that he went back and told his principal he would not act 
as his second. 

Kecortler Riker's methods in quelling riots — using kindness instead 
of ball and bayonet — were marvellously successful. Undoubtedly his 
own personal character had much to do in his achieving success. 

On one cx-casion there was a riot in the Five Points, then the worst 
sink of iniquity in the city. Men, women, and children were hurling 
missiles of every kind in a fearful manner. The recorder was urgeil to 
call out the military to suppress the disturbance. The mob was com- 
l)osed largely of Irish. He called on the aged Father O'Brien, a 
Homan Catholic priest, and invited him to assist in quieting the mob. 
The gooti priest ]iut on his stole, and with a missal in hand walked 
arm-in-arm with the recorder to the scene of excitement. The jiriest 
Avent reading his book. In an instant after he appeared the mob 
began to disperse, and very soon disiqipeai'cd down cellar stejw and 
through narrow alley's. Before the two had reached the Points, not a 
person was to be seen. 

On another occa.sion, returning in the evening from his almost daily 
visit to liis agi'd mother. " ui)town." near f 'anal Street, the recorder 



242 HISTORY OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

saw a crowd of wliito men in Broadwa3% near Anthony (now Woi-tlij 
Street, fiercely attaclcing a house occu])ied Ijy colored people, and [leiting 
them with missiles as they attempted to leave the house. The occasion 
for the attack was the marriage of a white girl to a negro. The 
frightened inmates rushed to the street for safety just as the recorder 
appeared. He went into the midst of the colored people and told them 
to gather around him and he would protect them. Missiles were flying 
thick and fast. ^Ir. Riker called on the assailants to stop. A voice 
cried out : 

" That's the recorder ; don't throw those stones !" 

The assailants obeyed, and then shouted, " Hurrah for the recorder ! 
let him pass." 

Mr. Kiker led the colored people in safety to the City Hall, whei-e 
they were kept in security until morning.* 

At this period the Tammany Society or Columbian Order, at first 
organized as a patriotic, benevolent, and social institution at the begin- 
ning of Washington's first term as President, was a controlling power 
in the Democratic party in the city of New York, and has been ever 
since. 

It was founded chiefly through the exertions of William Mooney, an 
upholsterer in Kew York City. Its first meeting was held on JNIay 13, 
1789, about a fortnight after Washington's inaug-uration in the New 
York City Hall. The society took its name from St. Tammany or 
Tanmianend, a noted Delaware chief, supjwsed to have been one of 
those who made the famous treatv witii William Penn. It was a tra- 



* Richard Riker was born at the family homestoiiil on the shore ot Bowery Bay, L. I., 
just opposite Riker's Island, on September 9, 1773. The tract of land on which his birth- 
place stood was given by William, Prince of Orange, in 1630, to Geysbert Riker, the pro- 
genitor of the family in this country. The house in which he was born was burned by 
the British during the old war for independence ; for his father, Samuel Riker, was a 
leading patriot in that region, and his mother, Anna Lawrence, was the daughter of an- 
other zealous patriot, Thomas Lawrence. It was rebuilt at the close of the Bevolution. 

Mr. Riker's father was an active member of the Committee ot Correspondence of the 
town of Newtown, a lieutenant of a troop of light-horsemen, and the first supervisor of 
the town elected by the people at the close of the war, 1783. It is related that when 
Richard was three years of age a British officer and some of his men were quartered 
upon the family of Mr. Lawrence, Mrs. Riker's father. She was then an inmate of the 
house. One day the little boy was playing on the grass, near where the officers were 
sitting, watched by his mother. The boy, perceiving a small ornamented dirk in the 
ofhcer's belt, suddenly seized it, drew it from its sheath, and thrusting it toward the 
officer, said : 

" Dis is the way my papa 'ticks the Reglars. " 

The officer, amused by the spirit of tlu- boy, playfully caught him in his arms and said : 



KIUST DKCAIiK. 1830-1840. -^'43 

(lition tlijit lit' '■ lovotl liberty inorc tlian life," ami lie was tlnMcfurt' 
iliosi'U lo 1)0 the tiiU'lar saint of tlif new pati'iotic or;u;aiiizati()ii. Tam- 
many was canonized hy liis admiivi-s durin;^ tlu; old war tVn- iiidt'pcn- 
doncc, and lu' was estalilislied as tlie tutelar saint ui tlie new IJepuMie. 

In imitation of a similar soeioty which had i)een formed in Pliiladel- 
jjliia, the ofticei-s consisted of a grand sachem and thirteen inferior 
siichems, representinji^ tlie President of the United States and the 
governoi-s of the thirteen States. Ijosides these there was a grand 
council, of which the sachems were mendters. It very S(Xjn hecame 
exceedingly populai', and its membei"ship included most of the Ijest men 
of New York City. No party iwlitics were alloweil to lie discussed at 
its meetings. 

But circumstances soon changed the chanicter of the association. 
On account of the violent i-esistance to law of the secret Democratic 
scK'ieties at the time of the Whiskey Insurrection in 17it4, President 
Washington denounced "self-constituted societies."' Nearly all the 
mendiei-s of the Tammany Society, believing they were included in this 
tondemnatioii, withdrew from it. Mooney and others adhered to the 
organization, and from that time it became a )X)litical .society, taking 
sides with Jeffei-son and the Democratic party, of which he was the 
father. They first met as such at Martling's Long Eoom, on the 
soutli-ea.st coi'ner of Nassau and S])ruce streets. 

In the year 18nO the Tammany Society determined to build a " wig- 
wam," and Tannnany Hall, after consideraI)le delay, was erected, on the 
site of Martlin'r's. The conier-stone was laid in ]\Iav, 1811, and the 



" If I meet yonr fftther in Imttle, I will spnre him for your sake, luy hmve little fellow !" 

Richard received a, good English education, and studied law with Samuel Jones. A 
fellow-student was De Witt Clinton. They there formed a mutual friendship, which was 
warm and unbroken until death. 

In early manhood Rikur was deputy attorney-general of the State of New York, and 
afterward a Supreme Court commissioner. General Hamilton was his personal and 
political friend. .\t past thirty years of age he married a daughter of Daniel Phcenix, u 
leading man in Xew York City. He was one of a party who received General Washing- 
ton at Fraunco's tavern, and read an address of the citizens to him after the evacuation 
of the city by the British, in November. 17S3. Mr. Phienix was for many years treasurer 
of the cit,v. llr. Riker was married (probably) nt 5Ir. Phcenix's country residence at 
Greenwich Village, on Manhattan Island. 

Mr. Riker was first chosen recorder of the city in 1815, and served four years. He waa 
again chosen in 1821, and served two years, and being appointed recorder again in 1824, 
he served fourteen years successively. He died at " Arch Brook," his country residence, 
at the foot of Seventy-fourth and Scvent.v-fifth streets (East River\ in New York City, on 
October Ifi, 1H42. He has two daughters living in the city of New York— Mrs. Samuel 
Spring an<l Mrs. Harris Wilson. 



244 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

hall was finished the next yeaj-. The venerable Jacob Barker, wlio 
died in Philadelphia in 1871 at the age of ninety -two years, was the 
last survivor of tlie building committee of thirteen. This hall was 
abandoned a few years ago (now occupied by the Sun newspaper estab- 
hslinient), iind a new building was erected in Fourteenth Street, not far 
from Irving Place. 

One of the most active members of the Tammany Society for many 
yeare was the Hon. Clarkson CroHus, who was the grand sachem or 
sagamore of the institution. Year after year the poUtical and social 
power of the Tanunany Society increased, and now it is considered the 
inost thoroughly organized bodj^ of tiie kind in the Republic. It ordi- 
narily polls about half of the entire vote of the city. It has com- 
mittees in every district in the city, and a central or general com- 
mittee of over eleven hundi'ed members. This committee is, in 
tiieory, the head of the party, but usually the most active and in- 
fluential member of the party — a " boss" — controls that committee 
by seeing that only such men as suit his Anews are chosen by it. The 
executive body of this central conunittee is the Committee on Disci- 
pline, of which, generally, the chief of the party is chairman. Before 
the Committee on Discijjline any member, either of a district committee 
or of the central committee, may be summoned and tried for party dis- 
loyalty, and, if found guilty, expelled.* 

It was at the beginning of this decade that jiolitical party spirit, 
Avhich had been kept jiartially subordinate to the pubhc good for sev- 
eral yeai-s, appeared in a most aggressive and alarming iispect. It had 
been aroused, fostered, and stimulated by the events of the presidentiid 
election which })laced General Andrew Jackson in the chair of Chief 
Magistrate of the Ilepuljlic, in the spring of 1829. 

A disturbing and dangeroas element had now begun to apjjear ])rom- 
inently in our })olitical system. The practical effects of universal 
suffrage, very little restricted, had opened a wide door for the political 

* The device of the certificate of membership adopted by the society was a pointed 
arch composed of two cornucopias resting on two columns, on each side of which were 
two figures, one of Liberty, the other of Justice. On a pedestal bearing the former were 
the figures 1776 ; on that bearing the latter were the figures 1789. Below the foundation 
upon which the two columns rest is an arch resting upon rocks. The arch is composed 
of thirteen stones, bearing the respective names of the thirteen original States. The 
key-stone is Pennsylvania, and it is supposed by some that this feature in the Tammany 
certificate of membership was the origin of the calling of Pennsj'lvania the Keystone 
State. Below this arch is a view of land and water and symbols of agriculture and com- 
merce. The certificate was designed by Br, Charles Buxton, and engraved on copper by 
George Graham. 





'C 



y 



FIUST DKCADE, IRltO IStd. 245 

innuoncos of ji now class of citizons. Tlicsc were alions from Kun^pp, 
most of tla-m illitoratc, and all of them stran^oi's to our laws and 
our fit'c institutions. Tln'so immigrants wen- mostly from Iivland. 
Tlii'V weiv met by naturalization laws wliieli tliscriminated in tlieir 
favor, as to native-born citizens. 

The American citizen arriving at the '" age of aceoiintai>ility" hius to 
wait iO'i'rn years before he may exercise the great right and privilege 
of the elective franchise ; the foreigner, however ignorant or delnused, 
might attain that grand acipiisition of American citizenship in Jive 
yeai"s. 

This discrimination had been made by a j)arty in power for the pur- 
pose of securing the votes of these foreignei-s, of whom fully ninety 
per cent could neither read nor write, and who, as a rule, could te 
bought and sold like " duml), driven cattle." New York City, into 
wliicli a greater jwrtion of the tide of foreign immigration was ))ouring 
at that time, was the lii-st to exi)erience the jjernicious effects of the 
new order of things. These eflfects were rapidly develojied, and it was 
not long before sensible and observing men perceived, with anxiety if 
not alarm, that the elections were becoming more and more mere shad- 
owy imitations of the grand institution they pretended to rejM'esent. 
Instead of being the theatre for the exercise of one of the holiest rights 
and privileges of an Amei'ican citizen, it had become a i)lace of traffic 
between demagogues and ignorant votei-s, in which the commodities 
exchanged were the ]iroducts of knaves and dupes. The vicious system 
then developed logically led to the fearful election riots of 1834, wliich 
will be considered presently. 

Let us now turn to a more pleasant theme. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A WRITER in 1850, alluding to the period of the first deciide, saiil 
it was " the Augustan age of American literature." It was, in- 
deed, comparatively so, for there was then a brilliant constellation of 
intellectual lights of various magnitude in tlie firmament of letters. A 
large number of these were then in New York City. Such a cluster 
had never been seen before. There were veteran writers whose laurels 
were secure ; there were young aspirants for fame which they after- 
ward obtained in full measure. 

There was also at that time a remarkable cluster of artists in tlie city 
of New York : some veterans wearing their laurels proudly, others of 
rare promise, who then and afterward fully vindicated the claims of 
American artists to the meed of superior excellence. 

The literary men and artists were working together in the spirit of 
fraternal love. The recent creation of the National Academy of tiie 
Arts of Design ; the Sketch Club, with its twofold character, and 
other ])leasant associations had brought the men of letters and of art 
into closer social communion than they ever had been before. There was 
then another bond of union still more potent tlian these. It was the 
New Yoi'k Mirror, whose editor-in-chief and proprietor was George P. 
Morris, the eminent lyric poet. In its pages appeared the contribu- 
tions of all the leading literary men of the day, and in its few illustra- 
tions were displayed the genius of the best painters, draughtsmen, and 
engravere of the time in the city of New York. The Mirror was the 
most generous ]iatron of literature and tlie fine arts of that time, and 
hail a deserved!}' high reputation and wide circulation. 

In the opening number of the ninth volume of the Mirror (1831-32) 
appeared a reuvai'kablo poetical contribution, in which the literati and 
the artists (painters, engravers, and nmsicians) wlio contributed to its 
pages were introduced by name. The poem was from the pen of an 
anonymous correspondent. General T. S. Cuminings, who was one of 
the leading artists of the day, and now (1883) one of the three sur- 
vivors of the founders of the National Academy of the Arts of Design, 
is quite certain llic author was A. J. Mason, an Englishman, who was 



KIUST IIKCAIIK, 1K«)-1K40. -'''' 

um of tlic most export engravcis on wood of tliat tim.-. Mr. Mas. .11 
lia.lconK- to Now Yoi-k in IS'JO, and in 1S3-2 was chosen profossm- of 
wood en-mving in the National Acadouiy of the Arts of Design.* 

The i)oeni alhuled to was entitled " The Ninth Anniversary : A Dra- 
matic Mcdiev in one Act." The draoMfh- p.rso„a' were, of Immor- 
tals the nine Muses, and of Mortals, the editor, collector, and 
'• printer's devil " of the Mirror, and the librarian of Clinton Hall. 

Three of the goddes.ses— Polyhymnia, the muse that presides over 
singing and rhetoric ; Erato, the presiding genius of lyric and tender 
po"tr\\ anil Terpsichore, the nuise i)residing over dancing- are llr,st 
represented in a scene on the P.attery, with nmsic in Castle Garden. 
It is moonlight, and they begin chanting thus : 

" Pohjhymmn. When shall we three meet again 
In honor of the Mirror's reign ? 

EruUt. When the present volume's done, 
When the Ninth is Nuiuher One. 

Terpsichore. Thiit won't be till June ha.s run. 

Pol. Where's the place'? 

Era. Within the Park.f 

Terp. There to meet with— 

Era. M-s.J 

Terp. Hark ! 

» Abraham J. Mason was bom in London, April 4, 1704, and became an orphan at the 
a"e of nine years In 1808 he was bound as an apprentice to the wood engraver, Ilobert 
Bmnsf on for seven years. He remained with Branston as assistant five years more. He 
enuravea'on metals also, but in 18-21 he engaged in engraving on wood, professiounlly, on 
his own account In 1826 he was chosen a member of the Royal Incor]H,rated Artists, 
and the next year was on the committee of management of the London Mechanics' Insti- 
tution He delivered a discourse on the history of wood engraving before members of 
that body and was invited to repeat it before the Royal Institution of Great Britain. It 
was given in the spring of 1829, before the literary men of the country. In the summer 
he gave a full course of lectures on the subject before the Mechanics' Institution. In 
the autumn of that vear Mr. Mason came to the United Sfites with his family, bringing 
with him letters of introduction from eminent men (among them Lord Brougham) to Dr 
Hosack and other scientitic men in the city of New York. He was made an associate of 
the National Academy of the .\rts of Design in 1830, and delivered his course of lectnreB 
before that body. In 1832 he was chosen professor of wood engraving to the Academy. 
He also lectured in Boston. He was an anonj-mous contributor to the .Ifirror, and some 
of his engravings appear in that periodical. ,r„„,,n 

So limited was the demand for wood engravings in this country that Mr. Masoii 
return,.,! to England late in 1838. He was a poet as well as an artist. I bav-e a copy of 
a little volume entitled " Poetical Essays, by A. J. Mason." illustrated wnth exquisite 
wood engravings by himself, and printed in Lon.lon in 1H22. The engravings are from 
designs by John Thurston. Morris 

t The Park Theatre. ' 



248 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Pol I come, Euteqje. 

Era. Clio calls 
From the Castle Garden walls. 

All. Fair or foul, we pay no fare. 
Hover o'er the bridge, and through the air." 

Euterpe, the presiding genius of music ; Tlialia, tlie muse who pre- 
sides over comic jjoetry, and Cho, the genius of history, meet in the 
Park Theatre, while music is resounding from Peale's Museum. They 
enter into conversation thus : 

" Euterpe. Where hast thou been, sister, say? 

Thalia. Strolling up and down Broadway, 
Stripping vice of its disguise. 
Shooting folly as it flies. 
Paiilding * now demands my aid ; 
That's a call I can't evade. 
HaUeck f asks no favors, bless him ! 
All the sisters so caress him. 
Cox, I you know, in Albion's isle 
Waits for my inspiring smile ; 
Thither in a shell I' 11 sail. 
Bannered with a peacock's tail ; 
He will folly's emblem view. 
And then he U do, he'll do, he'll do ! 

Eai. I'll give thee a favoring wind. 

Thai. Thank thee, sister, thou art kind. 

Clio. I'll supply thee with another. 

Thai. I myself have all the other. 
Where ha.st thou been with thy flute ? 

Eut. Austin's voice has kept it mute ; 
For I cannot work such tones 
As Cinderella breathes with .Jones. 
Brichta, Gillingham, and Knight 
Fill their hearers with delight ; 
Feron, George, and tuneful Poole, 
Pupils of a Sterling school, § 
All have won such high repute, 
I've a mind to break my flute ! 

* .Tames K. Paulding. f Fitz-Greene HaUeck. 

X William Cox, an Englishman by birth, who was employed upon the Mirror, and 
made a literary reputation by his contributions to that periodical and the publication of a 
volume in 1833 entitled "Crayon Sketches by an Amateur. " It had a preface written 
by Theodore S. Fay. Of this work the late Gulian C. Verplanck wrote : " It is full of 
originality, pleasantry, and wit, alternately reminding the reader of the poetic eloquence 
of Hazlitt and the cjuaint humor and eccentricities of Charles Lamb." Cox was a printer 
by trade. He returned to England, and died there in 1851. 

S These were jniblic singers at the theatres. 



KllJSr DKCADIC, ISIIO \HM) 249 

All tbut I uuu now priitend 
Is IhoKe Kweetost am to blend, 
Cojiiod weekly from the stage 
For the Mirror's music piiye. 

TImt: Wliere bust tUoii been, Sister Clio? 

Clio. In tbe ulitssic isle of Scio, 
Gfttberiny fuels to form n story 
Of Moslem hate and tlrecian glory ; 
Present times and former ages, 
Fit to grace the Mirror'n pages. 
Buried archives, deep and loamy. 
Look what I have ! 

Tlutl. Show me ! Show me ! 

Clio. Here I have Minerva's thumb 
Dug from Herculaueum. 

£11/. Be dumb ; bo mum ! Our sisters, come !" 

Then enter all tin- Muses, and sing in nmcort. Tiio editore of the 
Mirror n\>]MKU\ leading c-oiitnlmtiuiis ity nioonliglit, and making com- 
ments on tliciii. Tlu'V are astonished at the sight of the Muses, ea<^h 
with her linger on her lip. 

" They lock not like the belles of gay Broadway," 

siiy tiie eihtors, and a<ld : 

" As females yon appear. 

And yet your .tllenrf baffles this idea." 

The Muses greet them cordially with : 

" All hail, M— s, F-y * and M— s, hail !" 

They praise the editors, and promise great things for the Mirror. 
After that the Muses all appear on the Battery in the moonlight, sing- 
ing and dancing in a frolicsome manner. They chant in chorus : 

" Many more volumes must this one ensue : 
New pictures will abound, 
And elegance surround. 
As if in plates were found 
Propagation too." 

Wiiile the nine sisters are dancing and uttering words of joy because 
I if the success of the Mirror, Apollo, the ]iatron of all the fine arts, 
suddenly appears, frowning in anger. Thalia speaks : 

» George P. Morris and Theodore S. Fay. the joint editors of the .1/7rror. 



aSO HISTORY OF XEW YOHK CI'rY. 

" Thai. How now, Ajiollo ! what's the matter now? 
There seems to be a clonrl npou thy brow. 

ApoUo. Have I not reason ? meddlers as ye are, 
Saucy and overbold ? How did you dare 
To trade and traffic after dark, 
With F y and M— s in the Park ? 
And I, the leader of your choir, 
' The bright-haired master of the lyre,' 
Was never called to bear my part 
Or show the glory of onr art. " 

Apollo ordei-s the iliLses to dispei-se, and meet again at the Park 
Theatre at dawn. With Teqisichore he ascends in a balloon to spend 
the night in the air over "poets' garrets." At sunrise the Nine are 
seen in Clinton Hall, and in the midst of them is a " magic urn,"' into 
which they cast their contributions for the Mirror — treasures of litera- 
ture and art, all inspired by their potent spells. Apollo enters and 
says : 

" O, well done ! I commend your pains, 
For nothing's lost the Mirror gains ; 
And now about the urn we'll sing. 
Like elves and fairies in a ring. 
Enchanting all that we put in. 
Song. 
Grave essays and light, 
Sad stories and gay, 
Mingle, mingle, mingle, 
Y'ou that mingle may." ' 

Then Melpomene, the muse of tragedy ; Calliope, the muse of epic 
poetry ; Urania, the muse of astronomy, and all the others join iu con- 
cocting the mixture : 

" Pol. Sedlej', Sedley. and his medley. 

Terp. Wit of Paulding, sharp and scalding. 

Eral. Verse of Palmer,* that's a charmer. 

Melpomene. Tale from Leggett,t readers beg it. 

Chorus. Around, around, around, ahoni, about. 
Put in the good and keep the others out. 

Ttiul. Paulding's Dutch and Yankee chat. 

Apollo. Put in that -put in that. 

Urania. Here's Bnlwer's brain. 

Apollo. Put in a grain. 

Thai. Here is Cox's latest letter. 
That will jilease the reader better," etc. 

" William Pitt Palmer, one of the poetical contributors to the Mirror. He produced a 
few charming verses. 

f William Leggett, then associated with Bryant in editing the Evenini/ Post. 



KlUSr DKiADE, 1.'<30-1»4() 251 

Tli4' lihnirian of Clinton Hall cntciN witli a jiacket containing a 
" //(/c/vMul of sentiment." when AjhjIIo siiys : 



' Ponr it in, 'tin Wood worth' » * meosore," 



and Erato speaks 



" Thns in pots.v ilivine 
Many a Rem tor ns doth Bhine. 
Sprogiic f onr lingerH Hhall iUKpire 
Witli his i^indeur nnd his fire ; 
Hallcck's ehissic satires chnnn, 
Wetmore's ^ maitinl nnmliers warm ; 
Pierrcpont 's § nirs and Srhroeder's | lays 
Cheer ns on onr rngged ways ; 
Here with Brooks's •[ taste is blent 
Bryant's** heartfelt sentiment : 
Sands's-ft humor, WTiittier's JJ strength, 
Bryan's charity and length ; 
Pickering, gij nature's simple Imrd : 
Smooth and polished Everard. 
Willis,!! dolieato and chaste. 
Pereivftl,""*" of classic taste : 
Cooper,*** Irving.tft Uillhouse.t^t C'»rk,g§§ 
Nack !!! and all will " toe the mark." 
Here is -Huntley's "^^^ sweetness stealing. 
Here is Emlmry's **** depth and feeling : 
Thyrza, Isabel, and Cora, 
Hinda, Jane, Estelle, and Nora, 
Ida, Selim, .Ylpha, Renln-n. 
Damon, Busticns, and Lubin ; 
Woodbridge, lolante, Delia, 
Mary, Emma, and .Vnrelia : ffff 
Bogert gentle. Muzzy tender. 
t^~s and ***8 of everj- gender. 
Signs and Greek initials plenty, 
A. B. C. the four-and-twenty." 

• Samuel Woodworth, a printer, and one of the founders of the Mirror. The ' ' bucket- 
ful of sentiment" is in allusion to Woodworth's popular song, " The Old Oaken Bucket." 
+ Charles Spragne. J General Prosper M. Wetmorc. § John Pierrepont. 

! Rev. J. F. Schroeder, then assistant minister of Trinity Church. 
1 James G. and Mary E. Brook-s. *** James Fenimore Cooper. 

** William Culler. Bryant. f+f Washington Irving. 

tf Robert C. Sands. tft ^tixaes A. Hillhonse. 

iX John Greenleaf Wliittior. §gg Willis Gaylnrd Clark. 

tj§ John Pickering, son of Timothy Pickering. ||! James N'a.k, a deaf mute. 

!| N. P. Willis. •[■'■' Mrs. Lydia Huntley Sigoumey. 

•"•^ James G. Pircival. **** Jlrs. Emma C. Embnrj'. 

ttH The assumed fictitirms names of some of the writers for the Mirror. 



252 



HISTOBY OF XEW YORK CITY. 



Apollo sjieaks : 



Apollo says : 



Clio beoins 



' Nor dotb talent less abonnd. 
Nor is lesser riches found 
In those columns which compose 
Story or romance of prose : 
Mirthful sketch, or strictures grave. 
Tales of wonder on the wave, 
Told in ' Leisure Hours at Sea.' * 
When the wind is fair and free. 

Erato. ' Little Genius, ' -f bright and gay. 
From the racy pen of F — y. 
Critical remarks by B., 
On dramatic melody : 
Inman's J candid speculations 
On dramatic publications ; 
W.'s ■ each month in York," 
All combine to aid the work." 



" Enough of letters ; now commence 
X detail of embellishments." 



" Here then, as before, I place 
Weir's g grandeur, Ingham's | grace ; 
Newton's ■" truth and Bennett' s ** nature, 
Henry Inman's ff skill in feature ; 
Hoyle's J+ pellucid lake and sky, 
Fisher's gg coursers as they fly : 
Architectural grace that shines. 
Bright in Davis's || designs : 
Commings's ■"•[ delicious bloom. 
Speaking eye and snowy plume : 
Jarvis.*** Leslie. fff Morse, and Gole,tJt 
Full of feeling, fire, and soul : 



* This is the title of a collection of poems of William Leggett 

t Under the name of *• The Little Genius," Theodore S. Fay wrote a series of short 
essays for the Mirror. 

i John Inman. ** w. J. Bennett, a landscape painter. 

g Bobert W. Weir. ^| Henry Inman, a portrait paint«r. 

I Charies C. Ingham. +j Eaphael Hoyle. 

T G. S. Newton. ^-^ Alvan Fisher, an animal painter. 

II A. J. Davis, an architect, who drew several sketches of buildings for the Mirror. 
^"" Thomas S. Cnmmings, " miniature" or small portrait painter. 
*** John Wesley Jarvis. ^ C. B. Leslie, 

tt J Thomas Cole, the eminent land-scapc- painter. 



intSl' DECADE. 1830-1840. 5453 

Mdnntmn seeuDi-j-, bold and ttrnnd, 
Froui tlie pencil of Dnrnud ; • 
Triniilmll'st piitrintic gtonps 
Ami Iti-volntiouiiry troops ; 
Aniil>-,{ lliiuiHile.j; i'n<l Morsp, | 
Who Uarh the i-anvns to ilisconree 
With 11 host of niinifs us high. 
Which oblivion shiiU ilefy ; 
Foriuiny each a radiant neni, 
Moilern piiinlinR's diadem." 



('iillio|)(" speaks : 



'• From the graver's hand I lirin« 
No less rich an offerinR ; 
Sculptured on their plates, there shino 
Form tor form, and line for line ; 
Lifiht for light, ami shade for shade 
In these picturo-gcms displayed. 
All may thus their beauties own, 
Kept before by one alone ; 
Living on sucU lasting plate. 
Though the models yield to fate. 
Here are Smillie's «■, force and brightness, 
Hoagland's** depth and Hatch's +f lightness 
Sparkling touches by Durand. 
Scenes from Smith's XX ingenious hand ; 
Balch §;; and Eddy. Rawdon, Wright,]! 
Whose performances delight ; 
Mason,*:*: Adams,*** Anderson.fft 
With a host come crowding on. 
Far too numerous to name. 
All whose works are known to fame." 

Here A]M)llo l)i'eaks in : 

" Hold ! enough of graphic art ; 
City view and rural chart ; 
Leave them all to gniceful Weir, 
He will see that they appear ; 

• Asher B. Durand (stUl living), the eminent engraver on steel, and also a painter. 
+ Colonel John Tmmbnll. then president of the American Academy of Fine Arts. 
1 p g Agate. § Higl* Reinagle, architect and painter. 

I Professor S. F. B. Morse. 

t James Smillie. yet (1883) engaged in engraving on steel. ^ ^^^^ 

♦* William Hoagland, an engraver on wood. TT }' 

11 John K Smith, an Englishman, and teacher of drawing. ^S ^'"J"^ l*""^"^- 
',1 Members of the firm of Rawdon. Wright * Hatch. ^""I'-l-"^^;;- ^^,„„, 
n*- A. J. ilason. . '^ 

+H Dr. Alexander Anderson, the earliest engraver on wood in .imenca. 



354 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Though we highly prize such treasures, 
Thej' must yieltl to Music's measures. 
For our sjiells are not complete 
Till we add our art so sweet." 

Then Euterpe speaks : 

" Let the graceful task be mine : 
Haydn's splendor here shall shine, 
Handel's solemn grandeur roll, 
Weber's horrors fright the soul, 
Sweet Rossini's strains, that move 
E'en the sternest hearts to love ; 
With the grave Mozart's combined, 
Here shall charm the ear and mind ; 
Wliile a thousand more in turn 
Shall contribute to the Urn." 

This little ch-araa made quite a stir in the reahn of letters and art at 
that time, and public curiosity Avas piqued because of the mystery that 
enveloped the authorship. It was considered a clever production of the 
kind. Because it contains the names of many of the chief literary men 
and artists of the day in the city of New York, and because it was one 
of the curiosities of the literature of the metropolis, it has been so 
largely quoted from here. Doubtless some of the older readers of this 
work will remember the "town talk'' it occasioned at the time, and 
the numerous ^vild guesses that were made as to its authorship, 
^lason, the supposed author, returned to London a few years after- 
ward. 

Among the literary men of iS'ew York fifty years ago, the most con- 
spicuous were Washington Irving, James " K. Paulding, Gulian C. 
Ver-planck, Fitz-Greene Halleck, William CuUen Bryant, Wilham 
Leggett, Robert C. Sands, George P. Morris, Theodore S. Fav, and 
promising Xathaniol P. Willis. 

Mr. Irving liad lately returned from Europe with a wealth of mate- 
rials to use in his future literary labors. He had added to his literarv 
reputation in England by the publication of his " Sketch Book" by the 
jirince of publishers. J(jhn ]\Iurray, to whom he sold the copyright for 
$1000. In London he Avas attached to the American legation, as secre- 
tary under Minister McLane, in 1S29. Before leaving England the 
University of Oxford confei'rcnl on him the honorary degree of LL.D. 
He arrived in New York in ]\ray. 1S32, and was a participant in a 
public bancjuet sjiread in his honor at the famous Citv Hotel b\' leading 
men in the citv of his birth. 




ty^r^^ /'-/f.^/{., 42^//^ ^^ /^^ v^^ ^ ^ 



FIKST nKiAPK, IS30-1S40. ■^r>', 

Mr. Piinldinfi: was a brotlicr-in-law of Mr. I^vinf,^ tlu' sister of tlm 
fuiiiicr liaviii"^ married tlie latter's Itiollier William. Paukliiifr ln'^ran 
l<is literary career with Irving in the |iulilieatii)ii of a series of sketches 
which were entitled " Salma<rundi ; or the Whimwhams and Opinions 
of Launcelot Lanji-statf and Otheis." Tiiey were the joint jmxluctions 
of I'aulding and Irving, and continued to he issued |)eriodically liv 
David Longwf)rth (hiring the entire year ISiiT. These jiapei-s liit otf 
the liuinor of the times with great freshness and vigor, and were very 
|)(i|)iilai'. 

Paulding was a ])oet as well as a novelist. Ilis first ])oeni was " The 
Packwoodsinan,'" which a|)i)eared in ISIS. In is^C appeared his 
*• Merrv Tales of the Three Wise Men of G(itham" who *" went to sea 
in a bowl. " It was a satire upon the social system jnopounded l>y 
Koliert Owen. It was followed in ls2S by " The Traveller's (iuide," 
which was surnamed "The New Pilgrim's Progress." It was a hur- 
les(|ue on the grandiloquent guide-books to the city and the works of 
English travellei-s on America. It gjive sjitirical sketches of fa.shionable 
life and mannei-s in New Voi'k when to be the mi.stress of a three-story 
brick house, with mahogany folding-dooi-s between the parloi-s, an<l 
marble mantels, was the high(!st ambition of a New Yoi-k belle. This 
and a half-score of other books from his i)en had made Paulding, at the 
time under ccmsideration, very jxipular as a In-illiant and entertiiining 
writer. 

Mr. Veqilanck* ranked among lit.'inv v ■td-nw .vcn at that period. 



* Gnliftn Crommelin Verplanck, LL.D., was lor more Ihmi tifly years one of llie best 
known nmonn the literary men o£ New York. He wns born in that city in 1786 ; gradu- 
nted at Columbia College in 1801 ; stnilieil law with Eilward Livingston ; was admitted 
to the bar in 1M07, and made his first npjiearance in public as a Fourth of .Tnly orator in 
the North Diiteh Reformed Church in 1809. In 1811 he was a principrd actor in the 
defence of a student of Columbia College during the commencement exercises at Trinity 
Church, and was fined by Mayor Do Witt Clinton for an infraction of law. The matter 
assumed ft political aspect, and some of Mr. Verplanck's earlier lilerarj- efforts were in 
the form of political writings, the most noted of which was "The State Triumvirate," a 
sharp satire aimed at Do Witt Clinton and his friends. In 1811 Mr. Verplanok married 
Miss Eliza Fenno, by whom he had two children, one of whom survives. In ISl.T he became 
a contributor to the Analertie M(t'ja'iii<\ edited by Washington Irving. He went to Europe 
in 181fi, and remained two year;!. On his return he delivered nn anniversary discourse 
before the New York Hospital, which gave him n great literary reputation. He became 
nn earnest politician, and was elected a member of the New Y'ork Assembly in 1819 by 
the " I'.ucktail " party, opposed to Clint'in. Ho was appointed a professor in the Union 
Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1H2.J he was elected to 
Congress. On retiring from that ]iosition ho devoted himself riainly to literary pursuits. 
In n discourse before the literarj' societies of Columbia College in 18.10 he paid a generons 



256 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY". 

Tfe wiis chiefly distingxiished as an essayist, treating of literature, 
liistorv, law, science, politics, ami religion ; and he was the author of 
numerous occasional addresses. In 1827 he and Sands and Bryant 
united in the production of an " annual " (a popular style of literary 
production at that time) called "The Talisman." It was illustrated 
with engra\ings from the bui'ins of American artists. This work was 
issued three successive years, and these volumes contain some of the 
choicest productions of this trio of writers. 

Ilalleck was then at the height of his fame as a writer — a poet, a 
wit, and a satirist. A series of poetical satires on town life and char- 
acters—on tlie Tammany politicians, editors, aldermen, and local 
celebrities in Kew York — had appeared in the I/vex iiuj I\>st over the 
signature of "Croaker & Co.," written by him and Joseph Rodman 
Drake jointly. These -were published in 1819, and in 1821 his 
" Fanny," in a similar strain, was published. These productions had 
made him very po])ular, and his society was coveted by the literati of 
the day. Cooper, often cynical, loved ITaUeck, and always greeted 
him with pleasure at the Bread and Cheese Club, and elsewhere in 
society. 

The ac(|uaintance of Halleck and Drake was begun under peculiar 
circumstances. One charming summer afternoon in 1819, Ilalleck, 
Dr. De Kay, and other young men were standing, just after a shower, 
admiring a resplendent rainbow. 

" If I could have my wish," said one of them, " it would be to lie in 
the lap of that rainljow and read Tom Camjibell."" 

Another of the group, a stranger to the speaker, immediately stepped 
forward and said to him, 



tribute to tlie character of De Witt Clinton (who died in 1828), with whom he so long 
qviarrelled through the press, in which he said : " Whatever of party animosity miglit 
have blinded me to his merits died away long before his death." 

Mr. Verplanck was elected to the State Senate in 1838, and was a controlling power in 
the Coiirt of Errors. Through his life he had been a diligent student of Sliakespeare, 
and in 1847 he completed the editing of a new edition of his works, published by Harper 
& Brothers. In this task he exhibited much erudition. For more than fifty years he 
•was a trustee of the Society Library, forty four years a regent of the University of the 
State of New York, twenty-six years a vestryman of Trinity Church, twenty-four years 
president of the Board of Emigration, an active member of tlie New York Historical 
Society, many years one of the governors of the New York Hospital, a trustee of Colum- 
bia College, a member of the Sketch Club, and a working member of the Centurj- Club. 
But while he was liberal in giving his personal attention to the management of various 
institutions, he was never a contributor of pecuniary aid to any of the benevolent and 
charitable institutions of the city. He was the inheritor of a liberal competence, but his 
estate was not verj' large at the time of his death, in March, 1870. 



KIUST Die AI>K. is:ro I8W. 5!57 

'• ^ ipii imd I lUMst he ;u<|ii;iintt'(l : my n:iiii(> is Dnikc." 
•• M\ iiaiiiL'," siiid tlic ntlicr, " is I'"iU-(Jrt'i.'ne Ilallcck." 
From that day Drake and llalleck were fast friemls. Tliey were nf 
the sjime a<,'e, almost to a thiy— twenty-four yeai-s. The pro<luctions of 
tlie " froakei-s" soon afterward appeared, and created a great deal of 
aumsenient and not a little iri'itation. Drake died a little more than a 
vear after iiis tii-st acquaintance with llalleck, and was sincerely 
mourned hy the latter, whowi'otc the toucliin;^' tributary lines begin- 
ning with the familiar vei'sc : 

" Green be the turf nbovc thee, 
Friend of my better days ; 
None knew thee but to love thee. 
None named thee but to i>rnise." 

At the time under consideration llalleck was engaged in mercantile 
pursuits. Poets cannot dwell always in the cknids nor ban(|uet .m .lir. 
He wrote : 

" No longer in love's U)yrtle shade 
My thoiiKhts recline ; 
I'm busy in the cotton trade 
.\ud su^ar line." 

He was also agent for the Duchess County Insurance Company. 

Mr. Bryant, tiien about twenty-seven years of age, had made his 
advent in the city of New York in lS2o as eiUtor of the New York 
Jiei'ieic. In lS2(i he connected himself editorially with the Evening 
Post, and remained with it as e<litor-in-chief and proprietor until his 
death. In 1S8-J a cf>mi)lete edition of Mr. Bryant's poems a])i)eared in 
New York. Wa.shington lining, then in England, caused it to be 
re])rinted there, with a laudatory jH-eface which he prejiared. His 
most notable i^em, " Thanatopsis,'" had Ijeen written in Isli', when 
he was eighteen yeare of age. Mr. Bryant, Uke llalleck, was of 
medium size, lithe' and active; but, unlike llalleck, he was cool and 
reserved in manner, and yet he always jjossessed a quiet vein of 

humor. 

Mr. Leggett, the junior of P.i'yant by eight ycai-s, a native of New 
York CitN^had been a midshipman in the United States Navy, but had 
resigned in 182H. In 18l>8 be began the publication of the Crlilr, a 
weekly literarv periodical, in which tiie reviews, criticisms of the drama 
and tine arts, essjivs, and tales were nearly all from his pen. It died at 
the end of six months for want of i)ecuniary sustenance. His aljihty 
and vers;itility had been so conspicuously illustrated that in ISiil* Mr. 



258 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Leggett becamo associated with Mr. Bryant in editing tlie Krm'nKj 
Poht. lie had stipulated that he should not be called to write political 
articles, because they were distasteful to him, and he had no settled 
convictions on the subject, but before the end of the year he became a 
zealous Democrat, and took decided ground in favor of free trade and 
ag-ainst the United States Bank. Mr. Leggett died May 29, 1S39. He 
was of medium height, compactly built, and possessed great powers of 
endurance. 

Mr. Sands, a native of Flatbush, L. I., was then about thirty-two 
year's of age. He had begun his literary career at the age of fourteen 
years. From 1827 to the time of his death, December 17, 1832, he 
was assistant editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser. Gulian 
C. Verplanck published a memoir of his, with selections from his 
works. "While engaged in -n-riting an article upon " Esquunaux Lit- 
erature,'' tov iheKnicl-erhoclcer Magazine, on December 17, 1832, he 
was seized with apoplexy, and his pencil dropped from his hand. He 
arose to leave his room, but fell at the threshold, and lived only a few 
lioure. 

Mr. Sands had studied law, but soon after his admission to the bar 
he abandoned the profession and devoted himself to literature. One of 
his best productions — " The Dream of the Princess Rapantzin" — was 
published in the Talisman. After that, and while connected with the 
Commercial Advertiser, he A\Tote several works, chiefly essays, in prose 
and poetry. In connection with J. W. Eastburn he wrote a poem 
called " Yamoyden," founded on events in the hfe of King Phihp. 
He begiin the Atlantic Magazine in 182-4, and in 1828 he wrote an 
"Historical Notice of Hernan Cortez." In 1831 he wrote and pub- 
lished " The Life and Correspondence of Paul Jones." His last fin- 
ished com])osition was a poem on " The Dead of 1832." 

lilorris, the chief proprietor of the Mirror, was a thick-set, compactly 
built man, jolly in expression and deportment, with flashing dark eyes 
and hair, florid complexion, and about thirty yeai-s of age. Fay and 
WiUis were of the same age, Avithin a month — twenty-four years. Fay 
began his literary life on the Mirror. Willis had wi'itten poetry while 
in college, and in 1828, when twenty-one yeai-s of age, he estabhshed 
the American Monthly Magazine. It was merged into the Mirror in 
1830. He soon afterward went to Europe and wrote for the 3Iirror 
the remarkable series of letter's under the head of " PenciUing-s by the 
Way." Fay was tall and thin. Willis was also rather tall, lithe, and 
handsome. When he was seventeen yeai-s of age lveml)ran<lt Peale 
met him in the street in Bostxm, and struck with tli(> extiuisite com- 



I'lUST PKCADK, ls;iu imio. 2.V.( 

])loxi(>Ti of the youiij,' stninj^er, li(> invited liim to liis studio in onk-p to 
paint his ]K)i-tniit, the color of liis face was so pcilVit.* 

The welccjnic and the Inuujuet given to Wasliington Irving on Ids 
return from Europe, just mentioned, was one of tiie most notaitle 
events of the kind tiiat citizens of New Vori< iiad ever ]>artieipated in. 
It seemetl to be a revival of tlie glowing enthusiasm with wJiieh tin- 
eor|M)ration and citizens welcomed the naval herin's of the second war 
for indeju-ndence. 

Mr. living had returned from Europe late in ^lay, and received an 
invitation from his fellow-townsnu'ti to receive " a cordial welcome to 
his native city" at a |)ul)lic dinner. The invitation was signed i)y 
ahout forty citizens jnominent in social life in the city, headeil Ity Pro- 
fessor James Ilenwick of ( '()lund)ia fVillege. 

The l)an(]uet was sjiread in the great saloon of the City Hotel. 
Chancellor Kent presided, assisted hy Messrs. Philip Hone, John Duer, 
Professor Kenwick, T. L. Ogden, Samuel Swartwout, and Charles 
(xraham, as vice-])residents. Among the guests were representatives 
of foivign governments, officers of the army and navy, judges, Bishop 
Onderdonk, Lieutenant-(Tovernor Livingston. Josejih R(maparte. dis- 
tinguisli(Hl liteniry men. and others. When they were all seated Irving 
entered the room leaning on the arm (jf the venerable C'hancellor Kent. 
After the cloth was removed the chancellor arose, made an admirable 
sjieech of welcome, and then offered the following toast : 

" Our Illustrious Guest : thrice welcome to his native land." 

To this Mr. Irving made a most happy and feeling res|K)nse. Then 
followed speeches by Philip Hone and the other vice-presidents, each 
offering a toast. The regular and numer<jus volunteer toasts were 
then olfere<l, and the company broke up about midnight. 

A project Wius set on foot about that time for the ladies of the city, 
" who ha<l participated l>ut slightly in the plea.sure of welcoming their 
favorite hm-hihir home," to give him a gi-.ind fancy Itall in the autumn, 
in which all the charactei-s in his worlcs would be rcjircsented. 

The most prominent jiainters mentioned in tii(> drama were Trumlmll. 
Jarvis, Weir, Leslie. Ininan, Morse, Cole, Cummings, Agiite, DurantI, 

* The writer of this work remembers going on some business, into the editor's room 
of the -l/irror (n very small apnrtment in .Tamos Conner's tyi)e-fonn<lr.v bniliiing, comer 
of Fulton nnd Na.s8nn streets) in 183.5. Morris was rcndinR one of Willis's" IVncillings" 
in manuscript, just rcceivej, to four gentlemen who wore seated there. The writer was 
invited to take a seat. At the conclusion of the reading he was inlrndnced to the four 
gentlemen — Wa.shington Irving. Dr. John W. Francis. Fitz-Greene Hallcck, and Theodore 
S. Fay. Mr. Irving was much sunburned, for he bad just returned from a tour on the 
prairies. 



260 HISTORY OF XEW YOUK CITY. 

and irovlo. The most ])i'()miiient engravers on metal were Diiiaml, 
Smillie, and llatclu and on wood, Mason, Adams, and Anderson. 

Trum])nll was a small man. He was the painter of four of the fa- 
mous pictures which fill ]>anels in the rotunda at Washington, ordered 
and paid for by the National CTOvernment. They represent scenes 
in the history of the old war for independence. Trumbull was then 
nearly eighty yeai-s of age. Fifty -seven of his pictures are now in the 
" Trumljull Gallery "of Yale College. He presented them to the col- 
lege on condition of receiving an annuity of $1000. He died in New 
York in 18-43. 

eJohn Wesley Jarvis was a native of England, where ho was born in 
1780, and was a nephew of Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Jarvis 
came to Philadelphia when five yeare of age, but was a citizen of New 
York most of his life, where he was the leading portrait painter many 
years. He was a diligent student of all information, especially that 
which pertained to his calling. Jarvis had a lucrative business, but his 
extravagant haliits and irregular life kept him always comparatively 
poor. He earned §6000 in six months in New Orleans, where he had 
Henry Inman, his pupil, with him. He received six sitters a day. .V 
sitting occupied an hour. The picture was handed to Inman to paint 
in the background and drapery imder the master's eye. 

Jarvis was a genuine humorist. Dunlap relates several stories illus- 
trative of this trait in his character. Stopping at the house of a 
planter near Charleston, Jarvis perceived a dog-kennel near the gate 
at the highway, which was some distance from the mansion. The 
])lanter was absent some days, leaving the house in charge of Jarvis. 
He painted on the kennel, in large letters, the woi'ds " Take care of the 
dog." Everybody shunned the kennel, and took other routes to the 
house. When the owner came home, he too, seeing the words of 
warning, shunned the kennel. 

" Why, Jarvis," he said, " what have you got in th(> dog-kennel '.'■ 

" A dog, to 1)0 sure. Come and see." 

They went, and the painter took out of the dog-house a IHipjiy whose; 
eyes were not yet optMi. 

" Poor little fellow," said Jarvis, as he stroked the jnippy's hack ; 
" don't j''ou think it necessary to take care of him f ' 

On one occasion, while painting a portrait of Bishop ]\[oore, the prel- 
ate asked Jarvis some question about his religious belief. The painter, 
as if intent upon catching the likeness of the sitter, said, quietly, 
" Turn your face more that way, and shut your mouth." Jarvis diinl 
in New York City, January 12, 1840. 



KlliSr DKiADK. IS l^^|ll 



Wl 



Wrir WHS -M tliiit liiiK' a little umk-r thirty yoars of a^r,.. H,. l,a.l 
stni^r^rl,.,! witii iiiisturluiio in curly life, di.sci'mod his own genius for arl 
an.lTeedeil its promptini^'s, had heconie a jiiipil in art before he \v:us 
twenty, and was now a sueoessful i)i-.utiti..nei- of the d(«li;j:htful profes- 
sion of a painter. He had lately painted a (Ine (x.rtrait of the Seneea 
chief Ked Jacket, and his designs were the delight of the engraver. 
Weir was not tall, hut possessed an excellent i)hysiipie. and wa.; eoiu- 

pactlv huilt.* . . 

c/R. Leslie was Weir's senior l.y nine years, and was at tins time 
teacher of drawing at West Point, lie resigned in IsrU.f 

Thomas Cole, i tiie line landscape painter, was at that time in Eng- 
land, having gon.> there in is^'.t. lie di<l not ivturn until 1^::--'. 

» Robert Walter Wtir wns boni in New Rochellc, Westchester County. X. Y., June 18. 
1803 His fnlhcr was a merchant, who faileil in l)usiness when Robert wns a lad. He 
wns taken from school nnd l.lace.l in a cotton factory. Aftcrwnr.l ho was engaged in ft 
mercantile housp, first in Albany nnd nfterward in the South and in New York City. His 
fondness for sketching made him resolve to be n painter. He took lessons in drawing, 
and made excellent copies of paintings loaned him by Mr. Taff. a famous dealer in art 
productions, which brought young Weir fame nnd employment. So. at the age of less 
than twenty vears, his art life began. His " Embarkation of the Pilgrims." painted to 
fill a panel in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington, is regarded as the best painting 
under the roof of that building. 

Mr. Weir was professor of perspective in thfe National Academy of the .Vrts of Design 
(183()1:}1), when he succeeded C. R. Leslie ns instructor of drawing in the Military Acad- 
emy at West Point, where he remained about forty years in that capacity. Ho has pro- 
•Uiced some exquisite paintings, remarkable for sentiment, accuracy of drawing, nnd 
admirable coloring. Ho no«- (1883) resides in the city of New York. 

+ Charles Robert Leslie was bom in London. October 17, 1704, and died near that city 
on May 5 18.59 His parents were natives of Maryland, and returned to America when 
Charles was five vears of age. At six he could make sketches from memory with much 
accuracy He studied art in Europe, nnd spent some lime in England studying and 
painting He was appointed teacher of drawing at the Military Academy at West Point, 
on the Hudson. That position ho resigned in 183i, when ho returned to England, where 

he died. . , , , . -c, i ., i 

t Thomas Cole was an eminent landscape painter, a native of Lancashire. England, 
where he was born in February, 1801. His parents were .Vmericans, and returned to 
America when Thomas was eighteen years of age. He began portrait painting at Sten- 
benville Ohio nnd in 1822 ho left home as an itinerant portrait painter. Being unsuc- 
cessful he turned his attention to landscape painting, and became a master in thnt line 
of art ' Enamored bv the scenery of the Hudson River, all his talent was drawn out by 
the inspiration. He entered upon a very successful career. In 1820 he visited England ; 
he also went to Paris and Italy, and in 1832 returned to New lork. He finally made 
CafskiU. N. Y., his place of nbodo. There he painted his famous serial pictures The 
Course of Empire" (now in the gallery of the New York Historical Society) and The 
Voyage of Life." He left nn unfinished series, " The Cross and the A\ orld. at the time 
of his death, which occurred F.lirunry 11. 1847. 



2(;2 lilSTom OF NKW YUKK CITY. 

Ilcnrv Imiuin luul then supereeded his master, Jarvis, as a poi trait 
jiaintei'. He was tliiily years of age, jjossessed conversational powers 
of a high oriler, and an inexhaustible fund of anecdote antl wit. 

C. C. Ingham * was a very small and a very active man, and an 
exquisite painter of portraits, finishing them up with all the deUcacy of 
touch of the small ivory portraits. Durand was then engaged in alter- 
nate labors with the brush anil burin. Curamings was ])roducing his 
exquisite small portraits on ivory and pai)er ; Iloyle, the gifted, was 
]minting beautiful landscapes, but died a few years ;'fterward, while 
Agate, who began the practice of the painter's art at an early age, was 
successfully jminting portraits in Albany. t Morse was already a veteran 
in art, president of the National Academy of tlie Arts of Design, and 
at that time was about to return from England with the grand idea of 
an electro-magnetic telegraph about to blossom out of his brain and 
))roduce the wonderful fruit for which the civilized world is indebted 
for a great blessing. 

Durand was then the foremost engraver of ]iictui'cs on metals in the 
United States, especially in delineations of human flesh, while James 
SjniUie was the most effective engraver of ]andsca]ies. Both are yet 
among living artists. Mr. SmiUie, the younger of the two, is actively 
engaged with the burin at his pleasant home in Poughkeepsie.:]: 



* Charles C. Ingham was a native of Dublin, Ireland, where he was born in 1797. He 
came to New York at the age of twenty, anil with his brother held a front rank as a jjor- 
trait painter. His "Death of Cleopatra" gave him great notoriety and extensive busi- 
ness. He produced other beautiful compositions. 

f Frederick S. Agate was a native of Westchester County, New York, born in 1807. 
Showing a propensity for " sketching everything" in early childhood, he was placed 
under the tuition of John K. Smith, a teacher of drawing, when he was fourteen years of 
age. He became a pupil of S. F. B. Morse in painting. He began portrait painting as 
a profession in 1827, and became an exceedingly skilful artist in that line, as well as in 
historical painting. Mr. Agate died in New York City in 18-14. His best known works 
are " Dead Christ and Mother," " Columbus and the Egg," " The .\scension," and 
" Count Ugolino." 

J James SmiUie is a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was bom on November 
23, 1807. His father was a manufacturing jeweller and an enthusiastic mineralogist. 
The son at a very early age felt a strong desire to become an engraver, but did not at 
first receive much encouragement from his mother, for he was only eleven }"ears of age — 
" too young to think of it." But the boy determined to try his luck. He found a silver 
engraver willing to take him as a pupil, and he entered his service. This tutor soon 
afterward died, and James found a situation with an historical engraver, where, however, 
he did nothing more than make drawings. 

Mr. Smillie's parents emigrated to Quebec when he was fifteen years of age. There, 
with very little experience, he began the practice of the art of engraving. He soon 
acquired skill in cutting letters, and he .set up for himself, giving jiublie notice that he 



KIliST DKCAUK, 1H30-1840. M'i 

(ii'orge Wliitclield Ilatdi, tlicn tlio partner in Itusincss witli ifr. 
Sinillii'. was cliarniin^^ tlic [iul)lic' with liis dcliratc designs and raro 
skill as an ongravcr. He had lately engi-aved on steel for the Mirinr a 
line ]M)rtr,iit of Wasiiinj^ton Irving, fi-oin a painting by Leslie. 

.Mr. Hatch was ii native of Johnstown, Montgomery County, \. V., 
where he was horn Ai)iil 27, 1S(I4. A jtortion of liis early life was 
passed at Auhurn, Cayuga County, X. V., where lie heg-.m the study 
of law with his half-hrother, Enos T. Thr<K)p, who became lieutenant- 
governor of New York. His love of art and his develo|)ing ability to 
pui"sue it successfully so predominated in his nature that with the sanc- 
tion of his friends he abandoned the study of the law and ever after- 
ward worked and dwelt in the realm of art. 

While yet a lad young Hatch's c.xcjuisite designs sittracteil attention, 
and as he grew to manhood his skill witli tli(> jiencil assured his future 

wiw prepared to " engrave spoons, door-plates, and dog-eollars." He afterward cnt^ived 
maps for the Canadian government so skilfully that he was awarded a sdver medal 
and was made a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences, 
in Canada. Ho tinnlly wont to England to acquire a. more thorough knowledge of his 
art. Ho suffered many vicissitudes there, and after receiving five months' instruction 
from an engraver in Edinburgh, ho returned to Quebec and resumed the practice of 
engraving there. He etched scenery about Quebec and evinced great skill and promise 
in that line of art. 

In 1H30 Mr. Smillie went to New York, determined to push his way in landscape 
engraving exclusively, and succeeded to his heart's content. His first essay was getting 
n]> cheap labels for cigar-boxes, with Mr. Gimber, an engraver. There he made the 
acquaintance of Mr. Weir, the painter, who engaged him to engrave a convent gate, near 
Eome, which Weir had painted, and generously invited him to be his guest and to use 
his studio while engaged upon it. Ho was successful. Ho made the acquaintance of 
A. B. Dnrand, who engaged him to do some work on a steel plate, the first he had ever 
undertaken on that metal. He succeeded, and Jlr. Dnrand generously gave him $10 
more than he asked for his work. He returned to Canada. Soon afterward he received 
an invitation from a Now York publisher to return and engrave views about New Y'ork 
for him, assuring him ho would earn $10 a week. He accepted the invitation, arrived 
in New York in May, 1831, and was not disappointed. In the fall he sent for his 
mother and her family. He successfully engraved for a publisher " The Gi-.rden of 
Eden," from a painting by Cole, and began to engmve plates for the New York ifirror 
and the " .\jinuals." He formed a partnership in engraving with George W. Hatch, 
which did not endure long, for that gentleman entered the firm of Eawdon A Wright, 
bank-note engravers. From that time Mr. Smillio was eminently successful in business, 
producing the finest landscape engraving in the country. 

In 18:J1 Jlr. Smillie was elected a member of the first Sketch Club, was made an asso- 
ciate of the National Academy of the Artsi of Design in 183'2, and an academician in 18.51. 
He became a member of the National Bank Note Company in 1864. He left it in ISfiS 
and joined the American Bank Nolo Company, of which he is now (1H83) a mcmlK-r. Ho 
removed to the city of Ponghkeepsie, where he is delighl fully engaged in the pursuit of 
his favorite art. and Im.-i the happiness of seeing bis sons SHeces.sful artists. 



264 IIISrOliY OF .NEW VOliK CITY. 

positii)!!. Diinlap says ho took lessons in cnyi'avint;' from Dnnind — was 
his inipih At tlie age of twenty-five he married Miss Mary Daniels, of 
Albany. He had then become a successful engraver as well as a 
designer and draughtsman. 

About 1S2S Mr. Hatch took uj) his abode in the city of Xew York, 
where he soon stood in the front rank in tlie ])ractice of tlie gra])hic 
art. In 1831, j)erceinng the sldll in landscape engraving of James 
Smillie, he formed a jxirtnei-ship with him. Xot long afterward Mr. 
Hatch formed a business connection with Messi*s. Rawdon and Wi-ight, 
bank-note engravei-s. The finn of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Co. 
became vei-y famous, and for many years they did most of the l)ank- 
note engraving of the country. Many of the most beautiful designs 
that embellished the bank-notes were from his hand. In 1S.5S this firm 
and other engravei-s of later distinction joined in forming the American 
Bank Xote Company. Of this association ^fr. Hatch was made the 
president, which office he held at the time of his death, which occurretl 
on February 13, 1866, at his beautiful suburban seat at Dobb's Ferry, 
on the Hudson, in the sixty -second year of his age. His widow sur- 
vived him more than nine years. 

Mr. Dunlap, in his " History of the Arts of Design," wrote of ilr. 
Hatch in 1834: : " He designs with taste, skill, and acciu-acy. That I 
am not able to give a detailed and accurate notice of this very estimable 
gentleman is owing to a reserve, on his part, that is to me inexplicat)lc. 
He began a picture some yeare ago, which has been favorably 
spoken of, but he says he shall not finish it until he has made his 
fortune. He is a member of the Xational Academy of the .Vrts of 
Design, and I have admired his sketches at our Sketch Club.'' 

Late in life Mr. Hatch went to Europe, whei'e he visited tlie most 
famous art galleries in France, Italy, and Germany. It was a realiza- 
tion of a delicious <lream of his youth, and he returned satisfied. In his 
business and social relations Mr. Hatch was always genial, and honor- 
able in all his ways. He was ever ready to assist the deserving and 
the needy. His remains repose in a beautiful cemetery at Auburn, X. Y. 
Mr. Hatch founded the (present) " Hatch Lithograjihic Company."" 

" Mason, Adams, Anderson," mentioned in the " drama," were the 
tliree principal engravei's on wood then in Xew York ; indeed there 
were only two othei-s. Joseph A. Adams gave to his Avork most 
exquisite mechanical execution. He was a native of Xew Jersey, but 
was so reticent about liis own career that no one ever had sufficient 
materials for the most meagre biographical sketch. He became widely 
linown as the (MiLiTaver of the illustrations of HarixM-'s beautiful fnlio 



FIHST nEl'ADK, 18:i()-IHI(). 2fi5 

P>il)li'. lie s]>i'Ht iiiaiiy ycai-s in Eiirupc after 1S4S, and died ulxml tlio 
year 1>^7^. 

Dr. AKxaiidci' Anderson was a most reniarkalile man. He wa.s born 
in the eity of New York in April, 1775. Jlis father was a AVhig 
printer, and fled from tiie eity wlien the British t(x»k possession of it in 
177t;. ]Ie evinced a ta.ste an<I talent for art at a very eai'Iy a^^e, luit 
stiiiiii'd mechfine and graduated at the medical scIkm*! of Colundiia Col- 
lege, lie preferred art. and esi)ecially engraving, as a life pursuit. 
Having engraved ahout half the illustrations for a hook on type-metal, 
he discovered that similar pictures were made on woo<l, and he 
engraved the remainder on the latter material. This was the firet 
engraving on wood done in America. He juirsued the ait consecu- 
tively for seventy-five yeai-s, or until the ninety-Hfth year of his age. 
lie died when within three montlis of ninety-live years of age, January 
Ki, lS!7n. 



niAPTER XIV. 

THE beginning of this decade was the dawn of a new era in Jd:!; - 
nalism, not only in the city of New York l>nt in hoth licnii- 
spheres. 

In 1827 there Avere ten daily news]>a]iers pnhlislied in the city of 
New York, of which six were issued in the morning and four in the 
evening. The morning daily papers were the New York Gazette, the 
Mercantile Advertiser, the Nafiemal Advocate, the Daily Advertiser, 
the New Yoi-l- National Advocate, and the Times. 

The evening papers were tlie Commercial Advertiser, the Kiu'nin<j 
Post, the Statesman, and the American. Not one of the morning 
daily papers named is now in existence ; of the evening ]ia]iers, tlu^ 
Com,mercial Advertiser and Evenimj Post are flourishing in green old 
age. 

There were seven senii-weeklj^ papers and sixteen weekly newspapers 
in the city in 1827. The fonner were issues of the dailies for the cou7i- 
try ; some of the latter were such issues, and some were inde])endent 
pubUcations. Of the weekly papers of that day, only one survives — 
the New York Observer- — which ranked as a "religious newspaper." 
There are now published in New York twenty-one daily morning 
papers and eight daily evening papers. There are eleven semi-weekly 
paper's and one hundred and fifty weekly papers. There are also five 
bi-weekly and fifteen semi-monthly pa])ers. Of " periodical " ])ublica- 
tions so called, there an; one hundred and sixteen monthlies, two 
bi-monthlies, and six (juarterlies. 

It was at about this time that a new power in the reahn of journal- 
ism appeared in the city of New Yoi-k in the person of a young 
lieutenant in the ai'my, who had lately resigned. Tie was then nearly 
twenty-six yeai-s of age. 

In ^lay, 1827, a daily newspaper had been started in New Yorlc 
caUed the Morning Courier. It had struggled with adversity a little 
more than six months when, in December, it was about to abandon the 
contest for life because of a lack of money to sustain it, when the 
young ai-my officer referred to became its projn-ietor. Signs of new 



KIHST UKfADK, IftJO-lWO. 2G7 

life and unfoiuinnu ciKTjry iinmciliaU'ly appciiml, and tin- icsuscitatcd 
Cinu-i'i- startfd vigorously un a long and wonderful caiwr. 

Lot us here jiause a moment and take a brief survey of the antece- 
dents of this young newspaper projjrietor. It will help us, by an 
insight into his character at this period, to better comprcheml what 
follows in an outline picture of events at tiie dawn of the new era in 
journalism. 

The new proprietor of the C<»iriti- was the son of a gallant olHcei- of 
the army of patriots in the war of the American Kevolutioii. I! is 
brothcr-i'n-hiw and guardian wished him to study law. Thougli onlv a 
boy of twelve yeai-s, he said, decidedly : 

" No, I want to enter the army or navy, or study medicine." 
" Out of the (juestion," said his kinsnuin. 

Both were obstinate, and a compromise followed. The boy was 
to try the mercantile profession. The experiment continued three 
montiis, when the boy decided it was a failure. His guardian insisted 
it was too late to nuikc a change ; the boy thought not, and acted in 
accordance with his convictions, lie enilured the restraints of guar- 
dianship until he was about seventeen yeai-s old, when he suddenly dis- 
missed his overseers by a suniniai-y process, and started out in life free 
and independent. 

The lad was then a resident of Cherry \'alley, N. Y. Having pro- 
vided himself legitimately with means from his own inheritance, he 
sent word ti> his guardian that he no longer retpiired his services as 
such, and tiien .started for New York ("ity to sec Governor Clinton, 
whom he knew pei-sonally. He told the governor he was on his way 
to "Washington to get a commission in the army, and a.sked him for a 
letter of in'troduction to ^h: Calhoun, the Secretory of War. It was 
given him, and the youth went on his way rejoicing. 
After reading the governor's letter, the secretary sjiid : 
" It is impossible to give you a, place. The graduating class at West 
Point is very large— more than sufficient to fill all vacancies." 

Here wa.s a dilemma. The youth had only ^8 left, and too proud 
ever to return home if he fiiiled. Aft.M- a moment's- reilection he 
asked : 

" If there had lieen no graduating da.ss, would my claims iiavc been 

respected f 

"Certainly : but why do you ask ?" :Mr. Calhoun iiKiuired, greatly 
inteivsted bv the business view of mattei-s taken by the youth. 

•• P,eeause,"said the lad. " in that ca.se I wish permission to address 
vou a letter, .■-xamining into the jastice of the groimd upon which you 



268 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

have nuule a decision which cannot fail to have an inHiicnce upon my 
future life." 

The astonished secretary readily granted the favor. It was in the 
middle of August, ISID. The young adventurer returned to his lodg- 
ings. The weather was extremely hot, but he sat down to his task, 
and did not leave it until it was finished. He wrote a long letter, in 
which he contrasted the position of the graduates of West Point with 
his own ; they being young men selected mostly from pohtical consid- 
erations, educated, supported, and clothed at the expense of the gov- 
eniment for four year's, and having no claims upon the country other 
than their fitness for mihtary service. He, on the contrary, had been 
educated at his own expense ; his father had been a meritorious officer 
during the whole period of the Kevolution, and had spent his fortune 
and his best yeai-s in the service of his country. The young man 
claimed to be as well quaUfied as they, in all respects save in military 
tactics ; and he pi-oposed that a board of officers should be appointed 
to examine him in all studies pursued at the Mihtary Academy, except- 
ing engineering and other purely military studies ; and if found com- 
petent, then he insisted that it was his right to receive a commission 
regardless of the graduating cadets and their claims. The letter closed 
with an intimation that he would call at tJie house of ,the secretary the 
next morning at nine o'clock to learn his decision. 

The young man called at the appointed time, and was pohtely 
received. 

" Young gentleman," said the secretary, rather cokUy, " I suppose 
you have come to know your fate ?" 

Believing by Mr. Calhoun's manner that the decision was adveree to 
his wishes, the youth firmly answered, " I have, sir." The secretary's 
features rekixed into one of his blandest smiles as he took the young 
man by the hand and said : 

" I have carefully read your letter, and you have demonstrated your 
claim to be appointed, while the manner in which you have accom- 
phslied your purpose is with me evidence of your fitness for the army." 

A long convei'sation then ensued, in which Mr. Calhoun drew from 
him an admission that he was a runaway from home, only seventeen 
yeai"s of age. The secretary gave him a coimnission of lieutenant in 
the Fourth Battalion of artillery, with ordei-s to report for duty at 
Governor's Island in the harbor of Xew York. For seven yeai-s this 
young soldier served his country faithfully and efficiently, chiefly in 
the Xorth-West, when Chicago was only a military post and a trading 
station, and all the region now teeming with millions of inhabitants 



KIUST DKC'AUK, 1830-1840. 



2(iy 



wtis a solitiiry wildiTm-ss, tioddon only l.y tin- foot of the Iwrljaiian. 
In Se|)teinl)er, l^'iT. lie ivsi^nuHl liis c-oiiiinission, and, as \vu have ol.- 
served, bocamo tl.o proprietor of a .laily ix-u'spapcr in tlic city of \.-w 

York. 

Tliat energetic and dt-terininod runaway, lliat adventurous solda^r, 
tl.at inchoate newspaper eiUtor an.l pul.hsher, who was to speeddy 
ivvohitionize the meth.nls of journalism, was .lames \\ atson A\ el.l.. still 
a tower of intellectual a.ul m.ji-il strength, and w.-anng the snow-wl.ite 
crown of an octogenarian. 

In l»->r, Mordecai Manasseh Noah* (i)etter known as ^hlJor .Noah), 
Avho had edited the Advoaitr, of which Henry Kckford, the great ship- 
builder, was one of the proprietors, disiigreeing with that gentleman, 
started a paper of liis own, which he called the Xaf>ona/ A.h-or„te. 
Enjoined at the instance of Eckford and his partners, the name was 
chan-«nl to 3W.'. Nno York Xatlomd .Urocah'. Again enjoined, 
ho lum.ed liis journal the New York Enquhrr. This paper was pur- 
chased by James Watson Webb in the spring of 182i>, when it was 
mer-ed into the Jfomln,, Courier and the famous Cour^.r <nu hn- 
,y,«-m- was established. It reigned right royally in the ivalm of j.mr- 
nalism for more than a generation. _ 

Major Xoah went into the editorial rooms of the Courier an,l 
Enquirer, and Wius associated in editorial duties with James Lawson, 
James Gordon Bennett, Prosper I^I. Wetmore, and James Gordon 
Brooks-a notable editorial staff -under the control of the masterly 
executive hand of Mr. AVebb. , . , 

\ new feature in journalism was soon introduced. At the opening 
of Con.n-ess in December, 1S27, Mr. Bennett was sent to AVashmgton 
to be aV-giilar daily corresponihMit of the Courhr and Enquo-er during 

* Arordecu Manasseh Noah was born in Philaaelphia iu Jnl.v, 178.5, His parents were 
He Jewl ana he adhered to the.r faith thron.h a lo„s life He died m New Wk m 
March 1851. He studied law, went to Charleston, S. C, and m that c.ty ed.ted the Uy 
Sf/in 1810 In 1811 he was -Vmerican consul at lUga, and afterward at Turns, and 
^•en ton a ,0 ssion to Algiers. On his way thither he was captured by the EnKl.sh. On 
his reuuu to .Unerica in 1810 he published incident.H of bis sojourn abroad, and beoa^ne 

tutor of the yniio.nl A.U ./., a Democratic iournal. un.il 18>.5. and the next year ho 

e UbHshod the Xew York F..,,r,rer. In 1834 he es.abUshed the .Ve. E^ J^^^ ^^^^^ 
withdrew f rnn. the daily press, and for several years pnb .shed the •'>'""';V r' '^nd tn^e 
1S20 Mr. Noah conceived a scheme for founding a Jewish colony on Grand s and, n he 
Niagara Kiver. There he set up a monument inscribed. " Aramt, a c.ty of refuge for the 
JewsToLed bv Mordecai M Noah, in the n.onth of Tishri, .>58r, (Septen.ber. 182.). 
SnLloth year of American Independence." Mr. Noah h^ld ^^^'^^ ^^ 
judge of the Court of Sessions, and surveyor of the port of New \ork. He «as the 
uutUor of several dramas and other works. 



270 HISTOKV OF KEW YORK CITY. 

the session. Hitherto, with u shght exception, the Washington corre- 
spondent, now such an important adjunct to every reimtal^le news- 
paper, liad been a member of Congress writing an occasional letter to a 
newsi)a])er in his own district. 

Een"ett was etjual to the task assigned him, and he soon changed 
the tone, temper, and style of Washington correspondence. Receiv- 
ing a hint fi'om Horace Walpole's racy lettei-s written ni the reign of 
George II., Mr. Bennett ])enned entertaining e})istles descriptive of life 
at the capital in all its phases — the legislation of the day, politics, soci- 
ety in general, fashionable life, and personal sketches of all the gay, 
witty, and beautiful charactei-s which appeared in "Washington during 
that winter. These pen-pictures were sketched at random without 
being offensive to any one — indeed they were mostly complimentary 
and pleasing to the parties mentioned. 

At this time the newspaper press of Xew York showed very little 
enteqirise in the way of giving news. It was running in a rut worn 
nearly half a century. The then leading morning papere did not con- 
tain, in the aggregate, more editorial matter combined than now 
ajjpeai-s m a leading editorial of the Trihune or Taiwti. A rowboat 
collected the ship neAvs and the newspapere from the packet-ships us 
they arrived, and all were content with transferring to their columns 
such news as they mutually possessed. Conspicuous for activity in 
everything he undertook, Mr. Webb was not satisfied with this system, 
and lie very soon set up a news-collecting establishment of his own. 
He em]>]oyed a Baltimore clijjper (the lu-lij)se) and a fleet of small 
boats in collecting news on the water. This com])elled the other news- 
papei-s to combine in a similar enterprise, and both parties kept a news- 
schooner cmising off Sandy Hook, and small boats communicating with 
her from time to time. 

Webb determined not to be equalled, even in enterprise. He had a 
clipper-schooner of one hundred tons built in New York, with the stip- 
ulation that she should equal in speed any !Xew York ]iilot-boat oi' he 
could not be compelled to take her. It was accom]iIished. She was 
named the Courier aiul Emptirer. With this schooner cruising seventy 
to one hundred miles at sea, the T'Mipse at Sandy Hook, and a fleet of 
small boats inside, all opposition was soon put down, and the other 
newspapei-s were compelled to purchase their news from Mr. Webb. 

Having achieved this triumph in the ocean-news (h^partment, he next 
turned Ills attention to ])rocuring early and exclusive intelhgence from 
Washington during tlie sessions of Congress. Telegraphs and railroads 
then exi.sted only in the dreams of philosophers. The mails then left 



KlUST IH'CADK. 1S30-1S40. jri 

"NVasliiii;xton. sjiy on Monday morning, and irachi'd New VorU on 
AVcdiu'sday niglit m tiini- for tin- news tlicy liionglit to apprar in tliu 
nr\vspa])t'i-s on Thui'sday morning. \Vel)l» (hjU'i-nnncd tiu-y siionld 
appoar in tlic ('miri'r nuil Euquini' on Wodncsday morning. Ho 
made a c-ontraot witii ctTtain partit.'s to run a daily lioi-so express lie- 
tween Wasliington and New York diu'ing the entire session of Congress 
( 1 S35-:itij, for wlneli lie agreed to pay ^T."><i() a month. It was done 
most satisfactorily. lloi>;es \vei'(» stationed at ])oints only six miles 
apart. This " ]M)ny expi'ess" brought news twenty-four hours in 
advance of the mails, and enahled the ('inir'wr anil Empilnr to jrivo 
news that length of time in advance of all competitoi's. 

" Tnder this system of collecting the news," wrote George II. 
Andrews a few yeai-s ago. " enlarging the paper, employing additional 
editors and rejjoi-tei-s, o]>ening corres]K)mlence in different quartei-s, and 
devoting whole columns to sui)jects never before touched iii)on by the 
])ress, the expen.ses of the daily press were more than cjuadrupled, and 
four of the f)ld morning jiajters died out. But a new impetus was thus 
given to the newspaper press of the city, which has contiimed to 
increjise to this day ; and for that impetus to an influence u]>on tlie 
jniblic mind and the character of the jnvss, the community are imcjues- 
tionably indebted to General Webl>."" 

For some time the Courier (mil Kmjuirer remained the unrivalled 
distrilnitor of the earliest news fi-om Wa.shington and from Europe ; 
but it was not long before powerful competitors appeareil, and the 
entiM-iirising new'S]ia]ier which had acliieved so much was compelled to 
succnnd). In ls;'.s the fii-st ocean steamship, the -SV/v'/zv, arrived at 
New York from England, and from that <lay her successors brought all 
the news from abroad to the city in advance of the news-l)oats. Soon 
afterward the telegraph and railroad put an end to the pony express, 
and now tiie .\ssociated Press performs for all alike the duty of collect- 
ing and di.strilmting the current news of the day. There is now no 
Held for the exercise of individual cnteiprise in this direction. 

In the matter of collecting news the Journal of ( 'oaiuu r<-i\ a morning 
paper of the siime age of the Cnurhr awl Enquirer, was a sharp and 
jxiwerful comi)etitor. It too had its news-schooner and small Iwats, 
and when the Courier and Enquirer started the ])ony express the 
Journal of Conunerce speedily became its rival. They were both com- 
peting shaqily for the patronage of the commercial community. For 
that i)urpose, and to accommodate mercantile advertiseis with adver- 
tisements, these iiajwi-s were enlarged from time to time until they 
actiuii-ed dimensions which caused them to be called " blanket sheets." 



273 HISTORY OF XEW VOKK CITY. 

These enonnous and expensive newspapei-s caused a yearning in tlie 
public mintl for something smaller and less expensive. It came to 
be felt as a public want. That want was soon supplied by the ad- 
vent of what is called the '' penny press." The Journal of Commerce 
is vet a flourishing morning paper ; the Courier and Enquirer be- 
came united with the Xew York World on the first of July, 1S61, 
when its fonn was changed from " foho" to the more popular one of 
"quarto." Then that great newspaper disappeared from the field 
of journalism. The Journal of Commerce remained the last of the 
" blanket sheets." 

A taste for cheap literature had been fostered, if not created, by the 
])ublication of the lUu.ftrattd Penrnj 2[(i</azine in London, in 183('. 
Lai'ge quantities of this publication were sold in America, and induced 
the starting of the Family 3fagazine on a similar plan in Xew York in 
1S34-. The ])ublication of small cheap newspapers was undertaken here 
and there at about the same time. The Bostonian was one of these. 
The Cent -was issued in Philadelphia in 1830, and in 1832 James 
Gordon Bennett, wlio had left the service of the Courier and Enquirer, 
attempted to establish a small newspaper. 

Mr. Bennett withdrew from the Courier and Enquirer in August, 
1832, and on the 29tli of October following he issued an evening paper, 
twelve by seventeen inches in size, half the size of the other news- 
papers, called the New York Globe. He announced that it would be 
published daily at eiglit dollars a year, that its politics would be Demo- 
cratic, that it would adhere to Jeffereon's doctrine of State Eights 
(State supremacy), would be opposed to nullification, and in favor of 
various reforms in the government. Bennett had then been acting in 
the cai)acity of an editor for about twelve yeai-s, and he might be con- 
sidered a sort of veteran. But the enterprise was a failure. 

On New Year's day, 1833, Dr. H. D. Shepard, with Horace Greeley 
and Francis Y. Story as partners, started a two-cent daily paper called 
the Iforninij Post. They had a capital of 8200, and no credit. It lived 
twenty-one days, and expu'ed. It was the seed of the cheap press, and 
took root, though it yielded no fruit to the })lanter. 

On Tuesday, the 3d of September following, a small morning paper 
called the Sun was issued by Benjamin II. Day, a printer, at Xo. 222 
"William Street. The enterprise was suggested by George W. AYisner, 
a comjiositor then working for J. S. Redfield, stereotx^ier, in William 
Street. Wisner taUvcd almost incessantly about the feasibility of pub- 
lishing a one-cent newspaper. The other compositors laughed at him, 
and for a while he fo\xm\ W) one willing to risk anything in such a wild 




; 



i 



I'lHST l>K('AI)K, 1830 1840. -..'T.'i 

ontcrpriso. At Ifiijrtli D.-iy liail tin- sa<,MC'ily itiid tlic com::;,'!' t<> trv 
tluM-xpcriiiient witli liiiii. Wisiiur soon Ictt .Mr. Day and went West, 
and tlic latter hore tlie luirden alone. 

Tlie fii'st nunil»er of the Sun iiore a pieture of a spread-eagle heariiifr 
the motto /t' Phirihi(.i I'/nan, ami contained tlie following Ijrief and 
husine.ss-like prospectus : 

" The object of this pa])er is to lay Ijefore the puhlie, at a ]irice 
within the means of every one. am. tiii: nkws of tnk i>.\y, ami at the 
same time afford an advantageous means of advertising. Tlie sheet 
will he enlarged as soon as the increa.se of advertisements re(]uircs it, the 
jirice remaining the sjime. 

'• Yearly advertisei-s (without the paper), thirty doUai-s [mv annum. 
C'a.sual advertising at the usual ])rices charged by the city jiapers. 

" tS^ 8ul)scrij)tions will be received, if \yd\d in advance, at s:j per 
annum." 

In a sjiecch at a dinner given to Colonel IJichard ^I. Iloe, the in- 
ventor of ])rinting-)>resses, in 1S51, Mr. Day gave the following hi.stoiy 
of the origin of the Su/i newspa]>er : 

" It is true I originated the S'oii, the first penny newsjiajier in 
America, and, as far as I Icnow, the fii-st in the woi'ld. But I have 
always considered the circumstance as more the result of an accident 
than any superior siigacity of mine. It was in 1S32 when I projected 
the entei-jn'ise, during the fii-st cholera, when my business as a job 
jirinter scarcely afforded a living. I nmst say I had very little faith in 
its success at that time, and from various causes it was ])ut off. In 
August, 1><38, I finally made up my mind to venture the e.vperiment, 
and I is.sued the fii-st number of tiie Sun September :^d. 

'' It is not necess;iry to speak of the wfmderful success of the ])apcr. 
At the end of three years the ditticulty of striking off th(> large edition 
on a double-cylinder press in the time usually allowed to daily news- 
pa pel's was vei'v great. 

" In 1S8.") I introduced steam ]>ower, now so neces-sjiry an aj)pen(lage 
to almost every news])ai)er office. It was the fii-st application of that 
power to move a printing machine in a newspaper office. At that time 
all the Xapier presses in the city wei-e turned by cranknien, and as th(^ 
Sun was the only daily newspaper of large circulation, so it seemed to 
be the only establishment where steam was really indispensjilde. But 
even this great aid to the speed of the Xn])i(»r machines ilid not keeji up 
with the increasing circulation of the Su,,." 

One cent continucnl to be the price [)er copy of the Sun for about 
thirty ycni-s. After the Civil "War broke out the price of everything 



274 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

was so increased tliat the Sun was doubled in price, and so it remains. 
In 183S Mr. Day sold the Sim to Moses Y. Beach, his brother-in-law. 
It had been much eidarged, but owing to duU times Mr. Beach cut 
down the paper to a smaller size, but enlarged it soon afterward when 
business was l)etter. 

Tlie Sun was made up of twelve columns, each ten inches long. It 
was a simple nrwxjxtjx'/'. It gave no opinions, no con)mercial reviews, 
no financial re])orts, and no account of stock sales. It made no special 
promises of future career. It had four columns of advertisements ; one 
column embraced a " New York Bank Xote Table ;" two columns 
were devoted to anecdotes and a short story, a quarter of a column to 
the arrivals and clearances of vessels on the previous day, one column 
to poetry, and the I'emainder to ]3olice and miscellaneous items. The 
circulation of tlie Su» ran up to 80()0 copies daily l)y the end of two 
yeare from its birth. 

So soon as the success of the Sun was assured a plentiful crop of 
rivals speedily appeared. Within a few months the Man, the Tran- 
script, and the Day- Bool-, and subsequently a Democratic paper called 
the Jeffersonian, appeared. Later the JSfeio Era, the True Sun, and 
the Herald — all cheap newspapers. The Transcript was a success for 
several yeai"s. The Herald, published by Anderson & Smith and 
edited by James Gordon Bennett, went down in tlie great fire in Ann 
Street early in 1S35. 

In a recent letter to the author of this work Mr. Day wrote respect- 
ing the beginning of the career of the Sun, the first one-cent news- 
paper ever juiblished : 

" You will ajijjreciate some of the difficulties uiider which I labored 
when I tell you there \vas not u]> to that time a newsboy or newsman 
in existence on this siile of the Atlantic. I was compelled to hire boys 
to sell the paper and pay them weeldy wages. As for newsmen, the 
newspaper carriers scouted the idea. They delivered the daily papers 
to subscribere only, and were paid weekly wages. My plan altereil 
that in a few years." ■■■ 



* Benjamin H. Day was born in West SpringBeld, Mass., April 10, 1810. The Days, 
most of them well-to-do farmers, were then numerous in that vicinity. His father, a 
manufacturing hatter, died when Benjamin was an infant, and was the only son of a 
■widowed mother. He received an academic education at three different places, the last 
one in a high school in Utica, where he remembers Horatio Seymour and Judge Ward 
Hunt were among the pupils. Young Day was apprenticed to Samuel Bowles, of the 
Springfield Republican (the father of the late editor of the same name), where he learned 
the printer's trade in all its branches. In 1830 he established himself as a job printer at 



FIUST DtXADE, 18;i0-lb4O. 275 

Tlu" (ii-st n('\vslM)y vvlio sold ctipies of tlic .V"// in tlic stivcis nl New 
Vuiiv was Silas I)avcii]Mtrt, wlio was liviii;^- in Siiaroii. Massaiiiusclt.s, 
in issi'. 

AVe liavo nljscrvLHl tliut tlio llmihl, published by Andi'i-son (V Smith, 
went down in the f^reat fire in Ann Sti-eet in fSS.j. It was revived 
shortly afterward l>y Mr. IJennett. who started it with a nominal eash 
capital of !j^.^oo, Imt witli a hundredfold more capital in the bi"iins of 
the founder. 

The lir-st luunberof this famcms newspaper was issued on Wednesday 
morning. May ti, ls;i,"), from a basement room at No. 2<i Wall Street, 
under the title of the Morniinj ILntld. The second nuud^er was 
issued on Monday, the 11th, and from that time until now its regular 
issues iiave not been interiaipted for a day. In this second issue the 
editor promised to " give a correct pictui'e of the world — in Wall Street, 
in the Exchange, in the Police office, at the Theatre, in the ()i)era — in 
short, wherever human natur(> and real life best disj)lay their freaks and 
vagaries." 

This promise the ILriiJil fulfilled from the beginning. It exhibited 
the true elements of journalism — intelligence, indu.strv, tact, and inde- 
]iendence. All the brain work was done by the editor. " The leading 
articles," sjiys Mr. Hudson, " the police i-eports, the literary intelli- 
gence, the pungent paragi-aphs, the news from abroad and home, the 
account-books, the biUs, the clerk's duties in the office, were all 
written, prepared, arrange<l, made out, and ])ei-fonned by Mi-. Bennett. 
The columns of the little sheet were filled with the peculiar points and 
hits and predictions which have ever since characterized tlie //</v/A/. 
In one of the fii-st numl>ers, for instance, he said : 

" ' The Xew York and Erie Railroad is to break ground in a few 
days. We hoi>e they will lireak nothing else.* " 

In the second number of the IL mhl ilr. Bennett introcUiced an 
entirely new feature in journalism — the ^If)ney Article. For many 
years these articles were written by ilr. Bennett himself, and attracted 
univei-sjil attention. From the ITith of June, 1835, these articles — then 



No. 222 William Street, Xew York. From his oflSee he issued the .Sii« newspniier, the 
tirst one-cent newspajier ever ]>ublisheil, and has the honor of being the pioneer in the 
business of publishing, not only chenp newsjiapers, but cheap literature. Two years 
after he sold the .Sim, Jlr. Day became half-owner of the lirother Joiinlhnii, a literary 
weekly edited by \. P. Willis and H. Hasliu!»s Weld. It was a successful undertaking. 
Soon afterward he was enRaged in the imblieation of cheap books. About the year 18fi2 
or \HiY.i Mr. Day left business with an ample fortune, and has since lived a retired life in 
the citv of New York. 



276 HISTORY UI'" NEW YORK ( 1 TV. 

ro])orts of transactions in stocks, etc.. in Wall Sti'cct — formed a foiture 
in every issue of the pai)er.* 

The Ne\v York E-rpress was established us a "' blanket sheet" in 
1836. The first number was issued on the first of June. Its founder 
was James Brooks, f who soon associated his brother Erastus with hini- 

* The following is a copy of the first Wall Street rejjort, lla.v 11, 1S35 ; 

" MONEY MAKKET. 

" Stocks are somewhat shaken since the late arrivals. The windint; up of three or four 
United Slates branch banks makes dealers pause as to the future operations of the innney 
market. On Saturday railroads started two or three per cent. 

" New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston are all on the qui cire about stocks. 
Speculation in this article was never so tiourishing. The rise is greater in fancy stocks 
or new banks, such as the Morris Canal, Baltimore Canton Company, Kentucky Northern 
Bank, and especially certain railroads. 

" What is the cause of these movements? How long will they last? Who will be 
losers ? Who will be winners ? 

" The uncommon rise in the stock market is not produced by accident. A secret con- 
federacy of our large capitalists in the commercial cities, availing themselves of the 
politicnl and commercial events of the times, could easily produce the .speculation tl.at 
has astonished the world during the last three months. It is a universal law of trade 
that if an article is made scarce it will rise ; if plenty, it will fall. A dozen large capital- 
ists, controlling twenty or thirty principal banks in the chief cities, can make money 
plenty or scarce just as they choose. ^Mien money is scarce stocks of all kinds tuU. 
The confederates buy in at low prices ; loan money to the merchants at two and three 
per cent per month. This is one operation. The next movement is to set on foot the 
machinery to raise stocks, which can be effected by permitting the banks to loan money 
liberally to the merchants at large. Stocks then will begin to rise slowly at first, but 
faster and faster as speculators lead the way. When the confederates have got rid of all 
their fancy stocks at high prices to merchants and small dealer's, or anybody not in 
the secret, then they begin secretly to prejiare for a fall. This is done by a general and 
simultaneous curtailment of discounts by the banks, which soon knocks down stocks, 
ruins thousands, and raises the value of money two and three per cent per month, thus 
furnishing always, either falling or rising, the knowing ones an opportunity to make at 
least thirty per cent on their capital the j-ear round. 

" This is truth, and wo seriously advise young merchants and dealers to be careful. 
Who can tell but at this very moment two dozen large moneyed men in our commercial 
cities have not already ai)pointed the very week, day, even the hour, when a new move- 
ment will commence which will knock down stocks twenty to forty per cent a month? 
When the April weather is particularly sweet and soft, look out for a storm the next day." 

f .James Brooks was bom in Portland, Maine, in November, 1810, and gi-aduated at 
Waterville College. He was for a time at the head of the Latin School in Portland. 
Finally he became a regular correspondent at Washington for several newspapers during 
the sessions of Congress. In IS.^o he was a member of the Maine Legislature, and intro- 
duced into that body the first proposition for a railway between Portland, Montreal, and 
Quebec. The same year he made a pedestrian tour on the continent of Europe and the 
British Islands, and published a series of descriptive letters in the Portland Adverliier. 
He established the New Y'ork Erpre^s in 183fi. In 1817 he was a member of the New 
York Assembly, and 1849 to 18.53, and from 18G.5 until his death, in April, 1873, he was a 



niisr DKCAKE, ix;iii imh. 



self ill the pill )lR-:it inn c,f tlir paper. Ill tlic iiiitmiiii of tlijit year tli.' 
h:rj,r<ss uiiitnl with till- old iMihj Ailr.rt;^,,; aii.l was issued l.otli as a 
inurning and eveniii;^^ paper. It paid special attention to shipping,' 
news, and liiiallv a inaiked feature of the pajier was a list of the ilaily 
arrivals at the "principal hoti'ls. Because of this feutui-e the ll.mhl 
called it the Drniiniiii-'n (iusttt< . 

In its fii-st i.ssue the Ej-jnr«K announce*! that in its politics it would he 
''decidedly Whig.'' While the American or Know-Xothing jiarty 
wius coiisiliciioiis it was an adherent and champion of that party. 
Finally its numerous editions issued during the day destroyed its char- 
acter as a strictly morning newspaper, and it was issued in IStl-i as the 
Eiu'u'niq RrpiUHx. P.y junction with the l>.t>',uij MmU, in l!^^:i, it 
assumed the title of ' M,i!l-Ki'j»;xx. S.nm after the breaking out of 
the Civil AVar the Erprrx.s became a Deiiux-ratic jiaper, and so it 
remains. The Brookses withdrew from it several yeai-s ago. Before 
they retired from it, it had assumed the po|.ular form of the " cheap 
press." Of all the dailv " blanket sheets"" i.ublished when the Erjn-^-sx 
was started, onlv it (merged with the Ei-r'nhnj Moll, under the title of 
The Erriniuj M(i!f-E.rju-<'s.^) nm\ the '/""fiHil i>f Commero' now (lSS;i) 



survive. 



We have obsen-ed that the New York M.rnlnu ILmhl was started 
upon a nominal cash capital of *r.nu, and that for a while nearly all 
editorial service was perfoniied by one man— the founder.'- 1 he 

member <.f Con-n-ss. In 1k71 Mr. lirooks u.a.le h rapid tonr iirouml the worl.l. i.n.l an 
account o£ it was pul.l.shoa in a volume entitled " K Seven Months' Run Up an.l Down 

and Around the World.' r x, »i i „„j 

James Brooks's brother Erastus, four years his junior, is also a native of Portland, and 
a Kraduate of Bro«n t'niversity. He >»a3 a school-teacher and editor for a while, and 
became associated vvitll his brother in the i>pr..v., as joint editor and proprietor. Ho 
travelled extensively in Europe in 18W. Ten years later he was a member of the New 
York State Senate, and became involved in a controversy with .\rehb>shop Hughes m 
eonsequenco of his advocacy of a bill divesting Roman Catholic bishops of the title to 
church property in real estate. ,.,,., .-or „n.l 

* James Gordon Rennett was born in Banffshire. Scotland, in September. 1<9.., and 
died in New York City in June. 187'2. His parents were Roman Catholics, and int.^ded 
the son for the priesthood. In 1811) he came to .\merica, taught school m Halifax. N. S 
a while, and reached Boston in the autumn of that year, where he engayed in proo.- 
readin. There he wrote and published some poems. In 1822 he was en,a«ed on the 
Chaileston <'„„n'.r«s f'.panish translator, but soon came to New York, where he unsnc- 
eessfullv tried the experiment of opening a commercial school. He ';-""'; j;-;';, 
reported and writer for the newspapers, and finally, a, mentioned ■"»'-/•""• f;'"^''""'.^; 
the New York lUr.M. It was the first daily paper that issued " •'^""•'"•. J;^' ^'^^^ ^^ 
■ Bennett left two children- a son and dauKl.tcr, To the latter he bequeathed the U.T<M, 
and it is still (1883) conducted by James Gordon Bennett. Jr. 



378 HISTUKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

iiiarvellous increiiso of lal)or and ex))en(litufo in the field of joiinialisiu 
in Xew York City, and proportionably of its ])i-oducts, since tliat time 
— the lapse of less than fifty years — is conspicuously illustrated l)y the 
following statement, made by the able editor and successful publisher 
of the Xew York Skii newspaper, Charles A. Dana. The Sun, be it 
remembered, is the pioneer of the cheap press, and at the time the 
Herald was started had a daih^ circulation of 6(i0(» cojjies. This state- 
ment was made in April, 1883, in resjionse to the intjuiry. '• ^A'liat does 
it cost to run a fii-st-class Xew York newspaper '." 

" A fii-st-rate newspaper in X'^ew Y'ork will i-equire about ten edi- 
torial writere, whose daily duty it is to furnish, leading articles and 
editorial paragra])hs. Man}' of these writers have their special duties, 
but there must always be five or six men who are able to turn their 
hands to subjects of an}' description as they happen to come up. A 
competent writer of leadei-s will be paid from 81(ii) to 8150 per week, 
and no man fit to supervise them and perfonn the functions of editor- 
in-chief can be had for less than from $li>0 to $2(»0 per week. The 
reporters are of two classes — first, those of the regular staff, who are 
paid by the week at rates varying from $20 to $60. These perform 
not only tho routine duties of reporting, but are always prepared to be 
sent off ujion special service, in which case their railroad fares, caiTiage 
hu-e, hotel bills, and other expenses are paid by the office. 

" Then there are a number of reporters attached to each paper who 
are paid according to the work they perform, without liaving any pre- 
scribed fu:ictions, and who must hold themselves in readiness to do 
whatever may be necessary. Some of these gentlemen are men of 
talent and learning, and in time will make their way into the front 
rank as writers and editors. I know men who, without having regular 
salaries, average from $.5U to $75 a week. Of these two classes of 
reporters, taken together, a first-rate jiaper must employ about fifty. 
N^ext tiiere are the correspondents, both at home and altroad, and these 
are likewise divided into two classes, those who are employed on regidar 
salaries and those who ai-e paid as their contributions are jn-inted. In 
Washington, for instance, each newsjiaper has need both of regular 
correspondents or i-eporters and of occasional contributors, and the 
different ))apei's differ as to the respective nundjers of these two classes. 
In Albany each Xew York paper must have its regular staff devoted to 
its service, while in the other capitals of such States as Xew Jersey, 
Peimsylvania, Ohio, and ^lassachusetts, the jmpers are served by occa- 
sional correspondents, since the news of those more distant ])laces is, 
for the most part, not important enough in Xew "\'ork to ix' constantly 



KIHST PKCADK, lS:iO-lS40. VTO 

ro|vn't('il tlii'iv. Ill KuroiR' also, evory leadiu;^ i>a|K'i' lias its r(»;r>il:ii" list 
of c'i>i-rfs|K)iul('iits in tlic i-liii-f cities. TluTt- must i'S|ici-ially !»<■ a conv- 
spontlciit in London and one in i'aris wlio icport I'onstanlly ciiIht i)y 
])ost or liy cable. 

'• In the Sunday edition of most of the prominent pa]MMs of .New 
York City tliere is always a calile despatch summiii;^ up the news of 
the week and repoitin;;- interesting )M)litical, .social, artistic, or liteniry 
events on which the reportei-s of the As.s(Hiated I'lvss, wliosi' telej^nims 
are forwanled evci'V day, ilo not ordinarily dwell. Thus the expenses 
of the sort of papei-s we are considerin<jf vary for the mo.st part maiidy 
according as they print hirge or small editi<ms, their chief diirereuo(5 
being in their consumption of white ]iaper. Of this tlu^ Ilrruhl uses 
nw\\\ than any othei- journ;d. On Sun<lay es|K'cially its advertising 
sheets are many, and <in that day it will sometimes print 18o columns 
of a<lvertisements alone, so that the amount of wiiite pu]»er it uses is 
enormous. 

" Hut ajiart from this item, the expenses of one of these papei-s for 
the editorial dejiartment, including writei-s, rei)ortei"s, and correspond- 
ents, will be from §4(MMI to !?.■)(«•<) per week, and its oi-dinai-y telegraph 
bills, including the cost of special cables from Kurope, will average 
])erhaps fiom s7<"> to ?;l(M)(i a week ; its composition bills will vary 
fi'om sinoo to .^2<H»i( ; its publication department will co.st from sltHjO 
to ^liduo ; its stereotyping will be perhaps §;."»i"i, and its miscellaneous 
expenses from ^lono to s-jooo. making a total of from iSOOoii to ?;l-2,(i(tO 
a week. Of course these figures will be a little less in dull times, when 
there is little telegra]>hing and no ix-casion for special expenditures, than 
when there is a great ])ublic excitement, such as a presidential canvass 
or a great jiublic catastrophe, when it is neces.siiry to send many men 
out and spend a great deal of money in obtaining news ; but the gen- 
eral average will b.' about what I have stated." 

Of the fifteen daily news])apei"s printed in Xew York on the first of 
ilay, 1S35, or less than fifty years ago, one only (the S,iin) had a daily 
circulation of fiOOo. AH the others were far below ."lOOO, and one was 
not more than r>(ii». "It was esthnated," says Hudson, "that the 
average <laily circulation of the 'sixpenny sheets' was ITb" only.*'* 
New York at that time contained a population of 270,O(i(). 

The Xew York Wi'd-Jn Mirmr was the only tnie repi-esentative of 
the literature and art of the city of Xew York at the beginning of this 
decade. It was founded in lS:i2 by Samuel Woodworth, a jn-inter and 

* " .lonrnalisin in the United States fnim 1690 to 1«72," I'v Frederic Hudson, p. 4;il. 



280 HISTOKV (»K NEW YOKK CI TV. 

jKX't, iiiid (ieorgo I'. Moi-ris. a young- poet twenty-two yeai's of age. 
It very soon took a liigh position as a gener'ous patron of littM'ature and 
art, and attracted to its columns the choicest contributions from 
authors, artists, and musicians, as has been observed in a former chap- 
ter. It held this lofty j)Osition for twenty yeai-s. It was a literary 
institution of the country. In 1842 it was susjiended, but was revived 
the next year. At an early period in its history Woodworth witli- 
drew, and X. P. "Willis took his place. 

The Fatirihj MMjuzine was begun in tlie city of New York in 18.34, 
and flourished foi- eight ^^ears. It was always a paying enterprise, but 
not largely so. It was the first illustrated magazine publislied in this 
country. Its engraving's were all done on wood, and it was an imitator 
of the London Penny Magazine. . 

This periodical was established by the Rev. Origen Baclieler, who 
was better kno^\Ti as a book canvasser than as a preacher. He edited 
and published the Avork, canvassing for subscribers to it, and receiving 
one dollar and fifty cents for one year, payable in advance, for each 
subscriber. It being a novelty, he soon obtained a i-espectable list of 
subscriber's. 

Finally, its circulation did not increase, and having no capital, 
Baclieler turned the publication over to Justus S. Redfield, the stereo- 
typer of the work, who was his principal creditor. Mr. Redfield 
assumed its publication and Baclieler editeil it until his death, which 
occurred soon after this change. 

Dr. A. S. Doane succeeded Baclieler as editor, and conductetl the 
magazine for several years, until appointed healtli officer at Quarantine, 
when he was succeeded, temporarily, by Thomas Allen, afterward the 
editor of the Madisonian at Washington, and who more recently 
ranked among the railway magnates of the country. In 1840 Ben- 
son J. Lossing became the editor of the magazine, and executed the 
engravings for it. It was discontinued at the close of the eighth 
volume. 

It was early in this decade that the two most extensive publishing 
houses in the city of New York in 1883 began to take an important 
jjosition in the realm of literature. These are the houses of Harper & 
Brothers and Daniel Appleton & Company. The former takes prec- 
edence in point of time, that of Harj)cr & Brothers beginning business 
in the city of Xew York in 1817, and Daniel Appleton & Company in 
1825. The foi-mer was estalilished by James and John Harper, sons of 
a Long Island farmer. Both had l)C(>n apprentices to different pei-sons 
in Xew York to learn the art of printing. 






^, 



1 



-i- 



KIKST DICCAUi:. 18:i0 IHlO. '^hl 

AVIicn tli(> l)rotli(Ms luul i-ejiclu'd inaiihiMMl tlicv jniiu'd interests ami 
Ik^gan l)iisiiu'ss lor tlit'iiisclvcs l>y sotting u|> a small Ixxjk and jtjl) print- 
in^^ dtluL' ill Dover Street, in New York, not far from the great estal)- 
lisliment of llaqtcr A: I'.rotliei-s at the present time. It was an auspi- 
cious time for them, as with the return of prosperity after the war (.f 
lsl2-l."> theiv was a great demand for hoolcs. Evart A. Duvckinck 
was tiien a prospert)Us boolcsellor in New York, and he employed 
"J. tfc J. Harper" to print the firet Ixxik that was issued from their 
press. In August, 1S17, they delivered to him twcj thousand copies of 
a tr.mslation of Seneca's " florals," which they had '' composed " and 
printed with their own hands. In the winter of 1S18 they resolved to 
print a book on their own account. They first ascertained from lead- 
ing booksellei's how many cojiies each one would purchase from them in 
sheets. In A])ril they issued live hundred copies of a reprint of Locke's 
" Essay on the Human Understanding," with the imprint of J. <i: J. 
Ilarjwr. 

Jo.seph Wesley and Fletehei-, two younger brothel's, who had learned 
the printer's trade with James and .Jr>hn, became partnei-s with the 
elder ones, the former in 1823 and the latter in is^C,. Then was 
orgiinized the firm of '* Harper & Brothei-s," which continued forty- 
three yeai"s without interruption, when the .senior partnei- of the house 
was suddenly separateil from it by death. The brotheis had estab- 
lished thouLselves in Cliff Street, and when the youngest entered the 
firm they were employing fifty pei-sons and ten hand.pres.ses. This 
was then the largest printing establishment in Xew York. 

At the end of nine years after J. & .T. Harper began business they 
pinchased the building on Cliff Street in which they were establishecl. 
They bi'gan to stereotype their works in 1S30, and led the way to the 
jiroduction of cheap books and the creation of a new army of readei-s. 
They continually enlarged their business, purch.asing building after 
building on Cliff Street, and had erected a fine structure on Eranklin 
Square, connecting with those on Chff Street (altogether nine in num- 
ber), when, at midday on December 0, 1S53, the whole establishment 
was laid in ashes, the fire occurring from an unfortunate mistake of a 
pluml)er at work in the building. Their total loss was very heavy, but 
very soon the present magnificent structures arose out of the ruins. 
These consist of an immense building of iron on Franklin Scjuare, five 
stories in height, with cellar and suiicellnr, and another on Cliff Street, 
in the rear of the Franklin Square edifice, built of i)rick and si.x stories 
in height, with a basement used for press-work. These buildings are 
conui'itc-d by iron bridges at each story, which termiujite at an iron 



282 HISTORV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

spii'ixl staircase in a round tower in the centn; of the court between the 
two main structures. 

Harper 6z Brothers' estabhshment is tiiorougiily equipped with im- 
proved mach'iiery and materials of every kind for carrying on the pub- 
lishing business, from setting up the ty^ie from manuscrijit copy and 
stereotyping to tlie finishing of the complete book for the reader. 
About one thousand persons — men and women, girls and boys — are 
employed in the establishment. Besides their immense issue of bound 
books and large pamphlets, under the title of the ''Franklin Square 
Library," they publish four illustrated periodicals. In 1S.")0 they 
began the publication of //«yy<?/''« 3>w Monthlij Mn(jnz'ini\ which has 
ever since held the position of a leader among the periodical literature 
of the day. It has now attained a circulation in this country and in 
England of nearly 200,000 copies a month. Harper'' a Weeldy, an illus- 
trated paper, was begun in January, 18.57 ; Harper s Bazar, a beauti- 
fully illustrated repository of knowledge, of current fashions, and gen- 
eral literatm'e, was begun late in 1867, and IIarper''s Young People, 
an illustrated weekly paper of smaller dimensions for the class men- 
tioned in its title, was begun in November, 1880. 

To supply these periodicals with illustrations they have an art depart- 
ment, composed of draughtsmen and many engravers, and rnucii art 
work is done outside. 

The four brothers — James, John, Joseph "Wesley, and Fletcher — 
have passed from among the living, and the great establishment, con- 
stantly increasing in the bulk and pros]ierity of business, is conducted 
by five sons and one grandson of the founders of the house, with great 
ability and success. To give an idea of the magnitude of the business 
of the great publishing house it may be stated that the \vhite paper 
used in their business costs over $2(iO() a day for every \vorking day in 
the year. The four Ijrothers were born at Ne^^'to^^^l, L. I. James 
was born on the IStli of April, 179.5, and died on the 27th of March, 
1869. He was at one time mayor of the city of New York. John 
was born on the 22d of January, 1797, and died on the 22d of April, 
1875. Joseph Wesley was born on the 25th of December, ISOl, and 
died February 14, 1870. Fletcher was born on the 31st of January, 
1806, and died on the 29th of May, 1877. 

The pul^lishing liouse of Daniel Appleton & Company was fountled 
in 1825. Tiie founder, Daniel Appleton, whose name is still retained 
in the firm, was a native of HaverhiU, Massachusetts, and was born 
December 10, 1785. There he began his business life as a retail mei-- 
chant. Afterward lu^ was a dealer in drv goods in Boston, and in 1825 



riHST DICCAllE, 1«30 184o. ••S:J 

ho wont to Now York foi' tlio i)ur|K)so of i-iiga^nii;^' in tlio Ixxik ti-atlv. 
llo ()]K'notl a storo in Kxtlianyo Place, tlien a lasliionaldo sottion <tr tlio 
business of tlio city, and in the vicinity of elegant private residences. 
He dealt cliieily in foreign books, and catered to the best literary taste 
of the day. 

The l))-othor-in-la\v of Mr. A])j)loton, Jonathan Leavitt, a skilful 
bookbinder, joined him in liusiness under terms of a ])artnei-shi|) limited 
to live yeai"s. The store and bindery were subse(|uently rouKtved to 
Ih'oadway, cornei" of John Street, where the booksellinj^ department 
was j)lacod in the haiuls of Mi-. A])])loton's son, William II. Ajipleton, 
the present head of the house. ( )n the eX])iration of the jiartnei-ship of 
Ajipleton »S: Leavitt, in isiio, Mr. Ap])leton withdrew and established 
himself as a bookseller in Clinton Ilall, on Bookman Street, between 
Nassau Street and Theatre Alley. 

^Ir. Ap])loton had lioon very successful in his undertakings, and now 
he determined to venture upon the career of a ]iul)lislier. The lii-st 
book bearing his im])rint was a small volume of Bible texts, entitled, 
" Crumbs from the blaster's Table ; or Select Sentences, Doctrinal, 
Practical, and Kx])eriinental," l>y AV. Mason. It was only three inches 
sr|uare and half an inch thick, and contained only 102 ])ages. It gave 
the firm great anxiety, but abf)ut one thousand copies were sold. The 
" Cnnnbs" was followed by two other small religious books, the last 
one in lS;i2, the year when the city of New York and other jJaces 
were droadfidly ravaged liy the cholera." The book was entitled, "A 
Eefuge in Time of Plague and Pestilence." It was published at an 
auspicious moment, for the jniblic mistook it for a treatise on cholera, 
and it had an enormous sale. 

Mr. Appleton did not venture largely into the jiublishiiig business for 
a long time. English and German books sold readily, and he made the 
importation and siile of tliem a specialty. In 1^:^.5 W. II. A})pleton, 
then twenty -one years of age, was sent to England and Germany to 
look after importing interests there, and soon afterward a London 
branch of the house was established, and has been continued ever since. 

In 183S William IT. Ai)])leton became the business ]>artnor of his 
father. The store was then removed to No. 2i)0 Broadway. Ten 
ye<ii"s later the founder of the house retired from business, and died in 
New York a few montiis afterward. That event occurred on March 
27, 1S40. He had oxjiressed a desire that his name might be connected 
with the house as long as possible, for he had a clear pereejrtion of its 
future growth, and he was proud f)f the jirosporous estalilishment which 
ln' had founded. His son promised him that no note or check of the 



284 HISTORY OF KEW YOKK CITY. 

firm sliould ever be signed, while he Ured, -without the full name, 
Daniel Appleton & Comi)any. That promise has been sacredly kept. 

Mr. A])pleton was a conspicuously honorable and honest man, and 
despised mean things. He was sometimes reticent and often a little 
brusque in his intercoui-se with men, but he possessed a Icind and 
genial nature, trae courtesy-, and many fine personal qualities, which 
endeared him to his family and friends. 

After Mr. Applcton's death the house was reorganized with William 
H. Appleton at the head, and his brothel's John A. and Daniel Sidney 
associated with him as partners. The business of the establishment 
increased rapidly. They imported books, they published books, and 
they sold l)ooks with ever-increasing exjiansion of their business. Their 
list of publications soon included all the standard works of American 
and foreign authoi-s. 

With the noi'thward extension of the city the house of Daniel 
Appleton it Company has gradually moved up town until, after five 
removals after leaving Xo. '2U0 Broadway, it now see;ns permanently 
located in a spacious building, six stories in height, at Nos. 1, 3, and 5 
Bond Street, near Broadway. Of this building the Appletons occupy 
two floore and two basements. The retail business of the house was 
abandoned M'hen they took possession of the present premises in 1880. 

In 18(55 George S. Appleton, a brother of the other members of the 
firm, came into the partnership. His exquisite taste and deep interest 
in art caused the house to undertake beautifully illustrated books, which 
soon became a marked feature of their publications. He died in 1878. 
In July, 1881, another brother and member of the firm, John A. 
Appleton, departed this life. Of him it might be trathfully said, in 
the beautiful words of Halleck : 

" None knew him but to love him, 
None named him but to praise." 

The membei-s of the firm now (1883) are W. H. Appleton, Daniel S. 
Appleton, William W. Appleton (son of W. H. Appleton), and Daniel, 
son of the late John A. Ap])leton. 

The publications of the Appletons now embrace the \vhole range of 
human knowledge, from the small text-book and railway guide to the 
most elaborate and abstruse philosophical treatise. Some of their pub- 
lications are siiperb specimens of art. The most costly publications are 
undertaken without hesitation, caution and enterprise going hand in 
hand in their mode of conducting business. Their ventures, as a rule, 
have been successful. 



FIKST DECADE, 1830-1840. 285 

In order to give an idea of the extent of the business of this estab- 
lishment it may be stated that the cost of tlie white pai)er alone 
refjuired for their use averages fully $1000 for each working «lay in the 
year. 

Let us now turn to a consideration of some of the most important 
current events in the city of New York diuing the first decade. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE long-su]ipressed discontent of the people of France under the 
rule of their Boui-bon king, Charles X., finaUv led to a short, 
sharp, and decisive revolution that overturned a dynasty forever. The 
peojjle had observed with uneasiness the gradual abridgment of tlieir 
liberties, and the silent but sure growth of absolutism fostered by the 
monarch. He was not only chsposed to be tyrannical, bixt was faitli- 
less. His promises were made with an evident intention to violate 
them. In March, 1830, the Idng made a threatening speech to the 
representatives of the people. In July he signed an ordinance to put 
an end to the freedom of the press, and dissolved a recently elected 
Chamber of Deputies. These acts unloosed the pent-up tempest of 
popular indignation. The people of Paris flew to arms and drove the 
monarch from his throne, and Louis Philiji])e, Duke of Orleans, was 
seated in his place. 

This revolution, so speedily and so effectually accomphshed, enlisted 
the sympatliics of all lovers of freedom. It especially stirred the feel- 
ings of the American people, for it was the fruit of their own acts in 
the past and in the present. Nor could that s^nnjiathy be confined to 
mere emotions and words ; it finally culminated in a grand public 
demonstration in the city of New York in iiw autumn of 1830. 

A meeting was held at the Westchester House, on October Sth, 
1830, at Avhich the following resolution was passed : 

'■'■Rc.<<olved, That this meeting cannot but express their admiration 
and esteem for the brave and magnanimous daring of their brother 
mechanics and workingmen of Paris, who, rising in their strength, 
regardless of consequences to themselves, nobly buret asunder the 
chains which an ignorant and bigoted aristocracy had forged to subvert 
the rights and liberties of France.'' 

These workingmen had come together for the avowed purpose of 
taking into consideration the " propriety of celebrating the late glori- 
ous revolution in France." After adopting the above resolution, they 
appointed a committee composed of one from each ward to " prepare 
an address and a call for a public meeting, for the puryiose of congratu- 



FIRST DECADE, ISTO-IHIO. 



287 



liitiiif; till' '^'loilniis I'inisinii poimlaco ' on the happy result ..f their 
ii-jble ilevotinii aiul sacritiees to the cause of the lii.erties of iiiaukiml." 
At a meeting held on Novenil)er S it was resolved to divest the 
alTair of all piutv feeling, and thi; coniniittee was increased hy the 
addition of the names of ahoiit two hundred and sixty of the most 
promini-nt citizens. This new list <.f committeemen was heade.l hy the 
mavor, Walter P.owne, and followed l.y such weil-lcTiown men as 
General Lamh, (iulian (". Veii-lanck, M. ^l. Noah, George I). Strong, 
John llaggertv, (Jeneral Morton, (iide.m J. Tucker, Campl.ell P. 
AVhite I-rancis 15. Cutting, C. C. C'amlireling, ex-President James 
Mniiroe, John I. -Nfumfoid. George P. Morris, Isaac Webb, Clarkson 
Crolius Uenrv Tlone, Albert Gallatin,* S. L. Gouverneur, Thomas 
H Le<v.rett, Charles O'Conor, lMtz-(;reene Ilalleck, Alfred S. Pell, 
Jimes^Watsim W(>l)l), Samuel Swartwout, Philip Hone, Henry Eck- 
ford Piichard Riker, Jacob LoriUard, Commodore Chauncey, (ii.leon 
Lee,' Colonel Trambull. Rembrandt Peal.-, Judge T. J. Oakley, Clarkson 
Crolius Ji-., Stephen Van Rensselaer, Morgan Lewis, Comfort Sands, 
Governor Yates, Cokmel Yarick, Charles King, and othei-s. These 
men all accepted the position and joined heartily in the celebration and 
in iircparations for it. 

Tt was resolved to hold the clebnition on X.)vember 2.^, the anni- 
vei-si.rv of the evacuation of New York by the Briti.sh. A meeting 
was «dled at Tammany Hall on the 12th. at which ex-Presi.lent 

* Albert GiiUatin LL.D.. was a native of SwitzerUna, born in Geneva in .laniiary, 
IVfil and left an ori^han at an early age. He graduated at the University of Geneva in 
1779' Like Lafayette, he sympathized with the Americans, sailed for Boston in 1/80, 
offered his services to the Americans, and was placed in command of the fort at I'assama- 
quoddv \t the cnnclnsion of peace he became a tutor of French in Harvard ColleRo. 
Eeceivin" his patrimonv in 17S4. he invested it in lands in VirKinia and Pennyslvnn.a. 
settled on the banks of the Munongahela, and engaged in agriculture. In 1789 he was a 
member of the constitutional convention of Pennsylvania, and of the State Legislature 
in 1790-92 He took part in the Whiskey Insurrection in 1794. and assisted in the sot- 
tlement of the difficulty. From 1705 to 1801 he was a member of Congress. In 111- latter 
year President .Tefferson called him to his cabinet as Secretary of the Treasun. which 
office he tilled with great ability until 181.1. when ho was sent on a mission to St. Peters- 
burg He was one of the American commissioners who negotiated a treaty of peace at 
Ghent in 18U. Gallatin was United States minister at the French court from I8I0 till 
1823 and went on special missions elsewhere. Returning to America, be made ^ew 
York Citv his future residence, and died there in August. 1849. There ho devoted him- 
self to lileratnre and philosophical and hist.mcal studies. He became much .nteres ed 
in the study of the philology and ethnology of the North American Indians «"'l -^''^ 
founder and first president of tho .\merican Ethnological Society. In 1843 il>^^>-' ''' " 
was chos.n president of the New York Historical Society, and held that position until 
his death. Sir. Gallatin was one of the .iblest financiers of his time. 



288 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Monroe presided, assisted hj Thomas liertell, ]\Iayor Bowne, and 
Albert Gallatin as vice-])residents, and Daniel Jackson and M. M. JVoah 
secretaries. The great hall was packed with men. The venei-able 
President was in feeljle health (he died a few months afterward), but 
presided with dig-nity, and made a patriotic speech on the occasion, 
dwelling largely upon the character of Lafayette, who had been so 
conspicuous in. the lievolution in America, and had borne such an im- 
portant ])art in tlie revolution they were about to celebrate. 

At tliis meeting the general arrangements were made. It was 
i-esolved to invite the participation in the celebration of the mayor and 
common council, the judges, charitable and Uterary societies, mechani- 
cal and scientific associations, the president, faculty, and students of 
Columbia College, the scholars of the pubhc schools, the uniformed 
militia companies of the city, and the natives of France. For each of 
these objects a committee of seven was appointed. A committee was 
also appointed to prepare an address to the French people, also a com- 
mittee to select an orator and a grand marshal. There was a committee 
of fifty persons a])])ointed as a general executive committee of arrange- 
ments, of which Philip Hone was chairman. 

The chairman of the committee to select an orator was "William M. 
Price ; to receive deputations from mechanics' societies, Kobert 
Walker ; to receive deputations from colleges and public schools, 
Samuel Stevens ; to select a grand marshal, Andrew Jackson ; to pre- 
pare an address to the French people, Thomas liertell ; of the music 
committee, George P. Morris ; to confer with the miUtary, James 
AVatson Webl). 

Invitations to participate wei'e extended to the Cincinnati Society, 
to United States officers of the Revolution and of the late war, to the 
superintendent, faculty, and cadets of the AVest Point Military Acad- 
emy, to the corporation of the " village of Brooklyn," and various 
other bodies who were specially indicated. Among the veterans of the 
Revolution was Enoch Crosby, the original of Cooper's " Spy." 

Samuel L. Gouverneur (son-in-law of ex-President Monroe) was 
ciiosen to be the orator of the day, and Samuel Swartwout, the grand 
mai-shal, with twenty-one aids. The dress of the chief marshal ami 
his aids was prescribed as follows : Blue coat, with white facings and 
gilt l)Uttons ; buff vest, with ])lain gilt buttons ; white pantaloons ; 
cha})eau-de-bras, tricolored cockade, and plume ; tricolored scarfs ; 
tricolored l)adge, with the stripes of the United States flag to be worn 
on each lapel ; dress sword and gilt spurs. 

A number of French residents offered tlieir services as an escort for 




Engravpiib^G' 



l-IltSI' DKCADK, Ih;jO-|8.jo. -^hD 

tlio <rniii(l iiiaiNliiil. and wci-f iu-c<'])t("(l. ami many of the tiativt-s of 
FniiR-i' pivpaivd to participate in tin- ;j:ran(l tV-lc 

As tlif ajipomtcd day approaclit'd, the military, lin-mcn. exempt liie- 
nieii, lire- wardens, c()llei,re stndents, pupils of seliools, various societies, 
tlio professions and trades, were active in preparations for the <,'i-.ind 
event. Flags and hannei-s. liadires and cockades, scarfs and i-o.setU'S, 
the tricolor nwe everywhere and on everything, were made readv. 

The autumn was veiy mild. The Indian sumnu'i' had made its ad- 
vent early, ami with its delicious haxe, its halmy temperature, and its 
fading glories among the trees, the vines, and the Howei-s. had given 
its full measure of enjoynuMit to the town and couutry before the 
momentous day airived. AVhen it arrived the weatherWas very in- 
clement, and the colelmition wa.s i)ost]ioned until the next dav l>v the 
disiilay of a ml flag upon the City Hall, at Xihlo's, at Castle "Garden, 
at the AYa.shington Parade-(;i-ound. and at the Liberty Pole in (irand 
Street, at eight o'clock in the morning. 

The storm was over before the dawn of the 2f5th. The sky was cov- 
ered with gray clouds, and the atinosi)here was bleak and cliillv. He- 
fore sunrise the notes of prejxiration for the celebration that day were 
heard on every side, and at nine o'clock the pi-occssion liegan to form 
at the Battery. "SVIkmi everything was in i-eadiness it moved up IJroad- 
way to the AVa.shington Parade-Ground (now "Washington Scpiare), 
Avhore certain ceremonies were to be held. 

The procession was led by ji sipiadron of cavalry elegantly uniformed. 
These were followed by the grand mai-shal and his aids, and eight 
French gentlemen wearing the beautiful imifonn of the National 
Guanls of Fnince, as the mai-shars escort. These were all on lioi-se- 
back. Following them was a barouche containing the orator of the 
day and the reader of the address to the French people. Ex-President 
Ifonroe was expected to occupy a seat in this veliide, but the feeble 
state of his health forbade it, and he joined the procession when it 
approaciied th(> i)arade-ground. Othei- veliicles followed bearing com- 
mitteemen, orticei-s of the city government, members of Congress and 
the State Legislature, Judges of the National and State courts, foreign 
ministers and consuls, and the New York Chamber of Commerce. 

In a barou(h(> was Anthony Glenn, a naval otlicei- of the Revolution, 
with David "Williams, one of the ca])toi-s of Andre ; Enwh Crosby, the 
patriotic spy of the Revolution,* ami Alexamler "Whaley, one of the 

♦ Enoch Crosby was a witness in a court of justice in New York in 1S27. ami was recog 
nized by an old gentleman, who introduced him to Ihc audience as the original of Cooper's 



390 HISTORY OF NEW VOUK CITY. 

famous Boston tea-i)ai-ty. Captain Glenn Ijorc aloft nnfui-led tlie iilen- 
tical stancbrd which was hoisted by him on the flagstaff at the Battery 
or Fort George on the evacuation of the city by the British on the 25tli 
of November, 1783. By his side rode John Van Arsdale, who, when 
younw, pulled down the British flag from the same staff on that momen- 
tous occasion. He received the halyards from Captain Glenn when he 
raised the old flag aloft. 

The bullv of the grand procession was made u]) of the faculty and 
students of Columbia (JoUege bearing a medallion likeness of Lafayette, 
with the legend in Greek, " The glory of this man shall be forever ;" 
the members of various professions— law, medicine, science, and litera- 
ture ; officers of the army and navy, and a vast array of members of 
the various trades pursued in the city. These, with appropriate and 
elegant banners, made a most attractive display. Among these the 
printers and type-founders and persons connected with the New York 
press in every capacity took the lead, preceded by a beautiful banner 
displaying a picture of a Clymer printing-press. Their mai-shal was 
the venerable John Lang, who had been connected with the press 
more than forty years. 

Tiie fire department, which turned out in full force, was under the 
(lii'ection of James Gulick. The New York pilots made a fine display, . 
having a car bearing a representation of a French ship-of-war. The 
cartmen of the city numbered about three hundred. They were in 
white frocks, ^vearing on their left breast a tricolored cockade and a 
badge printed on white satin. 

There was a grand display of the military organizations of the city 
in the procession, under the command of the venerable General Jacob 
Morton. Gn his staff was Lieutenant -Col on el Andrew Warner, who is 
now (18S3) and has been for many years the recording seci'etary of the 
New York Historical Society. AH the other members of General 
Morton's staff on that occasion are dead. 

A stage hiid been erected near the centre of Washington Parade- 
Ground. Ex-President Monroe, who had consented to preside on the 
occasion, with the orator of the day and others, awaited the arrival of 
the procession at the house of Colonel J. B. Murray, near by. Monroe 
was then taken in a barouche to the stage, where the Chairlnaker^■,' 
Association presented him witli an elegant arm-chair, made during the 

Harvey Birch in his novel of " The Spy." The fact was noised abroiul. The Spy, dram- 
Htized, was in coui'se of performance at one of the theatres. Crosby was invited to 
attend. His acceptance was announced, and that evening a crowded audience greeted 
the old soldier. 



IIUST DKfADt:, l»:!0-l»IO. 'Ml 

progress f)( tlif j)i'iK.-i'ssi(iii. Tliis tin- vi'iuTaMi' slati'sman occupied on 
the c»cca.sioii. 

After a prayer l)y the Rev. Richanl Varick Dey, tlic address to the 
French people was read hy WiUiam ^I. Price, when Samuel L. Gouver- 
hcur was introduced as the orator of the day, who pronouncetl a most 
interesting address to tl:e vast throng ijefore iiim. The oration w:is 
followed t»y tiie singing of an ap|tro|)riate ode written hy Samuel 
"WiMidworth for the occasion, by the entire band of clioristeiN attached 
to the Park Theatre, led hy .Mr. E. Kichings. 

When the music cea.sed a tricolored Hag which had been i)orne in iIk 
pnx'ession was presented, on i)elialf of the natives of France resident in 
the city of New York, to the Fii"st Division of New York State Artil- 
lery, commanded by (ieneral ilorton. Then the ilai-seillaise Ilynm 
was sung by the choir, and the vast audience joined in the stirring 
chorus. The brilliant affair at the Wa.shington Parade-tiround was 
closi-d at three o'clock by a j't'n dcjoie by the military. 

•' The ilay will long live in story," said the New York Canricr hikI 
Eiiijiiirrr the next morning, " and till up many a ])leasant hour when 
the children of l!S3(>, in the winter of ilicir day, shall speak of the 
events in olden times, among the least interesting of which shall not be 
numbered the celebration of the Revolution of France in the city of 
New Yolk." It is for the purpo.se of awakening in the memory of the 
'' children of 1S30" a vivid recollection of the event which stirred the 
heart of the great city fifty yeai-s ago, antl to tell to their children, 
in a few simple words, how the bosoms of their fathei-s glowed with 
jtatriotic emotion because of the triumph of liberty beyond the sea, 
that this record has been made here. 

In commemoration of Evacuation Day and the Revolution in France 
banquets were partaken of in the evening in several wards, thc^ work- 
ingmen and the Litei-arv Association of the Friends of Ireland at 
Tammany Ilall. at all of which there was great hilarity, speech-maldng, 
and singing of songs or odes for the occasion, while there were specially 
appro])riate iierforniances at the tlieatres. 

This decade is a remaikal)le ])eriod in the history of the city of New 
York for the successful introduction of a new system of treatment of 
diseases — a system founded ui)onthe ])ositive knowledge of the science 
of physiology (the basis of all rational medicine), which has been de- 
velojied within the la.st three fourths of a century ; a system which has 
contributed largely in effecting a radical reform in the ]ii-acticc of the 
healing art of every school. 

Previous to this period '" tlic i)ractice of tlic ;nt. Iicre and there," 



292 HISTORY l)F NEW VOlUv CITY. 

says Dr. Gra}', " consisteil, with no really .scientific exceptiuiis, in a 
heroic combat with two mythical demons of medicine, the strong and 
the weak — inflammation and debihty — by means of emetics, cathartics, 
venesections, vesicatories, sedatives, tonics, and stimulants. The 
' princijjles ' upon which this terrific practice was founded were all 
deduced from the poor basis of the physiology of the last century ; and 
that, without having interrogated this physiology as to the real povvei-s 
of the vast drug apparatus they used, either specific and direct, or reac- 
tion and revolutionary. iS'othing was scientifically known of the action 
of any drug, by any physiological test : none other than the little 
derived from its empirical use in disease, and from the scarcity and 
unarranged memoranda of toxicology. . . . But tlie jirofession, 
even at the period of which we are treating, were, as their literature 
now and then discloses, by no means satisfied with the uncertain prin- 
ciples and distinctive processes of their therapeutics ; there were not 
^vanting in all countries men who looked for as great and radical a 
reformation in the healing art as had already occurred in the sciences 
of astronomy and chemistry, or as great a change as had taken place in 
the art of navigation. Mearly aU, indeed, outside the walls of mercan- 
tile cliques and colleges were discontented with the principles e\ailgated 
in medical schools and books ; but not looking in the direction of ])har- 
macology for the new truths waited for, each earnest man re])eateil the 
old method of excogitating a new theory, or of compoundmg an eclectic 
art from the multitude of extant hypotheses.'' * 

In the fulness of time a radical ami learned reformer appearetl in 
the ])erson of Samuel Hahnemann, an eminent German physician and 
philosopher, who so early as 1810 sounded the keynote for an entirely 
new method in medical logic by the publication of a treatise styled 
" Organon of Kational Therapeutics." He announced the idea of 
forming a materia medica u]ion the rational process of patient |)hysio- 
logical tests of the ])owers of drags. So .soon as his work appeared 
many persons in the ]irofession and votaries of science joined hun in 
making his "drag tests." He collected from the literature of the 
profession in all ages the scattered fragments denoting the purely 
physiological power of drugs, and combined them with the new prov- 
ings. These tests extended over a space of more than a dozen years, 
and in 1821 he completed his great work which embodied the result of 
aU researches up to tiiat time, entitled " Pure Materia Medica." 

The system then introduccul was termed Homoeopathy, from two 

* " The Early Annals of Homceopathy in New York," by .John F. Gray, M.D. 



Kiiisr hkcadk, ih:iu imo. 



293 



Ciivrl; w..nls si-Mllvii.- - similar siiir.-nng/- It is l.mn.l.-.l .... ih.- 
beliof llmt nicduMm'S l.avc the power .'f c-urinjr „,orbi(l coiuliliuns simi- 
lar to tlios.' wl.ioh tlicv have tlie power t(. excite, expressed l.y tlie 
words " like cures like T in otiier words, a disease pioduced in a 
liealthy person l.y a substance may be cured by administering the same 
substance to a patient suffering from tlie same disease. 

This wiis not a new idea, for Hippocrates gave this remarkable pre- 
sc-ription for niania : " (iive the patient a draught made from the m.t 
of mandrake. In a smaller ,hm than, xafjiumf to i^lnr.' man. a. And 
Milton, in his preface to " Samson Agomstes," says : '• In piiysic, 
thin.rs <.f melancholic hue and cjuality are used against melancholy, 
sour^against s.nir, salt to remove salt humoi-s,-' etc. 15ut to Hahne- 
mann belongs the glory of ]m.iiounding and enforcing the startling 

One of the earlv disciple.^ of Hahnemann was John Gram, a native 
of Boston. His father, a Dane, emigrated to America at the close of 
our old war for independence. He married an American wife, ami 
died quite young, leaving two or three children. John wa.s the oldest, 
and when he was about fourteen years of age ho went to Copenhagen, 
Denmark, where he was furnished with a good education by his rela- 
tions, some of whom were distinguished in public life. Ho studied 
medicine, olrtaiued a lucrative practice in Coponhagon, iK-quired a com- 
petent fortune, and having tested Ilahnemann-s method ami become an 
enthusiastic convert, he came to his native land, after an absence of 
alKHit twenty yeai-s. He gave up a lucrative practice in Copenliagen. 
and landed in New Y(n-k an avowed apostle of the new faith. 

Dr. Gram translated <me of Hahnemann's most i>oworful ess;iys. 
" The Spirit of Homteopathv," printed it. and scattered it widely and 
.rratuitouslv among the medical ]n-ofessi(.n in this country, especially in 
t"he city of New York. His imperfect use of the Enghsh language 
and the dimcnltv of conveying scicntiHc knowledge from {German into 
English caused I'.is pamphlet to b(> unappreciated, even by men like Di-s. 
llosack and I'rancis. 

Dr John F. <irav. then a voung ,.hysician of New \ork with an 
extensive .practice, was Dr. Gram's tii-st convert. He was mtro.hu-od 
to (iram in lS2<i bv one of liis patients suffering with dyspc]isia, who 
ha<l heard of the n.nv system. The apostle of the new faith had " laid 
his han.ls'' on Grav's ])atient with wonderful effect. Dr. Gray ^^as 
astonished, and at .".nee put Hahnemann's metlnnl to a severe test not 
bv his own prescriptions, but by those of Dr. (iram. The h.-st subject 
was a sciYifulous girl, the secoiul a maniac- whose malady was caused by 



294 HISTOKV l)F NEW YORK CTTT. 

))iiei'iieral fever, and the tliird was a confii'ined dninkard. Dr. Gram pre- 
scribed for all. The first and third eases were cured by a single dose of 
the remedy jirescribed, Dr. Gray arranging the diet and moral conditions. 

The second case — mania — was under diet rule fourteen days, and 
then a single dose of nux vomica was administered. " She fully recov- 
ered her reason within half an hour after taking the dose of nux 
vomica,^^ says Dr. Gray, "and never lost it afterward. " * AV^ithin a 
year Dr. Gray became a full convert to homoeopathy, the first in 
America. 

The second convert to homoeopatliy in New York was Dr. X. 1). 
Wils(m, in 1829. He was a ripe scholar and in full practice. The 
next convert was Dr. A. G. Hull, a thoughtful student of medicine 
and a graduate of Union College in 1828. He had entered Rutgers 
Medical College, where he found such able phj'^sicians and surgeons as 
Di"s. Hosack, Macneven, Mott, and Francis as professors. Gi'am taught 
him botany in summer, and reviewed prescriptive anatomy with him in 
winter. Hull was admitted to practice by the New York ifedical 
Society in 1832. He was a convert to homoeopathy, and wrote in sup- 
port of the new school so early as 1 S3-t. 

In 1832 Dr. William Channing became a convert. He was a man of 
large culture in letters, thoroughly educated in medicine, and had a 
large practice. On the outbreak of the cholera in 1832 he perceived 
the ill-success of the medical treatment of cholera patients in the hos- 
pitals. He tried Hahnemann's prescriptions with wonderful success. 
They were so efficient that Dr. Chamiing ])ublished in the Conunercial 
Advertiser, over his own signature, an account of the treatment. Soon 
after that he was an avowed convert to the new faith. These eai'ly 
converts and one or two others, with Dr. Gram, kept up regular social 
reunions with great jileasure and i)rofit until the death of the master in 
1840. 

The translation of Ilahnemami's '' Pm-e Materia Medica" into 
French, in 1832-33, l)y Dr. Jourdan of Paris, gave a fresh impetus to 
the spread of homoeopathy in Europe and America. Befoi-e that time 
no physician could test the ])ractice without a thorough Imowledge of 
the German language. This difficulty explains the slowness of the 
expansion of the system during the first eight years after Gram's 
advent in New York. 

The social relations of the converts with their professional brethren 
of another school, or with tlie Medical Society, were not distui'bed by 

* " The Early Annals of Homoeopathy in New York," liy 3. F. Gray, M.D., p. 14. 



KIKSr PECADE. 1830-1840. "'^•'J 

their heresy. They wisely avoided disinitiitinn or (hsiussion. The 
topic was treatetl of sparinjrly. H< .iiuei >i)atliy and iiuacicTy were asso- 
ciated in the iniutls of a threat proportiim of the me.heal iirofession and 
of the hiity. But its ilevotees kept steadily on, winning tlie conlidence 
of the people more and more, and fully persuaded of the value <jf the 
o-reat reform they were tiie almost silent instruments in etfeeting. 
" When in ls;37-:38 Hahnemann's great work was translated and ].ul)- 
hshed in the chief spoken languages of Europe, they were reticent no 
longer. They then liegan a manly and vigorous defence of the system. 
L)r.\iray revived the publication of the Ai/i<>ri'rtin Joiirnal of If»iiio',j)- 
„th,/, which had been suspended, and a distinct Homoeopathic Society 
was formed. From that hour the conflict waxed warm. The princi- 
ples of the new school were inomulgated an<l discussed. New converts 
api)eared. Di-s. Ticknor, Freeman. Curtis, Taylor, Coxe. Uosman. 
Vanderburgh, Joslin, and Snow left the old scluxil and joineil the m-w. 
About the period of (n-am's death homtt,'Oi)athy began to be sup- 
ported in various cities in the State of New Vork, as well as in other 
States. " Regular" physicians earnestly examined its jjrinciples. and 
jirofited by an acceptance of theni in practice, while adhering tech- 
nically to the old school. Confidence in the system rapidly s|>ivad 
among the laity. Prejudice gave way in the circle of the medical i)ro- 
fession. Institutes sprung up in support of the system of homteopathy. 
Legislators favored it with encouraging laws, and in the city of New 
York to-day there are flourishing jnibhc homoeopathic institutions, sudi 
as a college, a dispensary, an asylum, an infirmary, and a hospital. 

The State iledical Society and county medical societies vehemently 
opiwsed the new faith, ajid inade the act of consulting with a homceo- 
patliic physician on the part of any of the uiembers a mis.lemeanor to 
be visited with discii)line. and possilily punished by exconnnunication - 
dismissal from the society. Gradually, as the progress of medical 
science diffused new light, and th<jughtful membei-s of the medical 
societies of the old school perceived that the .summit of human knowl- 
edge had not yet been attained by the professi<jn. there appeareil a 
jKis-sibility that these despiseil comiietitoi-s might become pleasiint coiul- 
jutoT-s in the toilsome ascent. Toleration inteq^sed its genial inffu- 
ence, and common-sense a.sserted its rights. 

In 1SS2 the " regular" ]\[edical Society of the State of New York 
voted that its members might fully consult with homa?opathic ]>hy- 
sicians. This liberal measure was vr-heinently oi)posed by a large jiro- 
portion of the " regular" profession, and at the annual meeting of the 
societv. in January. 1 >*>*?.. an attempt was made to rescind that rrsolu- 



296 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tion, and \vitlulr;nv tlie invitation to linniceopatliic physicians to consulta- 
tion with ' ' regulai-s. ' ' But the society refused to reverse that decision, 
by a vote of 1H5 to WK An analysis of that vote and a reference to 
the ])roceedings show that the more eminent and learned niembei's of 
the society, such as Di's. Willard Parker, Fordyce Barker (president of 
the Academy of Medicine), Cornelius R. Agnew. and othei's, advo- 
cated (and voted for) the hberal side of the question. 

In the Code of Ethics formulated by the American Institute of 
Homoeopatliy for the government of its members and of societies in 
alfiliation with it, adopted nearly twenty years ago (1804), is the fol- 
loAving paragraph concerning the duty of physicians in regard to con- 
sultation : 

" No difference in views on subjects of medical principles or practice 
should be allowed to influence a physician against consenting to a con- 
sultation with a fellow practitioner. The very o])ject of a consultation 
is to bring together those who may perhaps differ in their views of the 
disease and its appropriate treatment, in the hope that from a coTnpari- 
son of different views may be derived a just estimate of the disease and 
a successful coui"se of treatment. Xo tests of oi'thodoxy in medical 
practice should be applied to hmit the freedom of consultations." 

Dr. Crrara, the founder of homoeopathy in America, was the grand- 
son of a wealthy merchant of Copenhagen. His son, the father of the 
doctor, came to America when quite young, fell in love with an inn- 
keeper's daughter in Boston, and married her, and Avas disinherited by 
his offended father. The doctor was born in 1786. He is represented 
as a most exemplary man. Dr. Gray says : " He was an earnest Chris- 
tian of the Swedenborgian faith, a man of the most scrupulously jrare 
and charitable life I have ever loiown. The squalid hovel of the sick 
poor was to Gram ever the most holy temple of religion. . . . Xo 
darkness or wintry storm or failure of strength or allurement of the 
world detained Gram when the suffering poor needed his heahng pres- 
ence. He believed in God ; he worked and walked his eartlily 
pilgrimage with his Eedeemer. And yet. this good man and earnest 
lieliever was often called an infidel, sometimes even by thoughtless 
Christian minister, because he abstained from tlie topic on all occasions 
and with all people, except when he was called to the performance of 
his kind of religious worship." 

Dr. Gram's firet American convert, and the able ])ioneer in the 
practice of the homoeopathic system of medicine, was Dr. Gray.* 

*.Tohn Franklin Gray, M.D., LL.D., wns a remarkable man. He was born at Sher- 
burne, Chenango County, N. Y., on September 3, 1804, and lived a life of great usefulness 



KIKST UECAUK. 1S3U-1K4U. '■i'JT 

He liiiil tlic'ii !i liiii,^.- iiiKl nipidly increasing circle of patients, 
and families and fame and fortune Jjeckuned him to their emlirace. 
Eut his new departure— his wandering in an untravoi-sed wildei-noss of 
u strange medical theory, as it was considered by the profession here- 
lost him the larger jtortion of his ])atients. The few who clung to him 
were of the grateful hut unremunerative sort. He was compelled to 
•rive up his carriage, which had been needful in his tlaily duties. His 
])i'ofe,ssional brethren regarded him as an outcast, and hardly recognized 
liim as one of their fraternity. They pitied him because of his lunacy. 

liut Dr. Gray had the courage of his convictions. Satisfied of the 
truth of the dix-trine he had embraced anil practised, and with a firm 
belief that those tniths would ultimately triumph, he struggled man- 
f idly against the strong current ui prejudice and ignorance, and labored 
untiringly for the fulfilment, in his own time, of the suri^ projjhecy that 
gladdened his mental vision. He beheld the promised land from the 
riso-ah of his own consciousness. Dr. (iram sustained him witli his 



for nearly fourscore years. His griiii.UntlKr w.is our of tl.e first sottlors of tlio township 
of Sherburne. 

Young Gray was left at an early age ami with a meagre education to depend upon his 
own exertions to obtain n livelihood. He earned with his own hands money sufficient to 
•■ seek hisfortuue abroad." He travelled as far as Hamilton. Oneida County, and ob- 
tained employment in the office of Dr. Haven as clerk and assistant, with the privilege of 
sludj-ing medicine when he had leisure to do so. He had a receptive and retentive mind, 
and had conceived a verj- strong desire to become a practitioner of the healing art. 

Dr. Haven, perceiving his studious habits and longing for knowledge, especially ot the 
healing art, gave him every opportunity for study in his power. During the two years 
Gray was with him the youth acquired a fair knowledge of Latin, under the in.structions 
of tiie principal of the village academy, since expanded into Madison University. His 
wardrobe needing replenishment, he taught a district .school a few months, obtained a 
new suit of clothes, and started on foot to visit his parents, more than two hundred 
miles deeper in the western wilderness, in Chautauqua County, where they had removed. 
He opened a private school near Dunkirk, was very successful, and having studied 
continually with the object of entering the medical profession, he was enabled, with 
money enough saved from his earnings, to start for New York to take instruction in the 
medical college there. He bore influential lettei-s of introduction ; among others one 
from Governor De Witt Clinton to Dr. Hosack and others. He received the diploma 
of a Doctor of Medicine from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in March. 
1826, when he was twentv two years of age. 

By the advice of Dr. Hosack. Dr. Gray began the practice of his profession in the 
city of New York, and continued active in it fifty-five years. He opened an office in 
Chariton Street, then far •■ up town." His success was remarkal)le from the beginning. 
He married a .laughter of Dr. .\mos G. Hull, and his personal and professional relations 
in the citv were most hnppv. As we have seen, he became the first convert of the 
apostle of homoeopathy, Dr. Gram, and was ever afterward his most efficient champion by 
word and deed. 



298 IIISTOUV OK NEW VOHK CITY. 

professional skill and counsel. Success iii liis pi'actice brought friends, 
old and new, to liis support. A convert from the old school now and 
then appeared, as we have seen, and it was not a very long time before 
Dr. Gray needed a carriage again in the performance of his daily duties. 

The violent pi'ofessional assaults made upon Dr. Gray practically 
proved the truth of the sa3Mng, " The blood of the martyrs is the seed 
of the church." The comparative results of the various sorts of medi- 
Ciil treatment were so decidedly in favor of the mild and simple and 
successful coui"se pursued from the first by Dr. Gray and his hamlful of 
compeers that thej'set thoughtful ]:)ersons to candid thinking, and gave 
a ]K)werful imi)ulse to the spread of homa?opathy ; and Dr. Gray lived 
to see Hahnemann's system of cure, from the first planting in this 
country, established in every part of it, with its educated and ti'ained 
practitioners numbered by thousands, its societies and institutions sanc- 
tionetl Ijy law in every State of the Republic, with its colleges, hos- 
])itals, infirmaries, and dispensaries existing in numbei's to meet the 
rapidly increasing demand. 

In 1834 Dr. Gray, iu conjunction with his brother-in-law (his pupil 
and convert). Dr. A. G. Hull, established the first Amerlenn Journal 
of Ilomceopathy. Its issue soon ceased for want of support, but was 
afterward revived for a while under another name. At Dr. Gray's 
suggestion, an association of all the disciples of Hahnemann in the 
United States was formed, with the title of " American Institute of 
Homoeopathy." It is the oldest national medical institution in the 
country. Dr. Gray was for years the leading spirit of the society. 

The literature of- homoeopathy in America received very important 
but not very numerous contributions from the pen of Dr. Gray ; his 
personal exertions in promoting the spread and success of the new 
system of therapeutics wei-e enormous. As president of the State 
Homoeopathic Medical Society, he successfully exerted his influence 
with the Legislature of ISTew York in favor of the enactment of a law for 
the promotion of a higher standard of education by providing for the 
appointment of a board of State examiners, entirely unconnected with 
the medical colleges, for the examination of candidates for a higher 
honorary degree, to be conferred only by the regents of the University 
of the State. After much opposition such a law was enacted "May Ifi, 
1872. Under this "advanced medical act" the Board of Regents 
enjoined a rigid code of rules and regulations for the conduct of these 
examiners. Dr. Gray was ajipointed i)resident of the first board of 
examiners, and held that position until his death, Avhich occurred on 
June 5, 1SS2, when he was in the seventv-eightii vear of his ao-e. 




; 



c¥f>. 



d^^C^-r^ 



C^^-x^ 



KIKST DECADE, 1830-1840. 299 

Dr. <ir:iy was a tlimou^'-li classical scliolar. anil c<)ns])icuous for his 
wide and varied knowledge. He was j^cncrous, kiiid-licartcd, and 
ever rt-adv to j^ive a liaiid to help the needy. His professional henefac- 
tions among the poor were fur l)eyond the pnhlic ken. The sick jioor 
always found in huu an attentive physician and a syin|>athizinff friend. 
A single anecdote will litiy illustrate this phase of his cliaracter. A 
})oor sewing-girl went to Dr. (Tt-ay for advice. Ih? gave hei' a vial of 
medicine, and told her to go home and go to hed. 

" I can't do that, doctor," said the girl, '* for I am dependent on 
wliat I earn every (hiy for my living." 

" If that is so," said the doctor, " I'll change tiie medicine a little. 
Give me back the vial." 

lie took it, and wrapping around it a ten-dollar hill, retui-neii it to 
the p(X)r girl, ami repeated his order : 

" Go home and go to hed. Take the medicine, wra])per and ail."" 

New York City has now a large body of hom(jL'o|)atliic physicians- f)f 
the highest profe.ssional character and attainments. Among tlie most 
successful of these are Di-s. Egbert Guernsey,* E. E. Marcy.i antl 
William Tod Ilelmuth. The latter is regarded a.s one of the most skil- 
ful surgeons in the city, and has contributed largely and u.sefuiiy u> tiie 
literature of iMmKeopathy.:}: 



* Dr. Egbert (im riis. y is a nntivn of Litelifielil, rnnuccticut. niul ;i graduate of the 
medical departnient of the I'liiversity of the City of New Yoik. He took hi.s degree in 
18-M. After his graduation he took eliarge of a drug-store for a while. In IbVi he was 
appointed city physician of Williamsburgh, now Brooklyn, Eastern llistrict. At that 
time the cholera prevailed in New York and Brooklyn. After exhausting every means 
the allopathic materia medica furnished for the restoration of his patients, he consulted 
Dr. Cox, a recent convert to homii'opathy, who, in his prescription of a few doses of 
arsenicum, prejiared homreopathically, relieved a jjaticnt he was attending. This serWce 
induced him to examine the system of Hahnemann, and he became a convert. He was 
eminently successful in all cholera and dysentery cases. Dr. Guernsey settled in the city 
of New York in 1851, and the next year he published his work on " Domestic Practice," 
a most valuable family guide. His practice in New York soon became extensive, and also 
profitable to his patients and himself. 

f Dr. E. E. Marcy is a native of Massachusetts, and was bom in 1819. After practis- 
ing medicine allopathically for about ten years, he discarded it and began the homcco- 
pathic practice in New York about 1850, where he originated the Norllt Americai) llmixeo- 
palhic Jminial, of which he was the principal editor for about fifteen years. Dr. Marcy 
is a very skilful physician and has a large practice. His contributions to homa'opathic 
literature are many and important. 

X William Tod Helmuth, M.D., was born in Philadelphia. Pa., October .10. 1833. He 
was educated at St. Timothy's College, Baltiuiore, and in 1850 began the sfndy of medi- 
cine under his uncle. Dr. William S. nelniuth, then professor of the histor)- and practice 
of medicine in the Homoeopathic Medical (^ullegc of Pennsylvania. Uradaating in 1853 



300 HISTORY OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

with honor, he received his doctorate and began the practice of liis profession, having 
for a while acted as dispensary physician of the college. 

In 1855, when he was only twenty-two years of age. Dr. Helmuth was elected professor 
of anatomy in his alrna maier, and in the same year he completed and published a work 
of 650 pages, entitled " Snrgery, and its Adaptation to Homceopathic Practice." In 1858 
Dr. Helmnth removed to St. Louis and became one of the founders of the Homteopathic 
Medical College of Missouri, in which he occupied the chair of anatomy. He also be- 
came one of the surgeons ol: the Good Samaritan Hospital, which position he occujjied 
until 1870, when he made his place of residence and field of professional labor in the 
city of New York. 

In 18GG Dr. Helmuth delivered the annual address before the American Institute of 
Homoeopathy, and in 181)7, at its session m the city ot New York, he was chosen its 
president. The following year he went to Europe for the purpose of increasing his 
knowledge of surgical science, and made quite an extensive tour on the continent. On 
his return, in 1869, he organized the St. Louis College of Homoeopathic Physicians and 
Surgeons, and became its dean and professor of surgery. In 1870 he received an urgent 
call to the chair of surgery in the Homoeopathic Medical College of New York, which 
he accepted. On his departure from St. Louis for his new field of action his profes- 
sional and other friends in that city gave him a banquet, and presented him with a com- 
plete service of silver, as " a token of their high esteem for him as a citizen and a man 
of science." With such a gratifying farewell demonstration he left the West and took 
up his residence in the commercial metropolis of the Republic, where he is now, in 
the enjoyment of an extensive professional practice, which he soon won by his skill and 
industry. 

Dr. Helmuth married Miss Pritchard, of St. Loui.s, in 1859. Since that time his lit- 
erary labors in the cause of medical science have been extensive and useful. We have 
seen that at the age of twenty-two he published an important volume. In 1864 he became 
one of the founders and the principal editor of the Western Ilomceoptithic Observer, which 
he conducted with great ability until he left St. Louis, a period of about seven years. 
During his residence in New York, besides making frequent contributions to periodical 
medical literature, he has revised and annotated the four editions of his " System of 
Snrgery." He has published a volume of " Surgical Clinics," a monograph on " Nerve 
Stretching,' ' an account of " A Dozen Cases in Clinical Surgery" (which are all rare and 
interesting), an essay on " The Excision of the Rectum," and a quarto volume on 
"Supra-Pubic Lithotomy," illustrated with colored lithographic plates. Dr. Helmuth 
has indulged in lighter literature, having issued several humorous poems, among them 
"The Doctor Woman," " My First Patient," " How I Became a Surgeon," and a collec- 
tion of fugitive pieces entitled "Scratches of a Surgeon," and a little volume entitled 
•■ A Steamer Book"- a sort of book of travel to be read upon a steamboat. 

Dr. Helmuth, besides occupying the chair of surgery in the New York Homoeopathic 
Medical College, is one of the surgeons to the Ward's Island Hospital, to the Hahnemann 
Hospital, and to the New York College and Hospital for Women. He is a " Veteran" 
member of the American Institute of Homreopatby ; a Fellow of the New York Medico- 
Chirurgical Society ; a member and late president of the Homceopathic County Medical 
Society ; a permanent member of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New 
York ; and during a recent visit to Europe was elected an honoraiy member of the 
Societe Homo3opathiqne de France. He is also an honorary member of the State socie- 
ties of Massachusetts and Connecticut. 



f'lIAI'TKU XVI. 



t 



IN 183-2 a nulical cliaii^c in tin' svstoni of public instruction in tlie 
city of New York was bcffun. Before consitleiing that topic 
furtlier, let us take a brief retrospective glance at the condition of 
public instniction on Manhattan Island from the beginning of settlc- 
niciits thereon. 

The Hollanders who settled on the site of the city of New York had 
enjoved the blessings of fret; jtublic schools in their native land, and 
•provision was made in the charter of the Dutch West India Company 
for " "-ood aivd tit preachcis, schoolmastei-s, and cond'ortei-s of fh(> sick" 
in the wilderness of New Xetherlan<l. It was ordained that the relig- 
ious and secular teachers should walk hand in hand in the high emi)loy- 
uient of educating the head and the heart. For a time the minister 
and schoolmaster were found in the same person, but in 1 <>:':'» Dominie 
Bogardus, the minister, who liad also been the school-teacher, was 
relieved of pedagogical duties, and Adam Roelandsen was installed as 
schoohnastcr. He was the first of a long line of .secular instructoi-s of 
the young, who .may be justly I'cgai-ded as among the grandest builders 
of our free institutions. Koelanclsen should be canonized as the tutelar 
saint of the thousands of school-teachers in the city of New York who 
to-day are fostering education, which, as Burke said, is " the cheap 
defence of nations." 

When Dutch rule ended on ]\ranhattan Island there were three pub- 
lic schools and more than a dozen jirivate schools in New Amsterdam, 
now New York. The fii-st of these is yet in existence, and known as 
the " School of the Keformed Protestant Dutch Church," founded by 
Governor Stuyvesant, and ]m)bal)ly the oldest educational institution 
in our country. 

In 1 «.';;> an excellent Latin School was established, and fostered by 
the Dutch Government. It was continued eight yeai-s after the Eng- 
lish took pos.session of New Amsterdam. William III. decreed that 
the minister of the Dutch Church should have the right to nominate 
school-teachei's. In 17o-2 a l-'ree Grammar School was founded, and an 
edifice for it was built on the King's Farm. Two yeais later William 



302 HISTORY OF :SE\V YORK CITY. 

A'esev, a minister of the Church of England, opened a school for col- 
ored children. Tliis was followed in 1710 by the estabhshment, by 
that chui-ch, of Trinity School. 

In 1732 the iir.st free school for the teaching of Latin, (xreek, and 
mathematics was established by law, and in 1773 the English language 
was first taught in the Dutch Church school. All the schools were 
clo.sed during the Revolution. The Dutch Church school reopened in 
1784. The next 3'ear the Manumission Society" was formed, with John 
Jav as its i)resident, and its fu"st school for colored children was opened 
in 17S7, on Cliff Street, with one hundred pupils. xVt that time there 
were about four thousand colored people in the city, of whom more 
than one half were slaves. Other schools were afterward opened by 
this society. 

The first movement for estabhshing common schools throughout the 
State was suggested by Governor George Chnton in his annual message 
in 1795. The Legislature ajjpropriated $50,000 a year for five yeai-s 
for the purpose. It was at that period that a benevolent spirit, 
directed in its work largely to providing means of education for the 
poor, began to prevail in England and the United States. Sunday- 
schools were established, and in 1802 the Female Association for the 
Relief of the Poor, founded by benevolent women, members of the 
Society of Friends or Quakers, opened a school for the free education 
of white girls. This society was the original founder of the free-school 
system in Xew York City. It soon extended its influence and labors, 
so that at one time it had several large elementary fi'ee schools under 
its direction and control. It wrought -vigorously and gloriously for 
nearly half !i century, when it expired, leaving a sweet memory of 
good deeds as a legacy for mankind. 

The success of this society and the advice of its membei-s induced a 
number of gentlemen, mostlj'^ of the same rehgious society, to attempt 
the same benevolent purpose for the neglected boys of the city. This 
led to the establishment of the Free School Society, which afterward 
became the Public School Society of the City of New York. 

The Free School Society was established in 1805, and opened its fu-st 
school in May, 1806. The population of the citj' of New York was then 
nearly seventy-six thousand. A Teachei*s' Association had Ijeen in ex- 
istence about six years. There were then in the city one hundred and 
forty-one teachers, all engaged in private schools, excepting a few in the 
denominational schools. Of these, thirty-five were women. The same 
year the common-school fund of the State was established by law. 

The primary object of the Free School Society of the city was to 



KllJSr DKCAIiK lH;iO 1H40. 3<i:| 

impart education to tlie ncglec-tcd classes. Leading citizens tof)k great 
interest in its etForts. De Witt Clinton was its warm supporter and its 
first jiresident. Indeed tlie petition for its eliartei- (gianted April !', 
INI.")) was lii-st signed by Iiini, and last signed liy Dr. Samuel I.. 
Mitehill. 

Tlie society took ])ronii)t measures to put tiie new plan into opera- 
tion. A school wiis o])ened in May, isoi;, in a small room in tlie old 
Mission Ilcnise, on Madison Street, near Pearl Street. It was soon 
overcrowded with nearly seventy childi-en, when Colonel Kutgei-s gave 
the society a lot of land in Henry Street on which to Imild a school - 
house. It was not used immediately, for ]iiudential reasons. The city 
corporation allowed the society the use of a Ituilding adjoining the 
alm.shouse and ^.">n(i to put it in suitable condition. When c<»mpleted 
it would accommodate about two hundred ])Ujtils. To this Iniilding the 
school was removed, in April, ISuT, where it soon had one liundred and 
fifty pupils, including fifty ])au|)er children. This building, too, was 
soon overcrowded. 

The society now jn-ocured fiom the city authorities a Iniilding known 
as the Old Ai-senal, on Cluunbci-s Street and Tryoiw Row, and a small 
sum f)f money (^l.">00)to assist in making it suitable for a school, on the 
condition that they should educate all the children in the almshouse. 
It was made to accommodate five hundred children. ^Meanwhile the 
society had received some aid from the Legislature, with a promise of 
more. In Decemljcr, If^oO, the new school building, long known as 
No. 1, was openeil with interesting ceremonies, I)e Witt Clint(m giv- 
ing a memorable address, as president of the Free Scliool Society. A 
report (jf the board of education in 1S:)4, referring to that address, 
spok(^ of it as " sowing the seed wheat of all the harvests of education 
whicli subsequent yeai-s have gathered into om- garnei-s." .Vmong the 
most conspicuous working membei-s of the society at that time were 
De Witt Clinton, Thomas Eddy, Samuel Wood, Robert Brown, John 
Griscom, Joseph Curtis, Charles Wilkes, Cadwallader D. Colden. Dr. 
John AV. Francis, and others. 

The Legislature continued to give modenite pecuniary aid, and the 
coii)orati(m of Trinity Church, which had a large pan)chial free school 
in o])enition, gave to the society several lots on Christopher Street for 
a school building in ISll. The name of the society in ISOS was 
changed from the S(x>iety for Establishing a Free School to the Free 
Sclux)l Society of the City of Xew York. 

By subscription frt)m the citizens the society nii.sed about §i;5,(»Mt to 
erect a school-house on the lot creneronsly given them l)y Colonel 



304 IIISTOKV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Eutgei's. It was completed early in the autimin of isil, and on the 
13tli of November it was opened as Public School Xo. 2. 

The second war for independence (1812-15) interrujited the benefi- 
cent labors of the society, but they resumed their \york with vigor at 
its close. They received from the Legislature that year (1815) their 
quota of the State school fund, amounting to $3708. From that time 
the number of pubhc-school houses gradually increased. In 1818 No. 3 
was opened for pupils on the corner of Amos and Hudson sti-eets, and 
the next year No. 4 was erected in Eivington Street, when a new de- 
parture in the ai'rangement of public-school buildings was made. That 
was tlie first in wliich were separate de])artnients for boys and girls. 
Afterward a small library was introduced into each school. 

The free public schools became more and moi'e popular, ami the 
favor of the citizens received a poM'erful impetus from a circumstance 
■which occurred in 1824. In October of that year Lafayette visited the 
city of New York. In company with State and city officials he visited 
Public School No. 3, which contained five hundred boys and two hun- 
dred girls. In the presence of these seven hundred childi'en, all tidy in 
appearance and orderly in behavior, this " guest of the nation" listened 
to a jjoetical address recited by a class of girls in concert. At two 
o'clock in the afternoon of the same day Lafayette reviewed all the 
children of the public schools in the city before a large concourse of 
people in the City Hall Park. The children numbered more than three 
thousand. They carried banners with a])i)ropriate inscrijitions, on one 
of which were the significant words, " Eduoation is the Basis of Free 
GovEKXMEis'T. " A swcet httle girl recited a touching ])oetic address, 
expressing, in the name of the children of America, their gratitude to 
this friend and associate of Washington. When she closed the address, 
she gently laid a lieautiful wreath of laurel and flowers on the head of 
the veneral)le man, who rewarded the Httle s])okeswoman with an 
affectionate kiss. 

The public schools had now* become so ])opular that '' middle-class 
citizens," desirous of having their children taught in them, offered to 
pay for tuition. This afforded to the trustees a temptation to adopt an 
injurious measure. There had been much opposition to the free schools 
on the ground that those who accepted the boon acknowledged them- 
selves a sort of jjaupers. To allay this feeling the society considered the 
propriety of converting the schools into pay schools. They ascertained 
that there Avere in the city aljout four hundred pay schools, most of 
them small and miserably conducted, and it was concluded if the 
studies in the public school should bo revised and greatly extended, and 



I'lKST |)E<'A1)E, 1H;30-1840. 30.j 

;it tlir s;iiii(' tiiTic ;i siMiill iiiiuniiit kI' |i;iy \'i>v i list I'lU't ion di-iiiandi'd, tlicy 
would sci'urc tlic pi'i-sonal iiitcri'st iiiid pati'oiiii^o of tlie large and im 
jHjrtanl class of citizens who sii|iporli'd these jirivate schools. It was 
proposed to consolidate the schools of the Free School Society, of iln' 
Manumission Society, and those of the Female Association under one- 
organization known as the Public School Society. 

It was argued that the proposed scheme would he a more democrat i 
))rinciple in the schools, where the rich and jxior wouhl meet together ; 
that it would harmonize ivligious .sects ; that it would attract more 
attention and support to the jiuhlic .schools, and secure a uniform sys- 
tem in all elementary schools ; also to foster the cultivation of a proper 
feehng of indi'])endence among the poor and laboring cla.s.ses. 

These specious aiguments))revailed, and in January, ISiifi, the society 
])rocured a new charter, w^hicli authoiized them, under the title of the 
Pu])lic School Society, to receive low rates of payment for teaching, 
from '25 cents to 8^ per quarter. Fifty members were added to the 
trustees, and an executive connnittee was ai)pointed, c<msistin<r of five 
trustees elected In' ballot, together with the ])resident, vice-president, 
secretary, and treasurer, and the chairman of each of the several local 
sections, " with power to appoint teachers and take general charge 
(hiring the recess of the board of trustees."' 

This committee i)ecanie the working power of the society. New 
school-houses were erecteil to meet the expected great influx of pupils, 
and the coiii-se of studies in the schools was greatly extended. Steps 
were also taken for estal>lishing a normal school for the " instruction of 
tutoi-s and monitors," for the Lancastrian system was in full force. 

Tlie ])ay system speedily ])roved to be a disastrous failure. ^lany of 
those who had never paid before withdrew their children ; there wa.s 
great difKculty in collecting the dues from parents ; many insisted that 
as the schools received money from the State school fund, there existed 
no right to demand pay from individuals, and the i)oi)ularity f>f tlie 
public-school system rapidly declined. The number of children who 
came in from the ])rivate schools was far less than anticiiwted. ^lany 
parents paid only one or two quarters, so as to have their children 
apjiear on the pay-list, and nevei- paid afterward. The registei- of 
pupils on Augu.st 1, 1S2."), sliowed the number to be 5919 ; on the first 
of May, 1820, the day when the new law went into operation, it had 
shrunk, in nine months, to -tt>.")4. 

The trustees struggled ag-ainst fate so long as hope remained, Imt 
when they ])erceived the solid ground slipping from lieneath their feet 
— the grand postulate that /■.'</>"<it/iiii /.•.■ if riijht a])pearini;' like a new 



306 lllSTOin OF NKW VOKK CITV. 

light in tlio social firmament — tlie undoubted signs of utter and disas- 
trous failure appearing on every side, they paused to consider. They 
perceived, among tlie most alarming symptoms of disintegration of the 
system, the growth of an injurious cade spirit. The children whose 
parents paid looked down upon those whose parents did not or could 
not pay. They also discovered that the doors of the denominational 
free sciiools were tlirown wide open, and that they had established 
cheap |)ay schools which were drawing many children from the pubhc 
schools. Tiie intelligence of the period had outstripped the monitorial 
system, wliich had become a hindrance, and the clamor for assistant 
teaciiers was loud and powerful. They finally gave up the contest and- 
abolished the pay system altogether. On February 3, 1832, public 
notice was given that the pubhc schools were oj^en to all as a common 
right, and that every effort would be made to render them attractive 
and desirable to all classes. This act was done just in time to save the 
public-scliool system from ruin. 

From the beginning the Lancastrian system of jiopular education 
and school government had been in operation in the public schools of 
New York. It was so called from Joseph Lancaster, an Englishman, 
who at the beginning of this century introduced into England a method 
adopted by Dr. Bell at the English hospital in Madras in 1795. It 
consisted of the employment of monitors, or really assistants of the 
teacher, comjjosed of some of the brightest boys and girls in school, 
who each had charge of the discipline and tuition of a section of the 
schools. They enforced discipline by watchfulness and prompt report 
ing to the teacher, and taught by rote under his instruction. 

This system was intended to secure the ])ublic teaching of children in 
the most economical way, and so weU effected its purpose for years 
that its power and usefulness were much praised. Ordinarily a 
teacher could not well manage over seventy or eighty ])upils in well- 
organized claases ; by the monitorial system one teacher could manage 
a school of three or four hundred children. 

While tlie Free School Society in ISTew York was preparing to begin 
operations, one of its members being in England visited a school near 
London, which Lancaster had opened in 1801. He was deeply im- 
])rossed with the great value of the new system, and on his return he 
succeeded in pei-suading the society to adopt the system. Lancaster 
was a Friend or Quaker, and when he came to New York in 1820 the 
momljers of the Society who were Friends, and manj'- others, received 
him most cordially. But he had nothing new to offer. The system 
bearing his name liad lioen tested for vears. It had manv adherents 





C/Ur£^//^ 






FIIIST DKCADE. 1S30-1840 307 

and as iiiaiiy opponents. It had not liorne tlie anticipated I'ruil. Jle 
aeknowU'dj^'ed that lie lia<l only tr»)dden in the footsteps of Dr. Bell, 
and was not the originatoi- <•[ the system. Pei-sonally he was not very 
aj;:reeab]e, and his residt lue in this conntry did not advance the spread 
of his system. It gradually declined in favor, and was finally al»an- 
doned. 

Meanwiiile an innovation in education had begun to develop itself in 
New York. It was a practical testing of the system of Pestahwzi, 
who sought to eilucate infants by a coml>ination of industrial, enter- 
tainini', intellectual, and moral iiistniction, without the use of i)ooks, 
and by oral and object teaching entirely— the fundamental id.'as of 
the kindergarten system of Froebel. 

This system was put in ])ractice in Kew York by an association of 
ladies called the Infant School Society, of wliicli ili-s. Joanna Bethune 
wjis the chief manager. The ages of the children instructed ranged 
from two to six yeai-s. At that time the public sch(K)ls were not 
graded, and the youngest children were taught with the oldest in one 
department, promiscuously. The trustees, pleased with the IVstaloz- 
zian system, ventured upon the experiment of separating the younger 
children from the older pupils, and in May, 1828, an infant tlepartment 
was opened in a basement of one of the public schools, and the counsel 
and a.ssistance of ladies of the Infant School Society (then having a 
school of one hundred and seventy pupils in t'anal Street) solicited. 

In the new organization of the puldic schools, begun in ls82 on a 
positively free basis, the schools were graded. They were chussed— 
lii-st, as " ])ublic schools," having the more advanced boys and girls in 
separate departments ; second, " primary depaitments, " which were 
modified infant schools; and third, "primary schools." Both the 
lower orders of the school were to make regular promotions to the 
public schools. Radical changes were made in the ujijier dei«iitments. 
The coui-se of study was greatly extended, assistant teachers were em- 
ployed, and separate recitation-rooms provided. Paid monitors were 
retained. Late in 1832 the managei-s of the ilanumission Society 
pro])osed to transfer the six or seven African schools, as they were 
called, with a register of nearly fourteen hundred pupils, to the J'ublic 
School Society. This was effected in 1834. 

In the summer of 1832 the medical fraternity and the various 
methods of theraiieutics in New York were severely tested on the 
invasion of the city by a dreadful scourge called the Asiatic cholera. 
Its appi-oach westward from the Orient had been slow, and had been 
watched with great interest by medical men in Western Euroi>e and in 



308 UISTOUY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

the Uniteil States. It seems to have started westward from nearly tlie 
siime point in Central Asia whence the great Indo-Euroi)ean migra- 
tions proceeded. It was several yeare before it entered Europe. It 
reached England in IX'-U, and ravaged the United Kingdom. It was 
carried to Quebec in the spring of 1832 in Irish emigrant ships. It 
spread along tlie St. Lawrence Elver to the gi'eat lakes, and fearfully 
scourged the nortli- western region of the United States. 

Believing the dreadful scoui'ge would pass across the continent and 
disappear without touching the more southerly States, very few sani- 
tary measures were adopted in the city of New York, where its twin 
pestilence, yellow fever, had often done fearful work. But when the 
footsteps of the destroyer were heard in the valley of the Upper Hud- 
son, making its death-march from Montreal in the direction of the sea, 
the city authorities of New York took measures to prevent its advent 
there by cleaning the streets. But this was not done until the grim 
visitor was at the threshold. So late as the middle of July one of the 
city papers said : 

" The coqjoration have not done their duty. The streets have at 
length been cleaned ; how long they will continue to be kept so we 
know not. This laudable event was accom])lished, not as it should 
have been, Avhen the dreaded scourge was evidently rolling westward 
— to Newcastle, London, Paris, Liverpool — not even when it blazed 
fortli in Canada; but when it startled us by rising up actually in the 
midst of us, then efficient numbers of men began to appear with 
brooms, and the streets looked less filthy. . . . We would like to 
see a man with such decision as Napoleon in this crisis. He would not 
sit in his ann-chair and recommend people to do this and to do that. 
He would never rest until he saw it done.'''' 

Over three tliousand five hundred persons were swept from the earth 
in the city of New Yoi'k by the cholera in 1832. It came so suddenly 
and unexpectedly, after all, that it created a fearful panic, a flight of 
tlie inhabitants to the country, and a great paralysis of l)usiness. It 
reappeared in 1834-, killing about one thousand persons, and again in 
1849, when a very large number perished from this pestilence. In 
1855 three hundred and seventy-four persons died of the disease in New 
York. Its last appearance there, with power, was in 186(), when more 
than twelve hundred pei-sons died of the disease. 

The prominent phj^sicians in the city of New York at that time were 
Drs. Ilosack, Francis, "Mott, IMacneven, Post, Griscom, Stearns, Willard 
Parker, Gray, and oth(!rs. Some were veterans ; some physicians not 
Iiero named were then aspirants for tlie fame they afterward enjoyed. 



nusT i)i:i'Ai>H. 18:10- iMio. '-^^^ 



Darin- tin- nn-.uWv of tl.o crntu.y invvinus to tl.e . roiKlfwl i.-st- 
lenco uu^lical sc'i..nce l.a.l .ua,Io w.m.l.Tful strides towun ,K..l..t.ou ui 
tlu. dtv. M.Mlical institutions l.a.l vastly in..vas...l tl.o n.eans for 
aim.sin".r nrolessic.ual .-nli-htonniont, an.U-.,l lateral inanehes ol sc-.enco 
l,aa n.me to tl.e aid ..f the nu-.lical i.r<.lessi..n with generous ,K,wer, 
with i,ni..ove.l apparatus, an.l with in^sitive knowle.lf^i' tan-ht l.y plu- 
losoi.hv Medieal and seientilic lite.-ature had been far n.o.v ext.M.s.vely 
and persistently cultivated than heiore. and the praet.eal .l.splays of 
elinicld ,sfience"ha.l be-un to furnish instruetion to the n.aste.-s ot the 
medical art abroad. Collegiate education among pract.tione.-s ha.l 
become far nio.e extensively diffused than formerly, and the p.< .fes,s.on 
had bec.nie fully awake to the wisdom of D.-. Abeiniethy s wor.ls : 
"The hospital is the college to buil.l up the pi-act.tione.-s 

At the time of the outbreak of the cholera in >ew \ovk ( .ty the 
skill, zeal, and benevokmce of the me.lical faculty we.-e consp.cuous ; 
but these quaUtieswere not p,-op<Mly con.pUMmmted by v.g.lance ami 
ener..v wisely directed on the part of tl.e .nun.c.pal author.t.es. To 
^.is^ilusion l,as alrea.ly been made. IIa.1 the city then^ - "-; l^; 
sessedan energetic and enlightened samtary comm.ss.on or boaid of 
he- 1th to co-operate with the physicians by dimin.sh.ng the causes of 
;eae,pn>ballyone half of the victin.s of cholera might have been 
^ Vrmu death. The city then, .is now, possessed great topographi- 
^ ivanta-es for the conservation of health, but e.th.M- fnmj .gno- 
^ni^or indifference the public n>ind seemed ^^^upefi'^ -d couM .^^ 
even by such .Ireadful shocks as those given by yellovN fe^e. and the 
choU compreheml the vital importance of emp -ying every samtary 
remedy in their power for foiling the destructive dragon of d.sea.se. 

T^Ve was, inlleed, a Health Department of the city ^-vernment 
which had been established by an act of the Legislature parsed Ma.ch 
oo 1813 to " provide against infectious diseases."' Its .unctions were 
di;i.le.l into two classes of operation -one to gvurd ajr-'-t the ■vcur- 
rence of pestilential diseases from abroad, and ^^^f^'^^^!^ 
aouinst their origination from any domestic cause The hrst cla*, as 
om,>ose.l of the" health officer, the health commission, and a i^s <1 nt 
jJiy ician, all appointed by the governor and having cogni.vnce of t e 
iffaii. at Quarantine and the Marine Hospital on Staten Islaml. T c 
oU er class-the guardians of the health of the city against mterna 
t^^originatii^g there-was composed of the mav^.r, ,.c^.k.r, =uid 
ald,;:-mei,. appointed annually by the common counci . I m gh con^ 
sist of as mai v l.e.-sons as shouUl be tlu.ught pmpei-, but :u, a '"'• "" ^ 
ZZn:Z.^n'. mentione<l composed th- Health Department ol the 



310 liiSTOKY OF XKW YORK CITY. 

city pro])er. Their duties consisted in enforcing the State and niuriici- 
pal hnvs which related to the pubhc health, and the enacting of laws 
and ordinances resiiecting the removal of nuisances and the preserva- 
tion of cleanhness. 

In the spring of 1834 the mayor of New York City was elected by 
the people for the first time in its history. Party politics then ran 
liigh. Never since the marshalhng of the hosts of the Federal and 
RepubUcan parties for the mighty conflict for the prize of the Presi- 
dency of the United States at the close of the last century had party 
spirit ap])eared so virulent and uncompromising. 

The energetic administration of President Jackson had won for him 
a host of warm adherents and arrayed against him a host of bitter 
opponents. The heroic methods of his warfare against the United 
States Banlc had intensified the animosity of his pohtical enemies to a 
degree almost incredible. 

Nowhere was party spirit more implacable than in the city of New 
York, and nowhere were more dangerous elements of society seen 
menacing the sanctity of the ballot-box than in New York at this 
juncture. Easy naturahzation laws, as we have observed, had created, 
out of often ignorant and sometimes depraved foreign immigrants, 
American citizens, endowed with all the tremendous power for g<3Qd or 
ill which a secret ballot implies in a republic, and disposed to wield 
their ])ower as demagogues might direct. Both political ]5arties sought 
the control of the votes of the new-born citizens. It gravitated to the 
Democratic side in politics, the idea involved in the name democrat 
having a potent influence in their decision. 

At the time imder consideration the Democratic majority in the city 
was very large, but a feud was then distracting the organization, dis- 
turbing its harmony, weakening its j^ower, and shaking its integrity to 
its foundations. Influenced by the teachings of Fanny Wright, a 
strong-minded Scotch woman who had lectured extensively in the 
United States in the inculcation of a sort of social communism, an 
" Equal Rights party," as it called itself, had grown to quite a power- 
ful faction in the Democratic party. It had great influence in the 
councils of Tammany Ilall, the rallying-place of the. party, and the 
re.5ult was a split early in 1834. At a meeting at Tammany Hall, 
Avhere the two factions were assembled, each assumed the leadership. 

Bitter strife ensued. Both parties claimed the right to the chair 
and the management of the meeting. Violent words were speedily 
followed by violent action. One party made a rash to remove the 
cliaii'iiian and his follow-o!ficei"s bv force. A "rand row ensued, and 



KlliSr DKCAHK. IWO 1S40. •'! ' 

considerable poisonal violence vv:us us.mI. D.uin- tl.e fracas some one 
turned off the -asj.-aving the room in darkness. One of the K(iuid 
Kifrhts men, or Radicals, having some loco-foco matciies m his ix.eket, 
relT.'lited the lam|>s, ami tlie business of tlie meeting prcKeed.-.l. " I 
wa-Tom^ of the vici-invsidents," vvn.te one of the actoi.^, " and was 
compelled to buy a new suit of clothes the next day, and in a short 
time the whole Democratic party were known as Loco-Kocs." 

Th.> opponents of the Democrats were then called A\ lugs. Ihey 
Ind iveentlv i)een so named bv Colonel .lames AVatson Webb, the chief 
editor and j.roprietor of the New York ( 'nnnn- ,n.,l Knquu;,: While 
attemlin.r a convcnti.m of the Anti-ihusonic i)arty at I'luladelphia m 
1S:VJ which nominated William Wirt for the Presidency of the I nited 
Stat.'s. he wrote a letter to his journal over his own i.rop.-r signature, 
.rivin.r an account ..f the convention, in which he pointed ..at the folly 
of the opponents of (ieneral Jackson wasting their energies by being 
cut ui. into different factions, such as Anti-Masons, Anti-Slavery men, 
Republicans, National Ilepnblicans, etc. lie set forth the importance 
of union under one head-one rallying name-to fight what he deemed 
the dangerous Democracy. Tic remiialed his politKuil friends asule 
from the great issues of the tariff and the United States Lank hat 
thev were fighting for the restriction of executive power against those 
who were laboring to increase it, as Jackson had practised in his war 
acrainst the bank, the cun-ency, and the tariff ; that they were, in 
fact, battling for the Constitution against Executive usurpation. 

- We are therefore Whigs," he said, - while our opp.ments are 
wa-in.r war to sustain the Executive in his usurpations ol power, and 
in^ doing they are Tories ! Why not, then, take to oui-selves tin- 
name of Whigs, which represents our principles, and give to our o])i)..- 
nents the name of Tories ?" ,•,111 

Colonel Webb proceeded to show that many of the evils under which 
the cnintrv was suffering emanated from the President being eligible 
to re-election, and he urgently recommended the great opposi ...n 
meeting, that was to a,ssemble at :\Ia.sonic Hall in P.roa.lway, to adoi^t 
for tiiose opposed to General Jackson's re-election the name of \\ hig. 
and to give to their opponents that of Tory. He als<. urged the a<lop- 
tion of a resolution in favor of the one-term principle. 

Colonel Weljb-s letter was publislie<l on the morning <.f the day that 
the great meeting at Tammany Hall took place. Phihp Hone • pre- 

. Philip Hone «aH one of the most distiBguishcl men of New Y"rk City where^^Uc 
,.«« horn in ITSl. nn.l where he died on Mny 4. 18.11. He exerted « marV.-d u,ri.>. 



312 HISTOKV (U- NEW VoKK CITY. 

sided at the meeting, iind on taking the chah- he read the letter to the 
peoi)le and suggested the adoption of the name of Wliig for the great 
opposition party. The response was unanimous, not only at the meet- 
ing assembled at Masonic Hall, but by tlie ojjposition press and people 
all over the country. So it was that the great historic pohtical organi- 
zation known as the Whig party received its name in 18.32. 

At tlie time of the municipal election in Xew York in the spring of 
ISSi, the Whig party, thoroughly organized, was strong in numbers and 
influence, wliile the Democratic party was weakened by strife within 
its ranks. This state of things promised a liot contest for the mayor- 
alty, and tliere were forebodings of personal contlicts at tlie polls. At 
that time the election continued three days. 

Gideon Lee, the eminent leather merchant of The Swamp, was then 
maj'or of the city, and a Democrat in j)olitics.* Cornelius W. Law- 
politics, commerce, and social life in New York for more than forty years. With his 
brother he was a siiccessfulbusiness man, amassed a fortune, and retired from the marts, 
but not from active citizenship. He was ever ardently devoted to whatever measures 
tended to the promotion of the prosperity and honor of his native city. He was jts chief 
magistrate in 182.5-26, and was a model mayor. He was one of the chief founders of the 
Mercantile Library, and also of the New York Athenaium. The latter institution was 
largely indebted to him for its early prosperity. Mr. Hone was ever an active and abiding 
promoter of literature and art, and while he lived he was a conspicuous actor in all the 
more elevated social movements in the city. A genuine New Y'orker of the Knicker- 
bocker race, he was enlightened and jirogressive. The Hone Club, an association of rare 
spirits, was so named in his honor. President Taylor appointed Mr. Hone naval officer 
for the jjort of New Y'ork in 1849, in the duties of which he was engaged at Iho time of 
his death. 

* Gideon Lee was born in Amherst, Mass., on April 27, 1778. His father died when 
Gideon was very young, and the boy was apprenticed to a tanner and shoemaker (these 
pursuits then teing carried on together) at fourteen years of age. He worked at tanning 
in the summer and shoemaking in the winter. 

Lee began business on his own account when he was twenty-one years of age, at 
Worthington, Mass. His early education was very meagre, and the first money he could 
spare from his young manhood's earnings he spent in acquiring knowledge at Westfield 
Academy. He formed a partnership with Mr. Hubbard, and Lee & Hubbard tanned leather 
for the firm of Dwight & Edwards, quite extensive dealers in leather. In 1807 he went 
to New York to act as agent for the sale of their leather there, at a salary of $1000 a year. 

The next year Mr. Lee hired a store in The Swamp of Jacob Lorillard, and set up in 
business for himself at the comer of Jacob and Ferry streets, which ho called " Fort 
Lee.' ' The whole business of The Swamp was then small. One firm now does almost as 
much business in a year as the aggregate firms in that locality did then. The usual 
practice with the leather dealers then was to make annual settlements. Mr. Lee was the 
first to depart from the custom, and to sell on time, taking negotiablo notes in payment. 

In 180!) he became the agent of the Hampton Leather Manufacturing Company, and 
soon won for himself a high name for energy and fidelity. 

In 1817 the New York Tannery was established by a stock company, of which Mr. Lee 



KIUST DKfADK, lM;i(»-l«4(). 



3i:j 



rence, of the auclimi liouso of Hicks. I.awicmc \- Co., wius the Demo- 
cratic candidate for tlic mayoralty, and (.;ulian C. Vcrplanek was tlio 
opposing candidate. 'I'lic election was Wegun on Tuesday, the Kth of 
April, and ended on Thufsday evening, the loth. All votes wore then 
polled at one i>lace in each wanl. There were then iifteen iM)lling- 
l)laces in the city ; now tliere are al>out tw.> liundred of them, and the 
election consumes only one tlay between sunrise and sunset. 

The morning of the sth was dark and stormy. A chilling rain fell 

wn» conspicuous. Its onpital was $(!0,(J(M). The factory was entirely under cover, and 
coiUd tan 10,000 hides a year. It was i)hinned by Mr. Lee, and was the first so built. Its 
first product was sent to market in 181S. when the novel plan of selling leather by anclion 
was first introduced. Ho had erected on land bought in 181.5, in Ferry Street, what was 
then regarded as a very spacious warehouse, a two^story brick building, in which the 
leather was hoisted by horse power— a great novijlty'fben. 

Mr. Lee had a clerk of most excellent ehararter. He was energetic in business, and 
honest and true in all his transactions.' Knowing his worth, he took him into partner- 
ship in 1819. That clerk was the afterward well-known and higUly-estecmed Shepherd 
Knapp. The firm of Lee & Knapp flourished without intermission twenty yeani. The 
auction sales became an institution in The Swamp. Other dealers soon followed suit. 
Manufacturers came from the adjacent States to attend them, to lay in supplies of 
leather. On the day of sales a table would be spread with plenty of " meat and drink." 
Lee .t Knapp also engaged largely in the business of stocking tanneries with hides and 
selling the leather on commission. 

Mr. Lee was uniformly prosperous in his business undertakings, and while he was not 
a politician in the common meaning of the term, he was a man of strong political con- 
victions. In 1822 he represented his district in the Assembly of the State of New York. 
In 1828-20 and 18.10 he was alderman of the Twelfth Ward, and in 1833-34 he was 
mayor of the city. It was during his mayoralty that the famous " election riots" of 1834 
took place, in which trying time he displayed energj- and wisdom. He declined a re- 
election. 

In 1835 Mr. Lee was elected a member of Congress, and served two consecutive terms 
by re-election. In 1840 he was chosen presidential elector. He had retired from busi- 
ness in 1839, when the old firm was succeeded by his sonin-law, Charles M. Leupp. and 
John Burke. In 1830 Mr. Lee buUt his lofty store in Ferrj- Street, the first stnicture 
over two stories in height built in the neighborhood. 

Mr. Lee was twice married-first in 1807 to Miss Buffington, who died in 1818, and in 
1823 to Miss Isabella Williams, daughter of a Scotch clergyman. He lived some years in 
Frankfort Street, aftenvard near the present Astor Place, and finally built a tine house 
on Bond Street, which became the fashionable part of the city. During the last few 
years of his life his residence was at C^neva, N. Y., where he died, August 21, 1841, at 
the age of sixty-three years, leaving a large estate and an honored and stainless name. 
Alluding to a report of the failure of his house during the panic of 1837, Mr. Lee said . 
" I commenced business when I was poor, on credit ; I thrived by credit ; and I wUl 
sacrifice my property before that credit shall bo dishonored. I have carried the lapstone, 
and can do it again, but I will never suffer a promise of mine to be broken.' ' 

■' Mr. Lee was instlv calle.l the ' father of the leather trade,' " says a writer in the 
Shoe and Leather liefxnier. published by Isaac H. BaUey, from which the principal facts in 
the foregoing sketch were obtained. 



3U IIISTOKV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

copiously until nearly ten o'clock', but it did not dampen tlie ardor of 
the opposing hosts of voters. The popular" feehng Avas at fever heat, 
and men went through the storm in ci'owds to the polls, some to de- 
])osit an honest vote, and some to vote " early and often." It was the 
opening of the most exciting election ever held in the city of Xew 
York. Many left their places of business with subordinates, deter- 
mined to " fight it out" with moral weapons to the bitter end ; many 
others went from their abodes determined to fight it out with brute 
force if necessary. The Democrats were determined to elect their 
candidate ; the Whigs were determined to elect theii-s. " When 
Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war." 

The Democrats were deeply incensed by the undemocratic name of 
Tories wliich the Whigs applied to them, and were especially offended 
with the editor of the Courier and Eiupdrer as the originator of the 
opprobrious title. Much wrath was directed toward him and his pub- 
lishing establishment, as we shall observe presently. 

There were evidences visible at an early hour in the election that 
there was a determination on the part of some demagogues to use the 
brute force of ignorant naturalized citizens, in wards where they largely 
abounded, in driving the Whigs from the poUs. The latter had im- 
fairly, in accordance with the vicious maxim, " AU's fair in pohtics," 
wrested the w^ords of President Jackson, " Perish credit, perish 
cormnerce," from their proper context, and had used them to inflame 
the business community against him and his supportei-s. 

These words were posted all over the city in large lettei-s, and pro- 
duced great excitement and determination. The seamen in the port 
natm-ally coalesced with the Whigs. They rigged up a little frigate 
which they najned the Constitution, mounted it on wheels, and with 
Whig Ixmners floating over it paraded it past the poUs in different 
wards. In Wall Street, the focal point of commercial transactions, it 
was greeted with great enthusiasm. At twelve o'clock the Merchants' 
Exchange was closed, the national flag was unfurled over its lofty 
dome, and its inmates and frequenters, w'ith many others, unmindful of 
the mud and drizzling rain, fell into a procession behind the little vessel. 

To counteract the effect of this demonstration, the Democrats hastily 
fitted up a boat, mounted it on wheels, and raised a flag over it bearing 
the word " Veto" in large letters. The two vessels went through the 
streets side by side for a while, the recipients, respectively, of a})prov- 
ing huzzas and bitter execrations. It was e\ndent that a coUision 
would occur, but the authorities seemed powerless to suppress these 
demonsti'ati(jns. 



KIU8T 1)K('AI>K. 1S;1(>-1«40. 



315 



In most of the slroag DeiiUK-iiit k- wanis, whoi-e the votiiij,' wtis 
largely on one side, tliero was quiet, but in the Sixth Wanl, where 
there was a large alien jMipulation, a storm so<m gatheiv<l and l)Urst 
in fury. It was evident niol) law reigned in the vicinity of the polls 
there. ^len were gathered in a mass, yelling and threatening in the 
vicinity of the AVhig committee-room. 

Some were seen brandishing clul)s, and even knives. The tumult 
grew louder and louder. At length some roughs, led by an ex-alder- 
man, made a rush for the committee-room, where their op|)onents were 
gathered in a considerable number. Before these could offer resist- 
ance, so sudden and fierce was the attack that in a few minutes nearly 
twenty had been felled bleeding to the floor, and one w:u5 carried out 
in a dvin"- condition. Some of those wluj escaped to the street were 
hatless, and with torn garments. The mob tore down all the i)oliticaI 
bannei-s, destroyed the ballots, an<l made a wreck of everything. 

The outrages fearfully excited the op])osition party, and it was deter- 
mined to take vigonms measures for the defence of the ballot-boxes 
and tlie votei-s on the mornjw. A call was issued for a meeting of the 
AVhigs at Ma.sonic Hall that evening. The room was crowded. Four 
thousand Wliigs were there. (General Bogardus was called to the 
chair, and the following preamble and resolutions were adopted by 
unanimous vote : 

•' \rtiereas. The authority of the rolice of the city has been set at defiance by a band 
of hirelings, mercenniies, and bullies in the Sixth Ward, and the lives of o>ir citizens pnt 
in jeopardy ; and whereas, it is evident we are in a state of anarchy, which requires 
the prompt and efficient interposition of every friend of good order who is disposed to 
sustain the Constitution and laws ; therefore be it 

'• ResoUed, That, in order to preser^-e the peace of the city, and especially of the Sixth 
Ward, the friends of the Constitution and the liberties of the citizen will meet a*, this 
place [Masonic Hall] to-morrow (Wednesday) at half-past seven o'clock a.m., and repair 
to the Sixth Ward poll for the purpose of keeping it open to all voters, until such time as 
the official authorities shall procure a sufficient number of special constables to keep the 
peace. 

" BesnUed. That while at the Sixth Ward poll, those who are not residents thereof will 
not take part in the election, but simply act as conservators of the peace, until such time 
as the majesty of the laws shall be acknowledged and respected." 

Tliis preamble and the resolutions were adopted by acclamation and 
the most significant demonstrations of approval. But the resolutions 
proiKjsed no specific action the next day that promised to be efficient: 
onlv the iia.ssive attendance of the Whigs in numbers sufficient to over- 
awe the turbulent element. A bolder and more effective course was 
].ropos.'<l by the editor of the fowrirr ,i„.f E/>'j>n'n'r. Tolonel Webb 



316 HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

arose, after the adoption of the resolutions, and reminded the thou- 
sands present that action vv^as more necessary than talking, and he in- 
vited less than three hundred resolute and patriotic citizens to meet him 
at the Whig headquarters the next morning at six o'clock. 

At the appointed time Colonel Webb was met by more men than he 
needed. They were all armed for defence, if necessary. Accompanied 
by about two hundred, he marched to the City Hall, where the}' were 
all sworn in by the sheriff as special constables, and appropriate badges 
were distributed among them. They then marched to the Sixth Ward 
])oll, where they found the Irish assembled. Colonel Webb made a 
speech to them, reminding them of their conduct on the previous day, 
and told them he and his associates were there as officers of the law, 
and were armed, not to interfere with the legal rights of any man, but 
to pi>otect the rights of all, and should only use their arms to preserve 
the peace, and to secure to all the free exercise of their right to vote. 
The crowd swore and threatened, but the special constables showing a 
determined front, they confined their demonstrations to oaths and 
menaces. 

There were two dooi-s to the polling-room, the one for the entrance 
of voters, the other for their egress. To each of the doors Colonel 
Webb formed a double line of determined men, and eveiy voter was 
compelled to pass through the lane thus formetl to the door of entrance 
and the ballot-box, and when the voters had deposited their ballots a 
body of special constables conducted them to the door of exit, and com- 
pelled each voter, sejiarate and alone, to ])ass into the street. Thus, in 
the midst of much loud tallcing and threatening, everybody was ]jro- 
tected in the exercise of the precious riglit to vote without illegal 
hindrance. Colonel Webb marched back to headquarters at Masonic 
Hall the special con.stables not wanted at the Sixth Ward poll, ami 
enjoined them to be in readiness for action in case they were needed 
anywhere. 

That night came the crisis. Thousands of rioters paraded the streets, 
threatening violence and creating imivei-sal anxiety and alann in the 
city. An enonnous mob assembled in the City Hall Park, thi-eatening 
vengeance upon everybody, especially the mayor and common council 
then in session. It was soon reported to that body that at the Sixth 
Ward poll, near the City HaU, the Irish had erected a very large cross, 
which bore a banner, and on it was inscribed, in large letters, " Down 
wmi THE Courier and Exqliker BuiLDrxcr ;" and after the fashion in 
Ireknd in such cases the i)eo])le were marched by it, when each rme 
touched the cross, and by so doing was sworn to do what the banner 




/n 
<^/^'?^^^ 



FIRST DECADE. 1830-1840. 317 

jmK-laimcd. In :i(li'(.it speeches to the moh in tlie Park, demagogues 
urged the rioters to jiroceed to AVall Street and destioy the ol)noxious 
building and its contents. 

Tlie danger Wiis ininiincnt. The common council l)ecanie aianned, 
and apiiointed James (t. King (of the lirni of I'rime, ^Vard A: King, 
bankei-s) and his bi-otlier, Ciiaries King* (afterward president of Co- 
lumbia College), a deputation to go to the oltice of tlie Coitrier and 
Enquirer and warn Colonel Webb of his peril. They jjerformcd tho 
mission, and as the city government could atfonl "Webb no protection, 
these gentlemen requested that he wouhl close the office and leave it to 
its fate, as resistance and bloodshed would only increase the general 
danger. 

The office of the Cmirhr and Enquirer was on the fii-st floor of Xo. 
58 "Wall Street. These gentlemen found it all lighted up as usual, tho 
dooi-s wide open, for tlie evening was warm, and piles of printing paper 
in bundles were arranged in each of the two large windows, six feet 
in height. Colonel Webb told the dej)Utation to say to the mayor and 
the common council that he had not asked for nor did he want their 
protection ; that his usual hour for closing his office was ten o'clock, 
but that on this occasion it would be kept open, with all the lights 
burning, all night ; that he had in the building seventy muskets antl 
plenty of ammunition, a hundred pistols (no revolvei-s then), and at 
that moment not less than thirty of the best-known young merchants, 
who had volunteered to stand by him, were in the office. lie toUl 
them also that he had on the roof of his five-story building five loads 
of paving-stones, any one of which dropped on the head of a rioter 
in the street was Jis certain to disable hun as a musket-ball. 

» Charles King, LL.D., a iouraalist and scholar, was born in the city o£ New York 
March 16, 1789. He was a son of the eminent Rufus King. While his fatlicr was 
tinited States minister in London, he was sent to Harrow School and to a preparatory 
school in Paris. On the return of his father to America he was placed in a hanking- 
honse in Amsterdam. Ho returned to New York in IslKl, and in 1810 he married a 
danghter of the eminent merchant .Vrchibald Gracic, and became asKocialcd with his 
father-in-law in business. In 1813 he was a member of the New York Legislature, and 
the next year he was a volunteer in the army. Mr. King became connected with Gulian 
C. Yerplanck in the publication of the New York Amer\cnn in 1823. Mr. Ven'l»nck 
retired in 1827, and Mr. King remained sole editor for twenty years. In 1h49 he was 
chosen president of Columbia College, which post he resigned in 1801. Mr. King died 
near Rome. Italy, September 27, 18(57. He was sent to England after the war of 1812 to 
investigate the treatment of .\merican captives in Dartmoor prison. He did not hesitate 
to exonerate the British authorities from all censure in the matter, and thereby he drew 
upon himself a storm of indignation from his countrymen, which was not allayed for 
long years afterward. 



318 IllSTOUV o:- NEW YORK CITY. 

The Messre. King assured Colonel Wel)b that they felt (•eitain what 
his answer would be, or they would not have consented to bear to liiiu 
the message of the connnon council. 

After much s])eaking and threatening in the City Hall Park, the 
mob moved down WilUam Street toward "Wall Street. Colonel 
Webb had his agents out, who reported to him from time to time. 
For a while their reports were simply that the rioters were advancing, 
but when they reached Maiden Laiie the front files, cowards, as all 
riotei-s are, rapidly fell off and passed to the rear. When they had 
reached Pine Street the rear had become the front, and when the 
crowd reached Wall Street, instead of wheeling for the Courier office 
the mob crossed the street, moved into Pearl Street, and when they 
had again reached Wall Street appeared entirely demoralized. A large 
crowd passed up the sti'eet to the Courier office, when Colonel Webb 
simply closed the door and awaited events. 

The dense crowd fiUed the street in front, which was quite brightly 
lighted by a lamp, and began groaning, threatening, and knocking 
their clubs, banner staves, and missiles of all kinds against the building, 
exciting themselves to a dangerous degree, when Colonel Webb seized 
a musket, broke it through a pane of glass, and gave notice that when 
he found it covered a rioter he sliould fire. He then passed the muzzle 
of the gim slowly uj) the street, when away scampered the cowards. 
He then slowly turned it down Wall Street, Avith the same notice, and 
it was amusing to see how rapidly the street was cleared of the redoubt- 
able Irishmen. A portion of the mob passed up-town to Colonel 
Webb's residence, in Bleecker Street, but contented themselves with 
groans, yells, and ringing his door-bell. 

In the forenoon of the next day (Api'il lntln tliere was a fiei'ce col- 
lision between the sailore with the little frigate Constitution which was 
used to convey votei-s to the ])f)lls, and their o])]3onents, near Masonic 
Hall, in Broadway. Hearing the affray, many Whigs went out of the 
hall to assist the seamen, and a severe battle with fists and missiles 
occurred. Woi-d being sent to the Sixth Ward i^oll, a large number of 
lighting men there rushed up Duane Street and drove the Whigs back 
into their headquarters. The mob then attacked the building, smash- 
ing its windows and attemjiting to force an entrance. Mayor Lee was 
sent for. He came, witli one or two aldermen, and mounting the steps 
of the building, raised his staff of ofiice. The crowd, maddened mth 
licpior and aroused passions, gave no heed to the symbol of authoi'lty, 
but iuii'led missiles at the magistrate. One of these knocked him 
down, and lie was (|uite severely beaten. 



KIHST |iKC.M>K. ls:i()-ls.m 



319 



A nimor was nnw ciiviilaUMl at >[as..iiic Hall that riotera were 
attempt in«r t<i lncak npcn tin- aisciial, situated on the Lin-ner of Wliite 
ami Kliii stif.'ts. to protuiv arms. There was a ciy, " To tlie aiseiial : 
To the ai-seual !"" and the "Whigs ruslu-il fi-oin the liall towai-d the 
menaced l)uildinf,^ i.ell-mell. It was not far to g(^. The excited 
crowd sealed tlie fences, and tlie moi-o active among them mounting 
the shoulders of othei-s cUmhed into the second-story windows. Hut 
this movement of tlie riotei-s had been anticipated, and a guard of 
Colonel Wehb's special constaliles, under the direction of the lat.- 
Simeon Draper, was already there when the "ttliigs fi'om the hall and 
the rioters came. The latter wen- a.stonished to find on ])arade a large 
body of men with nuiskets, pi-epaivd to keep tlie peace. 

The mayor had ai)i>lied to the T.rooklyn Navy- Yard for a company 
of marines the day before, to assist his police in suppressing the riotous 
s])irit in the city^ but they were refused by the commodore, on the 
ground that he had no autiiority to send them. A similar request .sent 
to the uiilitary commauder at Governor's Island met with a rcfusjd for 
the same reasons. Then he directed General Sandf(jrd to oi-dei- out 
some of tlie city militia, and soon infantry and cavalry appeared. 

On hearing that the arsenal was in the jiossession of one of the i>oht- 
ical parties, the mayor ordered the Twenty-seventh Regiment of the 
National Guard, Colonel Linus W. Stevens, to proceed thither. Mr. 
Drajier and his men had only been placed there to defend it fi-om a 
mob until relief should come!^ The Whigs readily giive it up to the 
military and retired. Three hundred members wei-e on duty at tli<« 
ai-senal and patrolled the streets until the next morning. 

Commissary-General Arcularius, who had charge of the ai-senal at 
the time, made a most ridiculous report of the matter. Not knowing 
the name of Mr. Draper, who was active in keeping back the mob in 
front of the arsenal after the arrival of his i>olitical friends, alluded t.i 
him reiieatedly in his report as the "man with a claivt-colore<l coat 
on." This description of the then popular young politician so amused 
liis friends and the wits of the town that it became l<mg a phrase in 
]K)litical circles in the city. 

After the exciting election was over, the ballot-box of the Sixth 
Ward (which at that time received the title of " the Ijloody Sixth") 
■was taken to the City Hall und.>r a strong guard, foUowed l)y a turbu- 
lent multitude, and locked up for the night. But the excitement did 
not end with the election. It was intense until the result was kno^\Ti, 
ahnost thirtv-six hours afterward. All the next day lousiness was 
nearlv as much ne-lected as during the election. It was estimated 



320 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

that at one time there were over ten thousand citizens in a crowd in 
Wall Street awaiting the conclusion of the canvass. "When it was 
finallv announced, and it was ascertained that the Democrats had 
barely missed a most signal defeat, the opposition party felt jubilant. 
The Democrats had elected their candidate for mayor by a small 
majoi'ity ; the "Whigs had carried the common council. This event 
the latter celebrated at a mass-meeting held in Castle Garden, where 
Daniel "Wel)ster, who had been sent for to make a speech, appeared, 
and was sui)])t)ite<l by several of the finest speakers of the city of New 
York. 

The election riot of 183i was the first of four riots ^vhich occurred 
in New York during this decade — 1830-40. 



ClIAl'TEli XVII. 

THE Twenty-sovontli Regiiiu'iil Nutinnal Guard, callod out at tho 
time of tiie election riots in IS.U, is now the famous Seventli 
Regiment New York State National (iuanl of the City of New York. 
Its services on that occasion, as an active guardian of tlie peace of the 
citv, were the second they had rendered in that capacity, the lii-st 
having l)een given to preserve the peace at the execution of James 
Iteynolds, November 11>, 1825. Tiie mayor thanked tiiem for tiieir 
])romptiiess and elKciency, and from that time until now tiiat regiment 
liius acted and been relied U])on as a sure defender of |)ublic order in the 
metro))()lis. 

Tiie Twenty -seventh IJegiment was not an original organization. Init 
the offspring of the Eleventh liegiment of Ai-tillery, created in 1812. 
The pedigree of the Eleventii liegiment may be traced back to the 
])eriod of the old war for independence. 

In 1824 the Eleventh Regiment consisted of two battalions, one 
artiller}' proper, and the other infantry, four companies each. On 
the Uith of August of that year General the Marquis de Lafayette 
an-ived at New York, the guest of the nation, and the citizen soldiery 
then turned out in fxdl force, under General Jacob ^Morton, to give him 
a hearty welcome. They were reviewed at the Battery l)y the illustri- 
ous soldier. While awaiting the arrival of the distinguished visitor, 
the officers of the infantry battalion of the Eleventh Regiment then on 
duty fell into conversation on a subject which had frequently occujiied 
their thoughts, namely, tlie independent organiz;Uion of their battalion. 

The choice of a name had been a difficult jiroVJem. Some one of the 
officei-s having made allusion to Lafayette's connection with the 
National Guanl of Paris, Mnpv John D. Wilson immediately asked : 

"Why will not National Guard be a good name for the projjosed 
corps ?"■ 

The idea was received with enthusiasm by every officer present, and 
every member of the battalion heartily approved it. 

A few evenings afterward (August 2.">, ls24) these officere met at the 
Shakcsiieare Tavciii. on the soutii-west corner of Fulton and Nassau 



322 IIISTORV OK NEW YOlilv CITY. 

streets,* and adopted a resolution to form an independent battalion, 
composed of the four companies of infantry of the Eleventh Regiment, 
to be thereafter "known and tlistinguished by the name of the 
Xational Guard." The captains of the four companies were Irad 
Havvley, John Telfair, William B. Cm-tis, and Howard B. Simmons. 

Havin"- obtained permission of the proper authorities to create the 
proposed organization, the important question arose, What shall be our 
imifonn ? Philetus Holt, a private in the Fourth Company who was 
present, was dressed in a neatly-fitting single-breasted gray office-coat, 
that attracted the attention of Acting Brigade Major Prosper M. Wet- 
more. He suggested Holt's coat as a suitable model, and at a meeting 
at the Shakespeare, not long afterwanl, Major J. D. Wilson exhibited 
a pattern suit, which was adopted by unanimous consent. 

To the four companies were presently added two others, raised and 
coimnanded respectively by Captains Linus W. Stevens and Oliver M. 
Lo\ATids. In June of the following j^ear Governor De Witt Clinton 
issued an order instituting the battalion of the National Guard. It 
was, unfortunately, consohdated with the artillery battalion. Difficul- 
ties arose, and in October, 1825, a separation was effected, and the 
battalion of six companies was made an inde]iendent corps. Another 
company, under Captain Van Buren, was added at about tliis time. 

* The Shakespeare Tavern, where the new battalion of National Guards was organized, 
■was the headquarters of the Eleventh and of the Twenty-seventh regiments for many 
years, and remained so until the building was demolished, when Fulton Street was 
widened, in 183G. It was not a tavern— a place for the entertainment of travellers--in 
the American sense of that term, but was a place of resort of some of the better class of 
city residents. It was a sort of club-house, where choice wines and quiet, excellent sup- 
pers might be obtained. It was originally built after the model of an English alehouse. 
It was a low, old-fashioned, and rather massive edifice, two stories in height, with dormer 
windows. It was erected by John Leake before the Revolution. On the second story 
there was a room for military drills and public meetings, and there were appointments 
for social or political gatherings. It was a great resort for literary men sixty years ago. 
It is said that in a room in that tavern the young poet, Robert C. Sands, recited to 
Gulian C. Verplanck and two or three literary friends his last and most remarkable 
poem, entitled " The Dead of 1832." In that poem his theme was the triumphs of 
Death and Time over the eminent men who had died that year, and closing with these 
words : 

" All earth is now their sepulchre. 

The M iiid their monument sublime- 
Young in clemal ft me Ihoy are— 

Sure are your triumphs. Death and Time." 

This poem was published in the Commercial Advertiser only a few days before Sands's 
own sudden death, in December, 1832. 

The Shakespeare was known for several years as " Stoneall's," James C. Stoneall being 
its proprietor. 



KIKST DEl'ADK, 1830-1B40. 323 

ProsiKT M. AVrtiiK.iv \v;is .-lecU'il lii-uteiKint-o.lom'l. an.l l.inus "\V. 

Stevens iiiajin-. . 

AiK.tlier coniiKinv wouhl raise ti.e hattali.-n to tlie (ligiiity of a 
re.rinieiit. Measiues were taken to form one. Tliis work was 
aee..u.i>lislied on tlie 4tli of May, l«-2»!, when tl.e ei-htli company, 
eomnianiled 1)V Captain Andivw Warner (now the reeonhnj,' secretary 
of tlie New York Historical Society) was admitted into tlie cori)S. 
Two days afterward (iovernor Clinton issued an order constituting the 
l)attalion the Twentv-seventii Kegiment of Artillery. 

At a meeting of "the olhcei-s of the Twenty -seventh at the Shake- 
siK-are Tavern on ^lay 2:^., IS-iC, Prosper M. Wetmore was chosen 
colonel, Linus ^V. Stevens lieutenant-colonel, and John Telfair nuijor. 
The National tJuard paraded as a i-eginient for the first time on May 
;51st, when thev received an elegant stand of colore from ]S[ayor I'hihp 
Hone. Sergeant Asher Taylor, a beloved veteran of the National 
Guanl, gives the foUowing account, in his curious illustrated volume 
entitled " Notes on the Coloi-s of the National Guard, with some Inci- 
dental Piissiiges of the History of the Ptegiment." i.nnted «n an 
" amateur press for private circulation" in 18t!3 : 

" When the c(M-ps was detache.1 as a separate conunand. the suV)ject 
of providin.- suitable colors for it engaged the early attention of the 
boanlof olHcers, and Captain John Telfair. Captain James T. 1-hnn, 
Lieutenant Charles P. Si)icer, Adjutant Andrew Warner, and Surgeon 
Edward P Marcellin were a])pointed a committee to i)rocure a standard 
which should be the banner of tlie National Guard. The committee 
spent some time bowing around and flirting and co(,uetting among 
their fair friends, in the hope of eliciting an offer from some <.t them 
to embroider and present a standanl ; and Young :Moustache will be 
amused to learn that aU their efforts were in vain, as they reported 
(March 29, 1S2<;) that ' t/te expedad'onx hitherto eutertaiiml an that siih- 
jM had not heen realhefl '-a humiliating admission that would well- 
nigh ' burst the Idds ' of half the gallant and irresistible fellows of the 
regiment of the present day. Subscription papers for the rtMimsite 
funds were ciivulated through the ranks of the corps, and promptly 
Hlled up." 

The coloi-s consisted of the regimental standard of red silk, bearing 
the coat-of-anns of the regiment, described below, and a State standard 
of l)lue silk. The design of the anus on the regimental standard was 
traced out on the silk by Sergeant Taylor, and was very beautifully 
embroidered in natund coloi-s. under his siii)ervision, by :Mrs. Windsor. 
A c..at-of-aniis aiul a motto having primarily been designed by 



324 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Sergeant Taylor, ilajor "Wetmore employed Dr. xUexander Anderson, 
the pioneer wood-engraver, to reproduce it on wood, and presented it to 
the corps. The arms consisted of an escutcheon quartered. The fii'st 
grand quarter was the shield of the United States, the second the 
shield of the State of New York, the third the shield of the city of 
New York, and the fourth the initials of the New York State xVrtil- 
lery. On an in-escutcheon of gold were the initials of the National 
Guard in cipher. The crest was a spread-eagle, and the motto was 
Pro Patria et Gloria and the words " National Guard."' 

Late in November, 1830, the regiment bore a conspicuous part 
among the military of the city of New York in a grand parade of citi- 
zens and soldiei-s as an expression of sympathy with those who liatl 
effected a revolution in France, driven one king from the throne and 
set another, more acceptable, upon it. On Febraary T, 1832, at a 
meeting of the board of officers of the regunent. Major Catlin sug- 
gested the propriety of presenting a gold medal to the Manjuis de 
Ijafayette. 

On the 22d of tluit munth the centennial anniversary of the biith of 
Washington was celebrated by the regiment. The late G. AY. P. 
Custis, the adopted son of Washington, who possessed the patriot's 
war- tent, lent it to the regiment fcr that occasion, and under it the 
officers were assembled, while thousands of spectators Wewed the inter- 
esting relic. In that tent Lieutenant-C'olonel Morgan L. Smith offered 
the following resolution : 

" liesolved, That on this auspicious day, -while assembled beneath the ample folds of 
the tent that sheltered Washington and Lafayette during the ReTolution, the officers of 
this regiment desire to express their humble thanks to Almighty God for the blessings 
■which have grown out of the Revolution, and that we deem this a most appropriate 
occasion to honor one of His instruments by causing a medal of gold to be struck and 
presented to the surviving hero, General Lafayette, commemorative of our abiding friend- 
ship for him, and also that existing between France and America." 

This resolution wan adopted, and a committee of field officers, con- 
sisting of Colonel Stevens, Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, and Major Cat- 
lin, was appointed to accomplish the object. In July following the 
medal was completed and exhibited to the members of the regiment at 
Camp Putnam, near New Haven. It was sent to James Fenimore 
Cooper, the novehst, to present to Lafayette. Mr. Cooper was absent 
from Paris then and for several months afterward. On his return, in 
November, he gave a cUnner to Lafayette, at which were General 
Wool, several other Americans of distinction, and representatives of 
European nations, as guests. On that occasion the medal was pre- 




Ol 




^/ ^ ' 



FIRST DKCAUE, 1830-1840. oZS 

sonteil, received with j^nititiule, ami ackii<)\vli'(lj^>-('(l in plcasinj^ tcnns 
by the iiK-ipieiit. 

This sujx'i I) metlal was made of sohd gold from the mines of North 
Carolina ; those of California were then unsuspected. It weighed one 
hundred and fifty-seven pennyweights. In the centre of a rich frame 
work were medallions iiearing the jjortraits of AVashington and 
Lafayette inclosed in a wreath of olive and laurel leaves. Above the 
medaUions w:is a Roman lictor's axe inclosed in fasces, and below 
these an escutcheon containing the coat-<tf-arins of the National (niard. 
The whole was surmounted by a s])rcatl-eaglo standing upon a glolje, 
on whicii were the wonls " America and France."' On each side were 
the flags of America and France combined. On a scroll at the base of 
the medal were the words '^ Pro Potr'ia et Oloria.''^ This medal was 
furnished by Marcpiand iV: IJrother, then the leading jewellers of New 
York, who employed I'.owler iV: Ward, of Tough kecp.sie, to execute the 
work. The die was cut by Ward. The writei- watched the ])rogress 
of the work with great intei-est. An engraving of the medal, the 
natural size, api)eared in the New York Mirror in 1832, and in the 
American Historical Record in 1874. 

Under the title of Twenty-,st>venth llegiment Natif)nid Guard the 
corps jjeiformed its duty faithfully in military drills and as defenilei-s 
of public order in the city of New Yoi'k on several (occasions, until 
1847, when the governor of the State ordered tluit the regiment, then 
under the connnand of Colonel Bremmer, " be thereafter called and 
known as the Seventh Ivegiment National Guard.'' Such is the 
genesis and early history of this yet famous regiment. "We shall meet 
it on important fields of duty hereafter. 

In the summer of 1834 the ])eace of the city of New York was fear- 
fully disturbeil by riotous i)r<jceedings directed against the advocates 
of the freedom of the slaves in our country. From the foundation of 
our national government the ])ul>lic mind had been much agitated 
from time to time by discussions concerning the slavery of negroes in 
our land. Indeed before the Revolution their emancipation was 
strongly urged by benevolent and enlightened men, not only from 
humane considerations, but as a wise measure of political economy. 

In the midst of the jiolitical excitement in Massachusetts in 17tl(), 
growing out of the Stamji Act quan-el, this topic was the cause of a 
wann controversy, in which Nathaniel A])])leton and James Swan, 
meix'hants of Boston, distinguished themselves as writers on the side of 
human freedom. This controversy was renewed from time to time 
until 1773, when it became so wann that it was the subject of dispuUi- 



33G HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tions at llai'vard College. The Colonial Assembly made efforts to 
restrict the further importation of negroes into the jjrovince, and a test 
suit Avas carried into the Supreme Court, on the question whether any 
pei-son could be held as a slave in ilassachusetts. It took the fonn of 
a suit by a negro to i^ecover wages from his alleged master. The com't 
decided in favor of the slave. 

During the old war for independence the consciences of many proin- 
inent slavehoklei's made them question the righteousness of holding 
their fellcjw-nien in bondage. Henry Lam-ens expressed his conviction 
that men fighting for their own freedom could hardly expect the favor 
of God in their undertaldng while tliey held other human beings in 
slavery. Societies were formed to create public opinion in favor of the 
emancipation of the blacks. One estabhshed in Philadelphia had Dr. 
Franklin for its president and Dr. Rush for its secretary. 

After tlie Avar these humane efforts were continued. In 1785 the 
Manumission Society of Xew York was established, of which John Jay 
was president. The society of Friends or Quakers always formed a 
])ermanent anti-slavery society, and were ever active. They presented 
the first petition to the National Congress for the abolition of slavery. 
In 1815 an abohtion society was formed in. Ohio. During the debate 
in Congress and out of it, on the admission of Missouri into the Union 
as a State (1820-21), the country was fearfully agitated by the discus- 
sion of the slaver}'- question. The subject was vehemently revived in 
1831 by the utterances of the Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper 
published in Boston by "William Lloyd Garrison, Avhicli denounced 
slaveiT as "a sin against God and a crime against humanity." On 
the basis of such sentiments an anti-slavery society was formed in 
Boston in 1832, and the next year the Ajnerican Anti-Slavery Society'' 
was organized in Philadelphia, which existed until the institution of 
slavery was destroyed by the fires of the great Civil War in 1861-65. 

Among the opponents of slavery in this decade the Friends or 
Quakers were the most earnest, the most pradent, and the most prac- 
tical. Tlie_v warred against the institution, not against its suj)j)orfe?-s. 
They condemned the system of slavery as unjust and unrighteous, but 
did not denounce slaveholders. They did not stand behind their safe 
]-)osition in a Xortliern State and abuse the Southern peo])le, but they 
went among the Southern people themselves and trietl to jx'r.yuafle 
them to renounce their unrighteous labor system. 

One of the boldest and truest of these preachei-s of righteousness 
wa>s Elias Ilicks, of Long Island. In Virginia and the (^aroUnas he 
preached more vigoroasly against slavery tliau in New Yorlc and 



KIUST DI-X'AUE. lr>.ii. j^i... 327 

Pennsylvania. As a mio lio was listened to with interest anil kindly 
treated. Sometimes, Iiowevei-, he aroused inditfnatioM, l)Ul always met 
it boldly. On one occasion a iiearer left the nieetin;; in llaniin;:^ anger, 
and swore he would "shoot that fellow" if he came near his ])lanta- 
tion. llicks heard of the threat, and after meeting put on his hat and 
went straight to the planter's house. The man was at tlinner. In a 
little while he ai)pi'ared. wiien Hicks, in a calm and dignille<l manner, 
said : 

" I undei-stand thou hast threatened to lilow out the Iirains of f^lias 
llicks if he conies upon thy plantation. I am Elias Hicks." 

The Virginian said he thought lie would Ite justified in doing such a 
deed when a man came to preach reliellion to his slaves. 

" I came to jireach the Gosjiel," siiid the Quaker, " which inculcates 
forgiveness of injuries up;)n slaves as well ius upon other men. J>ut tell 
me, if thou canst, how this Gospel can he tfuhj ])reachefl, without 
showing the slaves that they an: injured, and thus making a man of 
thy sentiments feel as if they were encouraged in reljcllion.'' 

A long and friendly argument ensued. At ])arting the slaveholder 
shook hands with the jjreacher, and invited him io come again. Hicks 
repeated the visit, and six months afterward this Virginian emanci- 
pated his slaves.* 

So early as the autmnn of Is.'Jo there were ahundant sympt<jms of a 
riotous sjiii-it among the ignorant and dangerous classes in the city of 
Xew York, directed against the "abolitionists," as the anti-slavery 
jieople were now calle<l. The vigorous and aggi'essive onslaughts U|K)n 
the institution of slavery which the Anti-Slaveiy Society was then 
making had created a feeling of intense op]K)sition among all cla.sses, 
especially l>usiness men in the city of Xew York connected with the 
Southern trade, and the chamjiions of a holy cause soon found they 
were breasting an almost irresistible current. The lofty motives which 
animated the philanthropists were not comprehended or given sufficient 
weight by the general public, and the anti-.slavery people were re- 
garcled as pragmatical fanatics. Xor were the methods of the aboli- 
tionists always judicious or wise. 

The avowed object of the anti-slavery societies had created alann 
and indignation and chronic irritation amcmg the ]ieople of the slave- 
labor States, and very soon the muttering thunder of threats of 
disunion were heard. This ominous sound disturbed the nei-ves of 
commerce at the North. Xew York City esiwcially was intimately 

" " I.ife of IsftftR T. Hopper." l>y Lviliii Xluria Cbild. 



328 HISTOHY OK NEW YOHK CITY. 

connected in interest with all the business centres in the South, and 
when her merchants and other business men observed their Southern 
customei-s becoming suspicious and less cordial, and disposed more and 
more to halt at Baltimore, they natural!}' regarded the aboUtionists as 
the enemies of the Union— at least enemies of a unity of feehng be- 
tween the people of the two sections of the Repubhc. 

The opposition to the aboUtionists everywhere was intensified by the 
course pm-sued by William Lloj'd Garrison, who was in England in 
1833. He joined the anti-slavery men of that coimtry in fierce denun- 
ciations of his own land before the world, as inconsistent in its policy, 
false in its high pretensions as the guardian of free institutions, and 
criminal in a high degree. The patriotism of our people was shocked, 
and the old prejudices against the " Britishers" was aroused. As 
Garrison was regarded as the embodiment of the principles and designs 
of the Anti-Slavery Society, there was a general feehng that the aboU- 
tionists must be put down. When, therefore, in the fall of 1833 
Garrison returned, and a notice appeared of a meeting of the anti- 
slavery champions in the city of New York to be held in Chnton Hiill, 
some of the most respectable men in the city resolved to attend the 
meeting, and by the weight of numbers and character crash what they 
deemed the head of the dangerous serpent of disunion. A more excit- 
able, less scrupulous, and more disreputable class of citizens determined 
to accompUsh that object in another way. Accordingly on the 2d of 
October tliey posted a placard, in large letters, all over the city, con- 
taining these words : 

" NOTICE. 

" To ALL PeKSOXS from THE SorTH ? 

" All pers-ons interested in the subject of the meeting called by 
J. Leavitt, W. Goodell, 

V.' Greek, J. Kankix, 

Lewi.s Tappan, 

at Clinton Hall this evening at 7 o'clock, are requested to at- 
tend at the same hour and place. 

"Many Southeenees. 
"New York, October 2d, 1833. 

" N.B. All citizens who may feel disposed to manifest the 
true feeling of the State on this subject are requested to at- 
tend." 

This deceptive notice— this false assignment of the authorship of it — 
■was calculated to enlist the sjnnpatiiies of a large class of citizens, and 
the wicked hint given in tlie iwta hene was evidently intended to mar- 
shal a host of the dangerous class in the city. 



KIKST HKlADK, 18:!0-1840. 329 

Sonii iiltfT six o'clock a cn)Wtl hofjan to jratlicr in front of ( 'linton 
Hall. It was s(H)n ascertained that there was a notice on the door that 
no meeting would he held. :N[any citizens inuneiliately went home, 
but still the crowd swelled until it numbered thousands and filled the 
air with tumultuous shouts and execrations. Hundreds ru.shed into the 
hidl until the audience-njoni was densely i)acked. A meeting W'as 
oiganized, and at a ijuarter past seven o'clock it adjourned to Tam- 
many Hall, where it was reorgiinized. A man was about to address 
the assembled people when a pei-son suddenly entered the room, and 
going to the chairman informed him that the abolition meeting an- 
nouiK-ed to be held at Clinton Hall was at that moment in progress at 
the Chatham Street Chai)el. 

" To the chapel ! To the chapel ! Let us go and dispei-se them !" 
shouted several voices, and the crowd srurged with excitement. The 
chainnan. who was an order-hn'ing citizen, told them they hiul met to 
pass certain resolutioas, and when that business was ended they might 
act as tlicy pleased. The resolutions condemnatory of the abolitionists 
and containing assurances of support to the Constitution and laws were 
pa,s.sed, when a large proportion of the meeting rushed for the Chatham 
Street Chapel. The few persons gathered there, apprised of their 
danger, had left, and the crowd found the room empty, with the dooi-s 
open and the lights all burning. 

An expected tragedy was now cliang(!d into a farce. The ])assions 
of the crowd had subsided, and they were in good humor. They took 
possession of the deserted room and api^inted a jolly colored man who 
had tak(>n part with them chairman of the meeting. He was addressed 
by the name of one of the leading abolitionists. After passing some 
absurd resolutions and receiving the solemn thanks of the chairman for 
the honor they had conferred upon him, the crowd dispersed with 
laughter, songs, and hilarious shouts as they passed into the street and 
went home. ^The champions of freedom who had a-sembled at the 
chapel had stolen a march on the crowd at Clinton and Tammany 
halls. They liad ([uietly fonned the " New York City Anti-Slavery 
Society." 

In the anti-slavery movements up to this periotl (and afterward to 
the periotl of his death) one of the most zealous, active, and judicious 
of the friends of the slave was the Hon. William Jay. The slaves in 
the State of New York were emancijjated l)y law on the -ith of July, 
1S27. In Sejitember following, in his charge to the grand jury of 
Westchester County, Judge Jay siiid, in allusion to the great act : 
'• I cannot forbear to congratulati> you on that event, so auspicious 



330 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

to the character and happiness of the conuuunity. . . . Within a 
few montlis more than ten thousand of our fellow-citizens have been 
restored to those rig-lits which our fathers in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence pronounced to be inalienable, and to have been granted to all 
men by their Creator. As yet Ave have no reason to suppose that 
crimes have nmltiplieil or the public peace distui"])ed by the emancipa- 
tion of our slaves ; nor can we fear that He who commanded us to do 
justice and love mercy will permit us to suffer by obeying His injunc- 
tions. ' ' 

The city of New York became the headquarters of the American 
Anti-Slavery Society, which was formed at Philadelphia December SO, 
1833. At the suggestion of Judge Jay, they explicitly defined their 
jiolitical principles in the constitution of the society by declaring : 
1. That each State in which slavery exists has, by the Constitution of 
the United States, the exclusive right to legislate in regard to abolition 
in that State ; 2. That they would endeavor, in a constitutional way, 
to influence Congress to put an end to the domestic slave trade and to 
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and hkewise to prevent the 
extension of slavery to any State that might thereafter be admitted to 
the Union ; 3. That the society and its auxiharies will never, in any 
■way, countenance the oppressed in Aandicating their rights l)y resorting 
to physical force. 

These declarations formed an essential part of the work of Judge 
Jay * in the fashioning of the constitution of the society, for it was at 

* William Jny, LL.D., second son o£ Chief Justice Jay, was born at Bedford, West- 
chester County, N. Y., June 16, 1798. He graduated at Y'ale College in 1808, and entered 
upon the duties of the legal profession. At the age of twenty-three he married Hiss 
Augusta ^IcVickar, of New York City. During his mature life he was continually engaged 
in philanthropic efforts for the elevation, well-being, and happiness of mankind, 
earnestly advocating temperance, peace, and freedom from slavery of every kind. So 
early as 1815 he founded a temperance society. 

Mr. Jay was one of the founders and able defenders of the American Bible Society. 
In 1818 Governor Tompkins appointed him judge of the Cotirt of Common Pleas of 
Westchester County. He continued on the bench until 1842, when he was relieved of 
the office by (lovernor Bouck, at the demand of the Southern wing of the Democratic 
party, on account of his anti-slavery opinions. 

In 1826 a free colored man named Horton. living in Westchester County, went to 
Washington, where he was arrested and imprisoned as a fugitive slave. The sheriff 
advertised in the yritlonat Intelliijcnctr that unless his owner called for him he would be 
sold to " pay jail fees and other expenses.' A copy of the pai)er containing this adver- 
tisement accidentally fell into the hands of a resident of Westchester, who laid the mat- 
ter before Judge Jay. The latter at once asked Governor De Witt Clinton to demand 
from the authorities at Washington the instant release of the victim as a " free citizen of 
the State of New Y'ork." It was done, and Horton was released. This prompt action 



KIKST DKCADE, 18:iO-1840. 



3:u 



unco a .krlaniti.m ..f its <.l.jccts a.i.l a.. ...xplanation uf its iK-s.frns. 
Tlievwm's.. ju.liei..as ami soun.l in iTincipK- that auxiliary societies 
rai.kllv meieascHl. So early as ls:5'... sixteen l.un.iml an.l lilty auxil- 
iaiv six^ieties had a-l.-pted the political principles of this c. .list itiit ion, 
which in is:,:, were made the basis of tiie liepul.lican party. 

The winter of ls:j:i-:U passed without any occasu.n for public ilis- 
turbaiice. In tiie spring of ls:U occurre.l the fearful election not 
ab'ea«lv described, which arous.-d the passions of the lower onlei-s of 
society. Tliis riot was f<,Uowe.l by seizures and carrying away to the 
South of several colored people in the city on the pret.-nce that they 

were fugitive slaves. , r ♦! 

These outrages excited the indignation an<l stimulated the zeal ot the 
membei-s of the Anti-Slavery Society. They became more vigilant 
active and determined than ever, and there were accessions of good 
and brave men to their ranks. Ikit the tide of oi)position to then- 
cause rose rapi.lly as their zeal bore fruit. Some of the newspapei-s of 

on the part of Judge Jay an.l its results initint^^d movements from time to time for the 
repeal of the laws authorizing sueh arrests and for the abolition ot nlaver.v m the Dmtnct 

"\vher iri835. President Jackson in his annual message to Congress called the atten- 
tion of that bodv to the doings of the anti-slaverj- societies as " repugnant to the prmcj- 
plesof our national compact and to the dictates of humanity and religion, atid sug- 
Lsted to Congress the passage of a law to prohibit "the circulation in the Southern 
SUtes through the mails of incendiary- publications intended to .nsfgate the slaves to 
insurrection"-denouncing the sending of these publications as '■ unconst.tut.ona^ and 
v^cked attempts ■ to do misohief-the executive comuuttee of the American .Ynt.-Slavery 
SocS- at New York, to whose members and auxiliaries the President s language wa^ 
fntenaed to apply, promptly u.et this attack by an elaborate, digmfied, and powerful 
protest against the accusation. It was written by Judge Jay. . . ^, , ,„„. „ 

That potest suggested to the President the propriety of ascertaining the real designs 
of the abolitionists' before his misapprehension should lead him *» — ° ^f -;" 
iriaing with the liberties of the press (which postmasters had already done b> refusing 
OS ndanti-slavcry publications through the mails,. He was ^^"^^-''^'^ ^^ ^^^ 
then (1H.35, 3.^0 anti-slavery societies, with thousands of members , and the execute 
committee nvited Congress to appoint a committee of investigation to v.s.t the.r oftce 
It New York j.led^ing themselves to put in possession of such committee the.r pubhca- 
tions and correspondence, and to answer, under oath all interrogations. 

•■ To repel vonr charges and to disabuse the public." sa.d the protest, was a dutj we 
owed to ours;ives, our children, and above all to the great and holy cause in which we 
are eng.M^ed. That cause is, we believe, approved by our Maker : and while we reta n 
thisbief it ,s our intention, trusting to his direction and protection o P«--- - 
our endeavors to impress upon the minds and hearts of our -"f >-^" '^;;,""! '", *° 
claiming propertv in human beings, and the duty and w.sdom of rmmed,atel> ^c m imsh 
ing it. ^on convinced that our endeavors are wrong, wo shall abandon them, bu such 
convictions must be produced by other arun.ments than vituperation, popular violence, 
or penal enactments." 



332 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

the city pandered to tlie evil passions of tbe lower and the dangerous 
classes. They even suggested a course of open hostilitj' to the aboli- 
tionists, and acts of violence, with a view to crush the " pestilent fac- 
tion." This reprehensible cultivation of a mob spirit soon produced 
bitter fruit. 

On the evening of -Tuly i'th quite a large assembly of colored pei"sons 
of both sexes occupied the Chatham Street Cluipel for the purpose of 
hstening to a sermon by a negro preacher. The New York Sacred 
Music Society had leased the budding for use on certain evenings each 
week. Tiiey claimed that the evening of the 9th was one of them. 
At that time Police-Justice Lowndes was president of the society, and 
Dr. Kockwell was vice-president. They rei)aired to the chapel during 
the evening with some of the members of the society, and insisted that 
the colored people should immediately leave the buikling. The latter, 
having hired and paid for it, refused to leave. High words ensued, 
which were speedilv exchanged for blows. In the fracas loaded canes 
were freely used, lamps and chaii-s were broken, and two or three per- 

The previous year (1834) Judge Jay bad comiileted and published the life and corre- 
spondence of his father, in two volumes, also " An Inquiry into the Character of the 
American Colonization and Anti-Slavery Societies. ' ' The next year, when the Legisla- 
ture of the State of New York had under consideration a law restricting the freedom of 
speech, he said to the grand jury of Westchester County ; "Any law that may be passed 
to abridge in the slightest degree the freedom of speech or of the press, or to shield any 
one subject for discussion, will be utterly null and void, and it will be the duty of every 
good citizen to resist, with energy and decision, so palpable a violation of the Constitu- 
tion." 

In 1835 the .\merican Anti-Slavery Society issued an official manifesto of their princi- 
ples, to remove false impressions as to their views and methods, addressed ' To the 
Public." It was written by Judge Jay, and signed by Arthur Tappan, as president, and 
John Rankin, William Jay, Elizur Wright, Abraham L. Cox, Lewis Tappan, S. S. Cornish, 
S. S. Jocelyn, and Theodore .S. Dwight. It denounced the unconstitutional usiirjjatiou 
of the government to protect slavery, and to prevent free discussion and the freedom of 
the mails, and closed with these words of warning ; " Surely we need not remind you 
that if you submit to such an encroachment on your liberties the days of our Republic 
are numbered, and that alth nigh abolitionists may be the first, they will not be the last 
victims offered at the shrine of arbitrary power." This manifesto attracted great atten- 
tion at home and abroad, being widely translated and commented upon in Europe. 

After 1835 Judge Jay published many papers on the subjects largely filling his mind 
and heart— the condition of the slaves, the relations of the National Government to 
slavery, the violation by Congress of the right of petition, an address to the non-slave- 
holders in the .slave-labor States, etc. 

Soon after leaving the bench Judge Jay visited Europe and extended his tour to Egj-pt, 
where; with Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, he investigated the subject of slavery in Egypt. 
He was for many year.s president of the .American Peace Society. In 1848 he was visited 
by an earnest cbaropion of peace, Joseph Sturge, an English Friend or Quaker, and 
showed his guest some pages of a work which was printed soon afterward, entitled " War 



FIRST DLCAIii;, iK;i(M8-J0. 333 

sons wore (|uiti- seriously iiijuivil. A large crowd gatlii-rcd aroiiiul tlm 
door and a st-iious not was tlireuU'iied, but tlie imjIici- in strong nuni- 
Ih'I-s stMHi apiR-arcd and drove the wliole erowtl, wiiite and Ijlack, from 
tlio huilding. But tlie fracas continued for some time in the street. 
Lewis Tappan, heing recognized as one of tlie hsteners tt) the colored 
preacher, was followed to Ins house in Rose Street l>y a portion of the 
crowd, who greeted him with yelLs and execrations, and pelte<l his 
house with stones after he entered it. 

A crowd gathered in front of the chapel the next evening i-luly in). 
They found it closed and its portals locked. They were hui-st open, 
the crowd rushed in, and an anti-ahohtion meeting was organized, 
with W. W. Wilder in the chair. In a speech he denounced the aboli- 
tion movement as dangerous, and proposed to adjourn until the next 
meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society. It was agreed to, but the more 
excitable and evil-disposed portion of the crowd were not satisfied. A 
voice cried out : 

" To the Bowery Theatre I" 

and Pence : the Evils of the First, -with n I'lfin for Preserving the Lnst." It advocated 
international treaties stipulating to refer future international difiereuce?; to arbitration, 
as was done in 1S71- 72 in the /Wnbmiiu cases. Mr. Slurge published it lu F.ngland, and it 
was received with great favor. This plan, after being indorsed by peace conventions 
at Brussels, Paris, and Loudon, led to the adoption of the famous protocol by the con- 
gress at Paris, after the Crimean war in IH")!, by seven European states, including Prus 
sia, which declared their wish to resort to arbitration before appealing to arms. " It is 
an act important to civilization, " said Lord Malmesbury ; and " worthy of immortal re- 
nown," said Lord Derby. 

Judge Jay's publications on all subjects were forty-three in number. Many of them 
were widely circulated and exercised much influence on public opinion. He left in 
manuscript an elaborate commentary on the Hible. By his will he left a bequest of SIOOO 
for ■' promoting the safety and comfort of fugitive slaves." He did not live to see the 
great desire of his heart realizeil in the emancipation of the slaves, which occurred within 
five years after his death. He died in the city of New York, with the interests of which 
he was long identified, on October 14, 18.58. 

On the death of Judge Jay ai>propriato proceedings were held by the New York His- 
torical Society, the American Peace Society, the bar of Westchester County, and other 
bodies. On the invitation of the colored citizens of New Vork a eulogy on the deceased 
was delivered by Frederick Douglass, and Mr. Greeley said in the Tribune : " As to Chief - 
Justice Jay, the fatlier, may be attributed more than to any other one man the abolition 
of negro bondage in this State, so to Jmlge William .lay, the son, the future will give the 
credit of having been one of the earliest advocates of the anti-slavery movement which at 
this moment [October. 18.")H| influences so radically the politics and the philanthropy of 
this country, and having guided by his writings m a large measure the direction winch 
a cause so important and so conservative of the best and most precious rights of the 
people should take." 

The portrait from which our engraving was made is from a painting by Wenzler for 
the court-bouse at White Plains. 



334 HISTOKV OF .NEW YOKK CITY. 

The stage manager of that theatre was an Enghshraan who had 
made himself obnoxious by siteaking disparagingly of Americans. That 
evening had been ai)iJointed for his benefit. i)uring the day placards 
had been posted over the city, calhng attention to the manager's hos- 
tility to the Americans. By a strange syllogism in the minds of the 
mob this manager's sin Avas interwoven into a web of offence with the 
dangcu'ous teachings of the Anti-Slavery Society. Garrison, one of its 
foundei-s, has coalesced with Englishmen in denouncing his countrj^nen 
as siimei-s, even criminals ; therefore the slanderous manager was an 
ally of the al)olitionists. So the mob seemed to reason, and acting 
upon the idea they rushed up Chatham Street to the Bowery, in a A\-ild, 
excited mass, gathering with tumultuous shouts in front of the theatre. 

Apprised of the approach of the mischievous multitude, the doors 
were closed against them. The huge mass burst them open, and 
rushed up the aisles toward the footlights, S))reading consternation over 
the audience. The play was going on. It was Metainora, and Forrest 
was performing in the principal character. The actors were alarmed 
by the appalling scene not announced in the ])laybills. Hamblin and 
Forrest tried to address the rioters ; their voices were drowned by 
yells and other noises from the throats of the intruders. 

AVhile the mob had full possession of the house, a large body of 
police suddenly appeared and drove the rioters from the building. Ex- 
asperated by this treatment, and more excited, a cry was raised : 

" To Arthm- Tappan's house !" 

The cry was echoed by the nmltitude, and a racing crowd started 
down the street. They were diverted from Arthur's house to that of 
his brother Lewis, in Eose Street, a more obnoxious abohtionist than 
the other, who was an extensive dealer in sillcs. They demohshed the 
front windows of the house, bm-st- in the doors, and soon filled the 
rooms from which the family had fled in terror. They began to smash 
the furniture or cast it into the street. Chairs, sofas, tables, pictures, 
mirrors, bedding, oi-naments were thrown out into a promiscuous mass, 
pi'e])aratoi"y to the apphcation of the torch. 

It is related (with how much truth I know not) that ^luring this wdd 
scene of devastation a pleasing incident occurred. A portrait of 
Washington was about to be thi'own out of a window, ^vhen sudtlenly 
some one shouted : 

" It IS Washington ! For God's sake, don't bui-n Washingtcm I'' 

The roar of the mob instantl\^ ceased. The ])icture was tenderly 
handeil out of the window, passed over the heads of the crowd from 
man to man, and left for safetv in a neigiiboring dwelling. 



FIRST DKCAUE, IHIJO 1840 'S.io 

Just as the work of destruction was rt-sumcil, tlio jiolicf came swooji- 
ing down tlie street, wlien the mob broke and fled ; liut linding a pile 
of bricks they armed themselves with them, rallieil, and returned. 
They assiiiled the watchmen or the police so liercely that tln'V in turn 
were compelk'd to fly. Then the mass of furniture and bedding on the 
sidewalk was set on fire, illuminating the whole sti-eet. The fire-bells 
were rung, the lire-cngines were s<jon at the place of danger, the mob 
was dispei-sed, and at two o'clock in the morning the street was quiet, 
and Lewis Tappan's .sacked dwelling was in the hands of the civil 
guardians of the peace. 

For these fierce demon.strations of mob violence the abolitionists 
themselves were not altogether blameless. During the excitement on 
the day following the demonstration at Chatham Street ('hai)el, some 
injudicious member or membei-s of the Anti-Slavery Society caused an 
incendiary placard to be posted over the city. It was headed with the 
words, in large lettere : 

" Look out fou KiuN.vpprNG ! !" 

Then followed a wood-cut representing a slave-driver mounted on a 
horse brandishing a triple-thonged wliij), driving before him a coloreil 
man, whose wife and chiJib-en were clinging to him to prevent the 
dreadful family separation. This, as a thoughtful man might have 
foreseen, inflamed the mob spirit Avhich Imrned so liercely in the attack 
on Mr. Tappan's house. 

Among other goo<l men in the city who had espoused the abolition 
cause and were active membei-s of the city Anti-Slavery Society were 
Samuel ILxnson Cox, D.D., his brother, Abraham Cox, M.D., the Rev. 
^fr. Ludlow, Isaac T. Ilojijier, a Quaker merchant, and most of his co- 
religionists, and other worthy anil higlily respected citizens. The Kev. 
Dr. Cox, though op))()sed by most of his congrc^gation, who were 
Presbyterians, was already known as an outspoken advocate of freedom 
for the slave. He was an eloquent preacher and niiicli beloved liy his 
congi'egation, who composed the Laiglit Street Church. Mr. Ludlow 
was also a fervent Presliyterian preacher, father of the well-known 
writer, Fitzhugh Ludlow, and was jia.stor of a church in Spring Street. 
He was also a bold, outspoken opposer of the system of slavery in our 
country. 

Society in the city was rpiiet on the surface on the day after the 
attack u])on Lewis Tap])an's house, but in its lower depths — the 
groggeries and other realms of vice— there was a slumbering volcano, 
hable to be uncapped at any moment i)y th(> least disturbing cause. 



336 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Throughout the city the riot Avas ahuost the only topic of conversation, 
and tiic citizens felt an indefinable dread of more trouble. 

On the morning of the 11th Mayor Lawrence ordered some of the 
city troops to be in readiness to assist in preserving the peace, if called 
upon to do so. In the evening their services were needed. At 
twilight a crowd began to assemble in front of the battered dweUing of 
Lewis Tapjian, and another attack seemed imminent Avhen the police 
suddenly ajipeared and dispersed them. They rallied elsewhere in con- 
tinually increasing volume, preparing for destructive work later in the 
evening. 

The Twenty-seventh National Guai'd had been called upon by the 
mayor to assist in the preservation of the peace. lie also issued a 
proclamation calling upon the citizens to do what they could to main- 
tain order. The National Guard assembled at the arsenal to the 
nund>er of four hundred, and there awaited orders. At twilight the 
mayor tlirected them to march to the City Hall, to be held in readiness 
to act. Colonel Stevens asked for ammunition. It Avas refused, when 
he declared he Avould not move a step until furnished with ball cart- 
ridges. The mayor then complied, and six rounds each were given t(3 
his men. 

The churches seemed to be special objects of dislike to the rioters. 
They attacked live of the temples of worship — namely, that of Dr. 
Cox's church in Laight Street, Mr. Ludlow's church in Spring Street, 
the African Chapel on the corner of Church and Leonard streets, 
St. Philip's (^hurch (colored) in Centre Street, and a church on the 
corner of Dey and Washington streets. 

The mob dispei'sed at Rose Street rallied, rushed across the town to 
Laight Street, and made a sudden and furious attack upon Dr. Cox's 
church edifice. They smashed the windows with stones and bricks, 
antl rent the air with yells and with horrid imprecations on the aboli- 
tionists. They seemed determined to lay the building in ruins, but 
were suddenly interrujrted in their destructive work by the appearance 
of the mayor, j^olice justice, district attorney, and a body of police. 
Fearing arrest, the cowards ran in all directions, but were soon re- 
united, evidently by ]n'evious concert, in front of Dr. Cox's dweUing in 
Charlton Street. 

AVarnings, threats, and the fate of Mr. Tappan's house had induced 
Dr. Cox to remove his furnitm-e and his family to a place of safetj'. 
The mob found his front door barricaded. They broke it open, and 
had begun to destroy the windows and the blinds of the lower story 
when detachments of cavalry dislodged them. They fell back, but ral- 



FIRST DECAUK. 18:tO-ls40. 337 

lii>(l, ;ni(l si'izing some rarts iiiadc a haniradc aiToss tlic street. They 
Hnally retiivil without being attaciced l>y the iiiihtary. 

ileaiiwiiile a iaij,'e erowil had gatiiered in front of Aitiiur Tappan's 
stoiv on Hanover Square, and licji:an to assiiil it witli stones. Kifteon 
Of twenty watelinien liad been stationed there, but were overpoweivd 
by the riotei-s and compelled to fly for their lives. Alderman Lalagh 
bravely stcxwl his ground in defence of law and order. He delied the 
fierce men who threateneil to kill him. 

"Break open the dooi-s if you darcl"' he shouted. " 'Plu> store is 
fi^Ued witli armed men, who will lilow your brains nut liic mnnu'iit tho 
door gives way." 

Tho frightened cowards only pelted the building with stones and 
cui'sed the abolitionists, and when I'oiic -lustice Lowndes appeared 
with a strong force they fled. 

Tho Twenty-seventh IJegiment had n\arched and counlermarcheil in 
front of the City Hall, before a turimlent ci-owd. Aliout ten o'clock 
Colonel Stevens received ordei-s to mari'h immediately to the defence 
of ^[i-. Ludlow's church editlce in Spring Stix-et. lietween Varick and 
Macdougal streets. It was a very obno.v' us ]»lace to the anti-aboli- 
tionists, for several anti-slavery meetings had been held there, and the 
pastor was one of the most zealous abolitionists in the city. 

I'efore moving, Colonel Stevens oiilered his men to load with ball 
carti'idges. His troops fii-st met the rioters in large force in Thompson 
Street, above Prince Street, where they were preparing to sack Mr. 
Ludlow's house. Pressing forward with fixed bayonets, the mob were 
pushed back, but as the sokliei-s wheeled from Macdougal into Spring 
Street they were fiercely assailed with stones and other missiles tlwown 
by the riotere and from the windows. Many of the National (iuard 
were hit, and some were felled to the gromid. It was with difficulty 
that the exasperated men were restrained from opening tire on their 
assailants. 

Near the church the mob had constnicted a liarricade of carts, 
baiTels, and laddei-s chained together, across the street, (^n the to|) of 
this was a {Kjlitician haranguing the mob and encouraging them to 
commit deeds of violence. He was seized, and with a dozen others 
was sent to the rear. Already the rioters had pulled down the fence 
that suiTounded the church, had broken some of the windows, entered 
the sanc-tuary, tore' down the ])ulpit, and demolished everything inside, 
and the bn)ken fragments were carried into the street and used in con- 
sti-ucting barricades. One of the mob Avas in the steeple ringing the l>ell 
to attract riotei-s from elsewhere when the National (iuard arrived. 



338 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY 

He too was seized and placed in custody, and the church cleared of its 
savage invaders. 

Aldermen who had been sent by the mayor to act as magistrates and 
direct the military became greatly alarmed. They actually entered 
into an agreement with the mob to let them leave umnolested if they 
would disperse. They tried to persuade Colonel Stevens to retreat to 
the Citv Hall, declaring the rioters were too many and too strong for 
his little force to hope to contend with successfully. 

" There is no retreat in the case," said Colonel Stevens indignantly. 
" I am here with my regiment for the jnirpose of dispei-sing this mob 
and quelling. the riot. Until that is done I shall not return. I shall 
proceed to the City Hall only through that crowd." 

And he did so. In defiance of the aldermen he marched two com- 
panies up to the barricade in the face of a shower of stones, broke it 
u]), went through the scattered fragments, wheeled into Varick Street, 
and drove the mob before him at the point of the bayonet. Then he 
met a police force, and with these allies he marched the two companies 
back again, charged through tlie remains of the barricade, and pushed 
the rioters rapidly back to Sullivan Street. He severed the mob into 
four pieces, and restored order in that part of the city. The conduct 
of these troops was admii-able, and they rejoiced that they won a 
victory without firing a shot ! 

Meanwhile a portion of the mob had assailed the house of the Rev. 
Mr. Ludlow in Thompson Street, broken the windows, and had burst in 
the d(Jor when, fearing the military, which they knew were near, they 
suddenly ran awaj^ leaving the pastor's family more frightened than 
hurt. 

On the way back to the City Hall the National Guard marched 
through (^entre Street, and in the region of the Five Points — then the 
most dreadful sink of vice in the city — they encountered a large mob 
which had broken into St. Philip's Church edifice, occupied by a con- 
gregation of colored jieople. They had wrecked the whole interior and 
destroyed five miserable houses near, that were filled with cUsreputable 
persons. The troops quickly put these rioters to flight. 

The danger seemed imminent yet, for the mob had arranged for 
detachments to operate in various parts of the city, and so divide the 
duties of the military and ])olice forces. The mayor remained at the 
City Hall all night, and the next morning issued another proclamation 
calling upon the citizens to report to him and be organized into com- 
panies to aid the police. The Twenty-seventh Regiment was put on 
duty again the next afternoon. A large number of other troops and 



I'lKST i>K('Ain-:. ih:;o ik-io. 



339 



the liro c<)in])ani('s were ivady to act if m-n'ssary U> i.ivs.tvo the- i)oace. 
But the riott'i-s, fxhaiisted ami dishfart.-m-il. attciniitcd no fuillicr mis- 
chief at tliat time. Tlie National (niard w.-ir .lismissed on Sunday, 
the 13th, with the thanlcs and o.mm.'ndations of the mayor for their 
efficient services. At that time one hundred and (ifty of the rioters 
were in prison awaitinjji: tlieir trial. 

The municipal authorities and the citizens were deeply im])res,sed 
with the value of the services which hail Ijeen rendered by the Twenty- 
seventh (now Seventh) Rejriment on the occasion of the two fearful 
riots which had alHicted the city within the space of a few weeks. 
The common council uni>nim(.>usly voted the regiment a stand of colors. 
These were i^resented on the 4th of June the next year by Governor 
WiUiam L. ]\[arcv, in l)ehalf of the corporation of the city of New 
York, with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a large nunihei' of 
ladies and gentlemen, officei-s of the city coqis under General Morton, 
and manv officers of the army and navy. On that oc-casion the regi- 
ment performed many skilful manoeuvres, ilorgan L. Smith was its 
colonel A piece of music composed for the occasion, entitled " The 
Consecration of the Banner," was played, when the governor addressed 
them in a most complimentary manner. 

On the evening of the 13tli (July) a fearful anti-abolition not <x-- 
curred in Philadelphia. The wrath of the mob seemed to be specially 
directed against the innocent colored people. Forty houses occupied 
bv them were assailed, and some of them destroyed. The blacks were 
beaten, one of them was killed outright, and anbther was drowned 
while trying to swim across the Schuylkill. 

Amono- The bold and uncompromising adherents of the anti-slavery 
cause in°Xew York was Isaac T. Hopper,* a Quaker bookseller in 

• Isaac T Hopper was a .listinguished philanthropist and a member of the Unitarian 
branch of the Society of Friends or Quakers. He was born in Ueptford, N J. Decem- 
ber 3 1771 and was a birthright member of the society. He learned the trade of a tailor 
with an uncle in Philadelphia. In his childhood and youth his exuberance of spirit was 
manifested in all sorts of practical jokes, sometimes verj- provokinK. but were always 
accompanied bv the kin.Uiest spirit. His love of fun remained with him in his old age. 
Strong in his convictions of right and duty, he had courage to defend and maintain 
them Ho early espoused the cause of the slave and the down-trodden, and his career in 
New York as an " abolitionist. • as related by Mrs. Child, is full of stirring incidents 
His sympathies were also with discharged convicts, and he was one of the founders o£ 
the first prison association in New York and the founder of the Women's Prison Associ- 
ation, organized at his home. For some years Mr. Hopper was a bookseller m New 
York but his life was largely devoted to works of benevolence an.l chanty. Mr. Hopper 
died in New York May 7, IS.'ia. The Home of the Women's Prison Association in New 
York is called the " Isaac T. Hopper Home" in his honor. 



Mi) HISTORY OF NEVr YORK CITY. 

Pearl Street. In his windows he displayed foi- sale all the pamphlets 
and pictures in condemnation of slavery published by the Anti- Slavery 
Society and others. While the " abolition riot"' was at its height he 
was informed by a friend that a mob was coming to attack his store, 
and advised him to remove the pamjjhlets and pictures from sight. 

" Dost thou thinli I am such a coward,"' said Hopper, " as to for- 
salce my prmciples or to conceal them at the bidding of a mob ?" 

Presently another friend came in haste to tell him the mob were 
near, and advised him to put up his shutters. 

" I will do no such thing,"' he said, firmly. 

"When the riotere came, yelling and cursing in an excited throng, 
ilr. Hopper walked out and stood on his doorstep. The tumultuous 
throng halted in front of his store. He looked cabnlj* on them, and 
they looked on him with uTesolution, seeming to quail before his glance 
hke a brute speU-bound before the gaze of the human eye. After 
pausing a moment, some of them cried out, " Go on to Rose Street !" 
and they rushed forwai'd and joined in the attack on the house of Lewis 
Tappan. 



CTIAPTErt XVITT. 

milE citizens ..f Now York luul scarcely settle.l into a feeling of 
i comparative securitv when in August they were aga.n disturbed 
and alarn ed bv the sudden outbreak of huvless violence among some of 
the mechanics'of the city. For some ti- there had been gn.vmg a 
bitter feeling among mechanics V>ecause the auth(«Mt.es at tl e btate 
P son n Sing Sing had introduced n^echanical labor among he con- 
SraulenM>loved them in ,ro<lucing articles "t cheaper rates than 
l.e market p icek This feeling had not yet been demons rated to the 
plic eve, Ihen in August, ls3., it was sudden^ T^ Vu "J'S 
iction At that time the edihce of the T n.vei-s.ty of .e ( .t> of >e v 
Yo" on the east side of the Washington Parade-Ground, wa. m 
comi of erection. The contractoi^ for the stone-work found they 
cou Shave the Westchester marble which they were using dressed at a 
creaper rat b^^ the prisoners at Sing Sing than by the stonecutters m 
the X and thev close to have their work done by the conv.cts. 

Koi'onerwas'the fact known than the indignant cty stonecuer^ 
re^r^Z resent this '• takmg the b..ad out of the,r "-uths^^ - -y 
said. Pohtical demagogues, always ready to se.ze ^1-" ^l ih h^v 
of feehn- and use it for their o^vn base purposes, simulated h. n uta 
tLn Irnon.^ the stonecuttei-s. They held meetmgs ^v^re addressed bj 
^"^mUary .l.nagogues, and at length panuled ^^^^J-^^ ^- 
cession with banne,^ and placards, on which ^^'^^^ ,^7 C Inci e 
asserted their rights and denounced the ^<-^^^^^J^^^ 
by base feUows, they even went so far as to -«-2^; t, M^^^^^^^^^^ 
several worthy citizens. Their ^^^•ath arose to fever hc^t. and ^.^e 
hendin- a riot and an attack upon the workmen "^ the Ui. ei^v 
Sin;, Mayor La..ence called upon the T-nt^-vei. 1^^^^^^^^^^ 

four davs and four nights. . y ■. 

In the space of little nu.iv than three months the o.tv of N, ^^ ^ oik 



342 HISTORY Ul' >K\V VOKK flTY. 

had been aftlieted with three riots, two of them very serious. The 
third and last was promptly suppressed before it inflicted mucli mis- 
chief. The remainder of the year 1834 was passed without any serious 
public disturbance in the city, but it was destined to suffer from an- 
other riot the foUowinj? year, and stiU another in 1837, known as the 
Flour Riot. 

New York was tlien rapidly becoming a cosmojjohtan cit}'. Immi- 
gi-ants were flocking to its borders from many lands, and the easy nat- 
ui-alization laws were transfonning them into American citizens in 
rapidly increasing numbei-s. The native-born citizens, perceiving the 
extending influence exercised by these newly fledged voters in mimici- 
pal affairs, vrere alarmed and uneasy, while unscrupulous demagogues 
used this material freely for base partisan purposes. The events of the 
election riots in the spring of 1834 had intensified the distrust of the 
native Americans of their foreign-born co-citizens, and there was an 
earnest and almost universal desire felt for the adoption of some meas- 
ure to check the gi'o\\i;h of foreign influence in our countiy. 

Another important consideration in the minds of thoughtful .Vmeri- 
cans increased their anxiety. A larger proportion of the emigrants and 
naturahzed citizens were adherents of the Eoman Cathohc Church, 
whose supreme head at that time was a temporal prince — the monarch 
of the Papal States in Italy. To this j^rince, as the spiritual head of 
his Church, every Eoman Cathohc owed and acknowledged his supreme 
allegiance. In this divided allegiance — that acknowledged in his oath 
at natm-alization, and that imposed by his Church to the sovereign of 
the Papal States — he would naturally, if occasion required him to 
choose, adhere to the Pope of Eome rather thiin to the government of 
the United States. This ])osition of the naturahzed citizen suggested 
imminent danger to the municipality in time of peril. 

AU through the winter and spring of 1834-35 the bi-each of good 
feehng, especially in political circles, between native Americans and 
foreign-born citizens had continually widened. Demagogues had as- 
sisted in widening and deepening the gulf, and antagonisms caused 
the American or Know-Xotliing political party to be formed. At 
length a crisis arrived, when pent-up fires burst into a flame. 

In June, 1835, it was reported that a mihtary regiment under the 
name of the O'Connell Guard \vas about to be organized in the city of 
New York. Inflammable Americans instantly took fire, and in certain 
circles indignation rose to fever heat. The movement was denounced 
as a process of " making an Irish i-egiment out of American citizens," 
and it was resolved to resent it at all liazards. Matters were brought 




^U^ /H ^^ /dcczT^ 



FIRST DKCADIi. 1830-1810. 343 

to a licad wlicn an advci-tiscmciit a|)])('aiv(l c-alliiig a meeting of tlie 
O'Coiincll (luanl at the KU'eckcr Stivot House. The excitable Ameri- 
eaiis made free comments on tiiis, and utteixnl tiireats. Between 
tiiem and tiie Iiisli lliei'e weiv recriminations and angry disputes which 
.sometimes ended in tist-figlits. 

Finally, on Sunday, .Tune 21st, tiie jieace of the city was disturlted 
liy .such a figiit. begun in Grand Sti-eet. near ("rosby, between an 
American and an Irishman. The duel soon gi-ew into a sort of field 
fight between a scor(^ of men, in which women joined. It Wius increas- 
ing in violence and numliei-s, and was promising to assume the dignity 
of a riot, when the |)olice interfered and restored onler. On the same 
day a c|uarrel aro.se in Chatham Street lietween a negro and a white 
man. They came to blows ; t>ther negroes and white men joined in 
tiie affray, and thei-e was a fierce battle, which was ended by the police 
with much difficulty. 

There was a more serious affair early in the evening of that hot June 
Sunday, in Pearl Street, near (.'hatham Street. It was begun by a duel 
with fists between two Irishmen. This exam]>le was contagious, and 
very soon many of their nationality were engaged in a regular pitched 
battli!. A number of respectable citizens endeavored to suppress the 
tinnult, but the upi-oar continually increased in violence until the affair 
liecame a serious riot. At length !Mayor Lawrence, accompanied by 
a large police force, made his appearance, arrested the ringleailei-s. and 
dispei-sed the moli for the time. During the fight, in which missiles of 
eveiy available kind were used. Dr. AVilliam ^IcCafferty, a well-known 
]»liysician, passing by on his way to visit a patient, was hit in the face 
by a brick, which broke his jaw. He was then knocked down liy one 
of the ruffians and terribly beaten. His ribs were broken, and ho 
.soon died. 

On the following day the mob spirit broke out with fre-sh vigor. In 
the Bowery, neai Broome Street, was a tavern called the Green 
Dragon, a favorite resort of the Irish. A mob of the baser sort of 
Americans attacked it, broke in the doore and windows, and sacked the 
house. The mayor, Police-Justice Lowndes, and a strong force of 
police hastened to the scene. Several prominent citizens also interfered 
in tr\nng to quell the riot. Several of these were wounded (Justice 
Lowndes sevei-ely so) by mi.ssiles hurled by the mob. Such scenes 
occurred the next day, when public notice was given by the iii-ojirietoi-s 
of the Bleecker Street House that a meeting of the O'Connell Guai-d 
would not be held there. Peace and order soon succeeded this an- 
nouncement. 



344 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

In the year 1834 a eliange was made in tlie aspect of a portion of 
the Citj' Hall Park. On its eastern border stood a building of rougli 
stone, comely in its style of architecture, three stories in height, with 
dormer windows and a cupola. It was the Debtors' Prison. The 
building had been erected for a prison before the Eevolution, and was 
known as the New Jail. During the occupation of the city by the 
British (177^-83) it was used as a prison for notable American ca])tives, 
and was called the Provost. It was in charge of the notorious William 
Cunningham, the British provost-marshal, who made it famous by his 
crimes. 

After the Revolution the Provost was used as a debtors' prison, 
common felons being confined in the Bridewell, which stood in the 
Park between the City Hall and Broadway. In 1830 this old jirison 
was converted into a building for the safe keeping of the county 
recoi'ds. All above the second story was demolished ; a roof with very 
little pitch and covered with copper was substituted for the old one ; a 
Grecian portico was added to the northern and southern ends, giving 
it, with other modifications, an imitation of the temple of Diana at 
Ephesus, and was stuccoed in imitation of blocks of marble. 

"While yet in an unfinished state, this Hall of Kecords, as it was 
named, was used as a hospital while the city was afflicted with the 
cholera scourge in 1832. When it was completed in 1834 the offices of 
the register, comptroller, street commissioner, and surrogate were estab- 
lished in it. Gradually the various kinds of public business so increased 
that in 1809 the whole building \vas given up to the use of the register. 
It has been repaired at heavy expense from time to time. 

The year 1835 was made memorable by the most disastrous confla- 
gration that ever afflicted the city. There had been some famous fires 
before, which had figured in the history of the town. 

The first of these notable conflagrations was a series of fires that 
occun-ed almost simultaneously in different parts of the httle city in 
the spring of 1741, the time of the so-called Xegro Plot, already de- 
scribed on page 21. 

The next most notal)le fire occurred on tlie 21st of Sei)tember, 1776, 
just after the British army had invaded Jlanliattan Island and were 
about to enter the city fiom the north, mentioned on page 41. Dur- 
ing the British eccupation of the city a destructive fire occuri-cd, laying 
sixty-four houses, besides stores, in ashes. See page 43. 

The famous " Coffee-House Slip fire" broke out at Murray's Wharf, 
foot of Wall Street, between one and two o'clock on the morning of 
December 9, 1796, and before it was arrested laid in ashes about fiftv 



I'lHSr KKCADK, 1830-1M40. 3i5 

buildings well stocketl witli iiici'cliiiiKlisi'. Tlic (k'sti'iu'tioii was com- 
plete in tlie space of about four iiours. Tiic lire cxtentiiMJ from Wail 
Street to Maiden Lane. 

Coffee-IIouse Slip was the scene of the beginning of another destruc- 
tive conflagration, which was kindled in a grocerv-st(jre in Front Street 
on the night of ])ecend)er lf>, lsn4. The air was keenly cold, the 
wind higii, and the Hanies spivad so i"i]ti(lly that before tiiey were 
checked foity buildings had been ct)nsunied, with most of their con- 
tents, the whole valued at nearly ^2,000,(i(>(». Among the buildings 
destroyetl was the famous old C'ofTee-lIouse. At that time the popula- 
tion of the city was ai)out seventy thousand. It possessed twenty- 
seven fire-engine coni|)anies aiid four hook-and-ladder companies. 

On the morning of ^Fay 1".', ISll, a very destructive fire began in a 
coachmaker's shop in Chatham Street, comer of Duane Street. The 
now venerable merchant, John I)egr.auw, a boy at the time, was pass- 
ing, when, discovering the fire, he ran down Chatham Street crying 
Fire I iind soon had the I)ell of the Debtoi-s" Jail a-ringing. It was 
Sunday morning, and the church-bells were ringing, calling the ])eople 
to worship. Many, supposing the Hre-alarm to be a part of the tintin- 
nabulation, were tardy in ai)i)earing on the scene of the conHagration. 
The wind was high, an<l a drought was prevailing. Cinders wci'c car- 
ried to the steeple of the Brick Church in Beekman Street, which was 
set on fire, but was sof)n extinguished. Before the Hanies were sub- 
dued, at three o'clock in the afternoon, more than one hundred build- 
ings of various kinds were consmned. FlaJies of Ore had ignited forty- 
three different buildings at some distance from the conliagi~ation, but 
the flames did not sj)read.* 

From ISll until tin; great fire in Xew York in 183.5, there were sev- 
eral pretty severe conflagi'ations, but none very extensive. The most 
notable was the burning of the widely known City Hotel in April, 
1833, Avhich had so long been the leading inn of the cit\'. 

The justly called f/nnf fire of 1S35 was kindled in the store of Cora- 
stock & Andrews, fancy ib-y-gomls jobbers at No. 25 ^Merchant Sti'cet, 
corner of Pearl Street. The latter was a very narrow street, then 
recently ojiened, in the rear of the Exchange. The fire brolce out 
about nine o'clock in the evening of December It?, ls3.">. The weather 
was intensely cf)ld — so cold that water sent up from the fii-e engines fell 
in hail. The mercury marked several degi'ees below zero. 

The conHagration seems to have been started by an overheated 

* Sec Shelilon's " Story of the Voluutfcr Firciucu of Xew York," pp. IT-t-lOi. 



346 HISTORY OF NEW YORK ( ITY. 

stove-pijie in the counting-room, where the flames were first discov- 
erecl. The contents of the store were very combustible, and soon the 
interior of the Imilding was a mass of flame. 

The fire streamed out of the dooi-s and windows, and the heat and 
burning cindei-s were carried by a strong wind against tlu; stores on tlie 
opposite side of Pearl Street. 

The lire department had labored nearly all the previous night in 
fio-htino- a larffe conflagi-ation at Bm-ling Sliii, where several stores 
were burned, and were less prompt in their arrival upon the scene of 
duty tlum usual, and it was more than half an liour before a stream of 
water was i)oured on the menaced buildings in Pearl Street. The 
hydrants, too, were mostly frozen, and the water in the slips was so 
low, owing to a long-continued north-west wind, that the firemen were 
unable, from the docks, to reach the water with their suction-pipes. 
The engines froze tight if not continually kept at work, and many of 
them were rendered useless from this cause. Under these circum- 
stances the fire rapidly gained headway, and narrow Merchant Street 
soon presented an impassable wall of fire. The only way to reach the 
focus of the conflagration was through William and Water streets and 
Old Slip. 

AVitli the engines bound by the frost and an inadequate sujiply of 
water, the firemen had nothing better offered them to do than to 
endeavor to save property by removal. To this task they actively and 
effectively devoted their strength. They were joined by merchants 
and citizens. Goods in immense c|uantities were carried out of igniting 
stores and piled in the Merchants' Exchange in Wall Street, in the 
Dutch Reformed Church m Garden Street, in Old Sli]i, and in Hanover 
Square. Put the fierce dragon of flame soon oveitook them in these 
lilaces of fancied securit}', and devoui-ed the edifices with their precious 
contents. The splendid Exchange, with its Ijeautiful interior arrange 
ments and decorations, its grand colonnade, its lofty dome, and 
the fine marble statue of Alexander Hamilton by Ball Hughes, was 
soon reduced to a ghastly skeleton, blackened and broken. In the s])ace 
of a few hours millions of dollars' worth of property which had been 
remcn'ed from stores, from place to place, for safety, had been destroyed 
in the places of refuge. 

Many of the stores were new, supphed with strong iron shuttei-s, 
their roofs covered with (:o]i])er and supplied ■\\ith copper gutters, and 
were considered aljsolutely fire-proof. But the fervid heat crept from 
building to building under the roofs, and shot down with fury to the 
lower floors, setting everything ablaze within. When the sluittei's. 



riKsr DECADE, 1830-1840. '■^■i'' 

\\ar|>.'.l witli heat, wi-iv uiifast.-nr<l :iii<l 11. 'W ..|M'n, tli.- intiM-ior nf tli.'s.- 
fricat stoivs apiM-aivl like Im-i- i:\'>wn\<: lumaccs. The loppi-r on 
t\u'\r i<M>ls was in.-lt.<i an.l fell lik«' drops of Imrning sweat to tiie i)ave- 
nu'iit. 

The lar-,a' Kast India waivlioiise of Peter U<insen »S: Co., standing on 
the noitlieilv side of Ilanovei- S(|uaie, was for a time an ol)jeet of 
absorbing inleivst. It was lilled with a full st.jck c^f valuable gtmds. 
Before the fire reaehed it, goods were cast out of the windows in the 
upi)er stories into the street, and with merchandise fwni the lower 
f1CK)i-b were i)de.l in a huge mass in the s«iuare, which was thought to 
be a place of al)solute sjifety. The roaring flames came swiftly on; 
Pearl Street on both siiles was a sheet of fire, and a shower of living 
cindei-s rained upon the i>yramid of India go<Kls in Hanover Square, 
and thev di.s;ippeaivd like the ligures in a dissolving view. 

" Suddenly a terril)le exjilosion occurred near by, with the noise of a 
cannon," wrote an eye-witness of the apjialling scne. " The earth 
shook. We ran for safety, not knowing what might follow, and t(K)k 
refuge on the comer of Gouverneur Lane. "Waiting for a f.-w minutes, 
a second exi>losion took i)lace, then another and another. During the 
space perhaps of half an hour shock after shock followed in rapid suc- 
cession, accompanied with the darkest, thickest clouds of smoke imagi- 
nable. The exjilosions came from a store in Front Street, near Old Slij). 
where large quantities of saltpetre in large liags had l)een stored. 
Suddenlv the whole ignited, and out leaped the flaming streams of 
these neutral salts in their own peculiar colors, from every door and 
window."* 

At midnight the spreading of the fire was checked ir. one direct, on 
by the imjiassable barrier of the East River, acro.ss which a firebrand 
was carried bv the wind and set fire to a house in Brooklyn! It was 
soon extinguished. The fire meanwhile si)read toward P.roadway. It 
was soon evident that the marble Exchange building was in great jeop- 
ardy. The Post-Ofiice occupied a portion of it. After a consultation 
between the mayor, the postmaster, and others, its contents were 
removed to a place of safety just in time to avoid destniction. Scores 
of men tried to save the fine statue of Hamilton, but did not succeed, 
and that jiortrait of the great statesman soon liecame a ]wrt of the 
common niin of the edifice which the merchants of Xew York were so 
jiroud of. 

* U,.h,iel r. Pisnsway, i,. lb- " Histon- of th- City of New York from the Discovery to 
the Pri'sent D.iv, • l.v Williiun L. Ston.-. ji. 47:1. 



348 IllSTOKY OF NEW YOliK CITY. 

Tho Garden Street Church and its adjoining burying-ground Avere 
piled with millions of dollars' worth of merchandise. The flames 
approached it, and tlie old fane with its precious contents and those on 
the surface of the graveyard melted before them like wax. There, 
too, was lost the venerable bell which called the people of New 
Amsterdam to worship within the fort during the Dutch rule on Man- 
hattan Island. It is related by Mr. Disosway that when the church 
had taken fire some pei-son began to play upon the organ which had 
given out solemn peals of music at the burial of many citizens. He 
played the funeral dirge of the old organ, and only ceased when the 
lofty ceihng jjegan to blaze and danger admonished him to fly for 
safety. 

The fire spread rapidly in the direction of Coenties Slip and Wall 
Street. The firemen were powerless to save any building. At about 
two o'clock in the morning the mayor (Lawrence) summoned a council 
of aldermen and others in the street. The late General Joseph G. 
Swift, an eminent engineer in the public service, had suggested the 
necessity of blowing up some buildings not yet ignited to arrest the 
flames. The mayor hesitated to take the responsibility, hence the 
council of aldermen. Among the latter was Moi'gan L. Smith, alder- 
man of the Fourth Ward, who was also colonel of the Twenty-seventh 
(now Seventh) Regiment National Guard. It was determined to try 
the experiment. Eufus Lord's store in Garden Street (now Exchange 
Place) was the first Ijuilding ordered to be l)lown up. 

The mayor sent an order to General Arcularius, in charge of the 
arsenal, for gunpowder. The general responded : 

" I send you one barrel of gunpowder, all there is in the arsenal." 

In the mean time no one could be found who had experience or was 
willing to undertake the hazardous work of blowing up. It was finally 
assigned to Colonel Smith,* of the National Guard. The cartman 

* Morgan L. Smith wus bnru in Duchess County, N. Y., in 1801. His father possessed 
an ample fortune for the time, and the son was not bred to any special calling. He 
finished his education at an academy in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1820. He had desired a 
cadetship at West Point, but his father preferred to have him engage in some business. 
After he left school he travelled extensively in the south-western portion of our country. 
In 1821 ho was in New Orleans, then a .small town. He returned home by sea. 

Mr. Smith established a leather commercial house in New York in 1825 with hit 
nephew, Jackson Schnltz, now one of the most enterprising merchants and iiublic- 
spirited citizens. For twelve years he pursued business earnestly and successfully. He 
was an officer in banks and other institutions, was a member of the Chamber of Com. 
merce, and an active and efficient officer of the National Guard, as wo have observed 
in the text. He was alderman or tho Fourth Ward. After the business revulsion of 



KIKST nKCAPE, IS;iO isin. :tJ'.i 

who l)rniiu-lit till' bari'cl of |)u\v(lcr was so l'rif,'lit(>n('il liy the sliowci- <»!' 
Imriiiii;^ tVa^^iiicnts tliiit lu> ivl'iiscd to go nearer tlie coiiHagratioii ilian 
the (.•orner of Vim' and Nass;iii streets, when tlie eolonel called <»ii 
si^nie one to aid him in carrying the powder to (iardeii Stivet. Tlio 
late James A. Hamilton imniediatelv stejyped forward and said, ** 1 
will." 

They covered tlie hai-rel with woollen hlankets, and these two hrave 
men carried it to the centre of the haseraent of Lord's warehouse. 
They niatle a fuse of calico, slightly twisted so as to bum briskly, about 
twenty feet in length, fastened one enil in the powder, set it on lire at 
the other end, and retreati'd, closing tlu^ cellar dooi- tightly after them. 
In a few minutes the explosion demolished the wai'eliouse and nuule 
such a chasm that with little exertion the firemen stayed the ])rogre.ss 
of the flames in that direction. " When the powder was ignited," 
wrote the veneral)le John \Y. Degrauw (an old lireiniin) to the author 
early in 1SS8, '* when the ])owder was ignited, marvellous to relate, I 
saw the building lifted several feet aliove its foundations and fall in 
ruins." 

"When the mayor learned that there was no more jiowder at tlie 
arsenal, the late Charles King (afterward president of Columliia 
College) volunteered to go to the Brooklyn Xavy-Vard for aid. Jle 
crossed the Eiist River among the floating ice in an ojMjn boat, and 
returned with Ca[)tain Mix of the navy and some seamen, with powder, 
who immediately took charge of the work of blowing up other build- 



18.37 he went to Texas and opened n commerciiil bouse nt Columbia, on the Brazos. 
President Van Buren appointed him I'nited States consul, which position ho held until 
annexation abolished the office in 181.5. 

When Governor Marcy was Polk's Secretary of War he requested Colonel Smith, then in 
Washington, to visit the camp of General Taylor (who had been sent to Texas with a few 
troops) at Corpus Christi, and furnish him with detailed inf(.rmation about the aspect of 
affairs in that region, for he could get but little from the general. On bis return Mr. 
Smith made many inquiries, and wrote to the secretary what bo had said to him orally, 
" There will be no war." Very soon afterward the Ifexicans crossed the Rio Grande, and 
war was actually begun. .\t its close Colonel Smith was actively in favor of annexa- 
tion, and Was one of a committee of five to hold mass meetings of citizens and learn the 
mind of the people. .V vast majority were in favor of annexation, and it was accom- 
plished. 

From that period until the Civil War Colonel Smith was engaged in business in Texas, 
but at its close he retired, and has since made his abode at the North. He occupies a 
lino residence in Newark, New Jersey. Ho is n devoted member nf the Baptist Church, 
and has generously endowed twenty theological scholarships in Madison I'niversity, of 
wbich bo is a trustee. He is also a trustee of Vassar College at Poughkeepsie, of which 
he was one of the corporators chosen by the founder. 



350 lUSTOKY OF NEW YOIJK CIIV 

inu-s. Tho hravi- and generous act of Colonel Smith was universally 
applauded.* 

Meanwhilo the greatest exertious had been niado to prevent the 
destroyer crossing Wall Street. At one time such disaster seemed 
inevitable. The famous Tontine Coflfee-House, on the corner of AVall 
and "Water streets, roofed with shingles, took fire. Only two lire- 
eno-ines were near, and these were almost powerless from want of 
water. Seeing the danger impending over a large j^ortion of the city 
if the great building sliould be consumed, Oliver Hull, a well-known 
citizen, standing by, offered to give |10() to the firemen's fund if they 
would put out the flames on the roof and save the building. The fire- 
men immediately made a pile of boxes which had been removed from 
adjacent stores, placed upon it a brandy-puncheon, on which one of 
the men mounted, and so directed the nozzle of the hose that the water 
played on the shingles and extinguished the flames. So, the upper part 
of the city was saved. 

Farther up Wall Street much property was saved by the sagacity of 
Downing, the " oyster king," as he was called, at the corner of Broad 
and Wall streets. "Water could not be had. lie had a large quantity 
of vinegar in his cellar. This he brought out, and by throwing it on 
the flames carefully with pails, much- property was saved. 

It was estimated that an area of nearly fifty acres was strewn with the 
rains of almost seven hundred buildings and their contents, prostrated 
and consumed by the dreadful conflagration. In all that area, wherein 
no one might penetrate until late the next day, on account of the fierce 
lieat, only one building was left entire. It was the store of Jolm A. 
Moore, an iron merchant, on Water Street, near Old Shp. Strange to 
relate, during the awful ravages of the flames not a single human life 
was lost, nor was there a serious accident of any kind. The extent of 
the fire was given as follows in the Courier a»d Enqiiirer : 

" South Str(!et is burned down from Wall Street to Coenties Slip. 
Front Street is Ijurned down fi-om Wall Street to Coenties Slip. Pearl 
Street is burned down from WaW Sti'eet to Coenties Alley, and the fii'e 

* On the following day Sir. Hamilton (a son of General Alexander Hamilton), who 
assisted Colonel Smith in carrying the barrel of powder, sent him the following note : 

•' New Yokk, December 17, 1835. 
*' Sir: As an eye-wit nesa to your coiuliiot during the fire of last night, I congratnTnte you npon the s^nc- 
CC99 of your exertions in arresting itg destructive course. Your decision and fe.urkssMSS of consequences 
wlille In the discharge of your duly are deserving of tlie highest praiic. 

" Witli sincere resiiect, your obedient servant, 

"J.\>iKS A. Hamh.to.n. 
' MonoAN I,. Smith, F.sq., Alderman of tlie 4th Ward." 



KIUST I'KCADE. 1890-1840. 351 

was tlifn> st(>ii|tcil l>y hldwin^' up a Iniiklmjr. Stone Street* is burned 
down IVoni William Street to No. :',-2 on (»ne side, ard No. 3'J on tlie 
otlier. lieavt-r Street is Imriied down lialT way to IJroad Street. 
K.\<lianj,'e I'laee is burned down from Hanover Street to within tlireo 
d(Mtis of I'l'oad Stivet ; iiere tiie llames were sto[ii)ed by ijlowing up :i 
iiouse. AViiliam Street is burned down from Wail Street t<j Soutli 
Street, bntli siiles of tiie way ; .A[arlvet House down. Wall Street is 
burneil down on the soutii side from William Street to S(juth Street, 
with the excei)tion of Xos. .11, .").'$, ")."), .")", ")!•, and <M, opposite this 
ullice. AJl the streets and alleys within the above hmits are destroyed. 
• The following will be found a tolerably aeeurate statement of the 
lUHuber of housi's and stores now levelled with the ground : liti on Wall 
Street ; :J7 on South Street ; 80 on Front Street ; f.2 on E.xehango 
Place ; 44 on William Street ; 16 on Ooenties Slij) ; 3 on Hanover 
Square ; 20on(iouveriieur's Lane ; 20 on Cuyier's Alley ; 70 ou Pearl 
Street ; 70 on AVater Street ; 10 on Hanover Street ; 31 on Exchange 
Street ; 33 on Old Slip ; 4U on Stone Street ; 2?, on Beavei- Street ; 
10 on Janes's Lane, and 3S on Mill Street. Total, (574. Six hundrerl 
and seventy-four tenements — by far the greater ])art in the occupancy 
of our largest shipping anil wholesale dry -goods and gr<x-ery merchants, 
and lilled with the richest i)roducts of everv portion of the globe." 

The estimated value of the ])roperty destroyed by the terrible confla- 
gration was $18,000,000 to $20,000,000. The ])oi-tion of the city 
burned over was quite e.Ktensively iM)]nilated. Hundreds of families 
were turned into the streets that bitter night, homeless and houseless, 
and many wealthy or prosi)erous merchants wei'e re<luced to compara- 
tive poverty in a few hom-s. A greater ])ortion of the fire-insurance 
companies W(>re ruined, and tlierefore iniicli mei'chandise nominally 
insured was a total loss to its t)wnei-s. 

The atmosphere on tiiat night was very clear. The light of the great 
fire was seen at Saratoga, nearly two hundred miles distant. The 
writer of these pages, tiien living at Poughkee])sie, seventy-five miles 
distant, saAV its reflection like an aurora glowing dimly above the 
crests of the Hudson Highlands. The fire raged all that night and 
nearly the whole of the next day. 

It was early perceived that an immense amount of jiroperty among 
and near the ruins not consumed Wius exposed to the depredations of 
thieves. There was not then, as now, an insurance patrol, so the 

* stone Street was the first street in the city that was paved (with cobble-stones), and 
hence it« nanii- 



352 HISTORY OF -NEW YOKIv CITY. 

National (iiuml was called out by the mayoi" for tho protection of the 
exposed property. Faithfully, as usual, they stood guard nil the 
I'einaiiuler of that fearful night, suffering much in the intense cold. 
During their night vigils refi'eshments were furnished them from the 
Auction Hotel, near by, and on the ISth. after arduous duties for about 
thii-ty hours, these ever-ready and faithful guardians of the city were 
dismissed.* 

As soon as possible after the news of the fire reached Philailelphia, 
fire companies came on from there to the help of their brethren in Xew 
York. Firemen also came from Newark and Brooldyn., and all 
remained until the danger of a renewed conflagration Avas overpast. 
Expressions of the deepest sympathy for the sufferei-s also came from 
Philadeli)hia and neighboring towns and cities. The conflagration was 
considered by many as a national calamit}'. 

This dreadful blow seemed to paralyze the business community of 
New York with its benumbing shock. The check to its bounding 
enterprise Avas temporary. At noon on the 19th of December, while 
the rains were 3'et smoking, a meeting was held at the City Hall. 
Judge Irving called the assembly to order, when Mayor Lawrence was 
chosen to preside. The following eminent citizens were appointed vice- 
jiresidents : Albert Gallatin, Preserved Fish, Louis McLane, George 
Newbold, Tsrac Bronson, Enos T. Throop, Campbell P. White, John 
T. Irving, Samuel Hicks, George Griswold, James G. King,t P>enja- 

* It was during this yeiir (183.5) that the Order of Merit, which originated with Colonel 
Morgan L. Smith, was established iu the National Guard, its object being to increase the 
efficiency of the regiment by cultivating a desire to excel in drill. The badge of the 
order was a silver cross worn on a red ribbon. This cross might be conferred on twelve 
members of the regiment in each year. The first drill for the order took place at the 
arsenal yard. The Seventh Company won the honor. The contest was renewed the 
following year ; dissatisfaction arose, much bitterness of feeling was engendered, and 
finally the Order of Merit was abandoned. 

f James Gore King was an eminent banker and merchant. V.'hile his father, Kufus 
King, was United States minister at the British Court, he had his two sous, Charles and 
James, educated at the best schools in England. James was born in New York City 
May 8, 1791. On his return from England m 180.5 he entered Harvard University, and 
graduated in 1810, Ho studied at the famous Litchfield Law School. In 1812 he mar- 
ried a daughter of Archibald Gracie, a sister of the wife of his brother Charles, and was 
afterward established as a merchant in Liverpool, with his brother-in-law, Archibald 
Gracie, Jr. In 1824 he returned to Xew York and became one of the firm of Prime, 
Ward & King, bankers. When that firm dissolved Mr. King formed a similar banking 
house under the name of James G. King & Sons. Mr. King performed service as adjutant 
in the war of 1812-15. In 1819 he took a seat in Congress, serving one term. He was 
for many years an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was its president at 
the lime of his death, which occurred at his residence at Highwood. N. J., October 3, 1853. 




JYlfh^^-^^/f/iJ^-^ 



FiiisT dkl'aue, isao-is4o. 3o:j 

mill L. Swan, .lacul) Lunllanl, antl Stc|)ln'ii Allen. Tin- followiii'r 
i'i|ually iMiiiiunt citizens were apiMjinteil secretaries : Jonatliun Gcjod- 
iiue, I'rosper ,M. Wetmore, John S. Crarv, John A. Stevens, .lacoli 
Harvey, IJeuijen Witiioi-s, Dudley Selden, Samuel ]j. liugjrjes, (ieoi-;,'e 
"Wilson, Samuel Cowdrcy, James Lee, and JcjIiii L. (ii~aham. The 
meeting, on motion of James G. King, the banker, 

" Tiesolreil, Tlmt wliilo the citizens of New York lament over the niin which has left 
(Ifsolnte the most valuable part of the city, and deejily sympatbize with the numerous 
snfferers, it becomes them not to repine, but to unite in a vigorous exertion to repair (he 
loss ; that the extent of her commerce, the number, wealth, and enterprise of her citizens, 
justify, under the blessings of Divine Providence, a jiriuinry reliance upon her own 
resources , that wo consider it the duty of our citizens and moneyed institutions who 
stand in the relation of creditors to those who have directly or indirectly suffered by tha 
late fire, to extend to thein the utmost forbearance and lenity." 

The meeting, on motion of Dudley Selden, appointed a committee of 
one hundred to ascertain the extent of the loss anil proi)able value of 
the ]m>i>erty destroyed, also how far the sufferers were protected \tv 
insurance. They weie also authorized to ajiply to Congress for relief, 
by extending credit for debts due to the I'nited States, and for a return 
or remission of duties on goods destroyed Ijy the fire ; also to .solicit 
the general. State, and city govermnents to extend their aid if deemed 
expedient. Tliey were also emjiowered to institute an investigation 
with a view to the adoption of mea.sures to jirevent the recurrence of 
such a calamity, and to take measures for the immediate relief of those 
who were reduced to want by the conflagration. The then leading 
men of the city engaged m the various fields of business activitv were 
placed on this important committee.* Only two of the mem here of 

* The following named gentlemen constituted th.it committee : Cornelius W. Lawrence, 
Albert Gallatin, Preserved Fish, .Samuel Hicks, Benjamin L. Swan, Dudley .Selden, 
.lonnthan Goodhue, Saul Alley, Prosper M. Wetmore, .John T. Irving, .John Pintard, 
George Newbold, Samuel B. Rnggles. James G King, William B. Astor, George Gris- 
wold, Enos T. Throop, Samuel Cowdrey, Thom.is J. Oakley. George Wilson. William I. 
McConn, .John G. Coster, Walter Bowne, .James F. Bowman, Louis ilcLane, Jacob 
I.orillard, .Fohn S. Crary, .lacob Harvey, Reuben Withers, Ogden Hoffman. Charles 
King, Edward .Santord, .John W Loavitt. Adam Treadwell, John Leonard, George S. 
Robliins, William Xeilson. .Stephen Whitney. iJoseph Burehard, .Jacob iJorton. John 
Wilson, Mordccai M. Noah, Philip Hone, William L. Stone, Rensselaer Havens, L'harles 
Vi\ Sanford, William Van Wyck, D. F. Manice, John Kelley, H. C. De Rham. Isaac 
Bronson, Campbell P. White, John A. .Stevens, James Lee, George Douglass. .Stephen 
Allen, .John Fleming, John B. Jjiwrence, V.ilHam B. Townsend, Charles H. Russell 
James Heard, Charles Graham, George Ireland, John Y. Cebrn, Samuel Jones, Charles 
Augustus Davis, Robert C. Wetmore, James D. P. Ogden. Andrew Warner, David Hall, 
James Conner, Robert White. Richard Pownell. .Joseph Blunt. Samm 1 Ward. F. B. Cutting. 



354 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

that committee of one liuudi'ed citizens appointed forty years ago now 
(1883) survive. Tliese are General James "Watson Webb and Oolonel 
Andrew Warnei'. 

The recuperative energy displayed In' tlie business men at this time 
was marvellous to beiioid. They seemed to rebound from sudden 
depr-ession with wonderful elasticity. The newspapers at home and 
abroad greeted them with words of sympathy and encoui-ageuient. 
The business ramifications with almost every city and village in the 
country made tliat sympathy assume the feature of a personal emotion. 
After tlie first sliock was over no gloom pervaded the connnunity, 
thougli almost every family was more or less affected by tlie disaster. 

" That portion of the city which has been destroj^ed," said the New 
York Mirror, a fortnight after the fire, " contained more of talent, 
resjiectability, generosity, industry, enterprise, and all the cjuahties tliat 
ennoble and dignify our race, than the same sjiace, perhaps, in any 
other city in the world. The former occupants of that spot gave 
employment and subsistence to more of their fellow-creatnres, and were 
the dispensers of more good, more liberal benefactions to tli(>ir kind, 
more useful citizens of the comnuxnity of Avhich they were among the 
leading members, than probably any other class of men. They were 
libeiul encouragers of the arts, the supporters of literature, the fosterei"s 
of native talent in every branch of science. ... In a sliort time, 
we ti-ust, by the goodness of that Providence which producetli lienefit 
out of evil, that this dispensation will be recounted as a curious event 
and as an liistorical fact, whose effects are unfelt, and whose i-esults 
have terminated in unprovement and beauty." 

John H. Howland, John Lang, Daniel Jackson, J. Palmer, Richard Riker, James Roose- 
velt, Jr., James Monroe, Richard McCarthy, Isaac S. Hone, Peter A. Jaj', Amos Bntler, 
Joseph D. lieers, David Bryson, Samuel Swartwoiit, Walter K. Jones, Philo L. Mills, 
Morris Robinson, Rcnjamin McVickar, John Haggerty, Charles Dennison, George W. Lee, 
William Churchill, Genrgo Lovett, G. A. Worth, Edwin Lord, B. L. Woolley, William 
Mitchill, Burr Wakeman, William Leggett, James B. Murray, Peter A. Cowdrey, John L. 
Graham, George D. Strong, Jonathan Lawrence, Cornelius Heyer, James Lawson, Samuel 
S. Howland, James Watson Webb. William M. Price, John Delafield, James McCride, 
M M. Qnackenboss, B. M. Brown, William B. Crosby, Gulian C. Verplanck. William Beach 
Lawrence, Joseph L. Josephs, S. H. Foster, T. T. Kissam, Robert Bogardus, William 
Howard, Luman Eeed, Robert Smith, M. Ulshoefer, Samuel Thompson, Robert C. 
Cornell, Peter G. Stuyvesant, David Haddcn, Benjamin Strong, William P. Hall, Isaac 
Townsend, Charles P. Clinch, Rnfiis L. Lord, J. R. Satterlee, David S. James, David 
Austen, Seth Gecr, Robert Lenox, Perez Jones, William Turner. 

To this committee was added the following committee, appointed by the Board of 
Trade, to co-operate with the Committee of One Hundred : Gabriel P. Disosway, Robert 
Jnffray, Silas Brown, N. H. Weed, George Underbill, D. A. Cusliman, Meigs D. Benjamin, 
Slarciis Wilbur, and Thomas Dcnnv. 



KIHST DKCADK, 1m:!() 1S40. 355 

It was oven so. As lias Ix-cii i-cinarkctl, the rclHiiiiiil was inarvcllmis. 
Hcfdre many niontlis had passed away tliis ixjrtion of tlie eity — tlic 
'• Ininit district" — literally arose from its ashes. "Improvement and 
beauty" had done tiieii- perfect work. " Unsiness, tnide, and coiu- 
meice revived more rapidly than heforc'," sjiid Mr. Disosway. " In 
vain do we search for a chajrter in ancient or modern history of such a 
contlagrati(m an<l its losses, and of ra]iid recovery from all its evils, 
with increasing prosperity, as we lind in the great lire of New York in 
December, 183")." 

The spirit of the business men of the city which prompted immediate 
reaction was well illustrated by a circumstance related by the late 
William E. Dodge c<jncerning the conduct of James E. Lee, who wjxs a 
drv-g(HxIs impcjrter, and was subsetpiently chiefly instiiimental in pro- 
curing the erection of Brown's fine et]uestrian statue of AVashington in 
Union Square. 

" As I siiw him, covered with dirt," sjiid Mr. Dodge, " the day after 
the fire, trying with a gang of men to dig out his iron siife, I said : 

'• ' "Well, this is very hard.' 

" ' Yes," said Lee, straightening himself up, ' i)ut. Df)dge, thank 
Go<l, he has left me my wife and children, and these hands can support 
them.' And he Uved and died one of the time-honored merchants." 

That fire began tlie exodus of the dry-goods business from Pearl 
Street, and it has never returned. It has gradually gone up town, and 
the finest stores may now be found miles north of the Battery. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE great fire in the early winter of 1835 ^vas a strong confirma- 
tion of the popular wisdom evinced at the spring election that 
year, b}^ casting an overwhelming majority of votes in favor of a ]iro- 
ject for securing an aliundant supply of water for domestic and public 
use in the city. Let us take a brief glance at methods which had been 
employed for furnishing water for the city before that period. 

The first public well constructed in Xew York (then New Amster- 
dam) was in front of the fort at the foot of Broadway. It was put in 
operation about 1658, and was the resort of the iniiabitants, not other- 
wise supphed, (luring the remainder of the Dutch rule. 

This seems to liave been the only public well in the city until 1077, 
after the final occupation of the town by the English, when it was 
ordered by the municipal authorities that " wells be made m the 
following [)laccs, by the inhabitants of the streets where they are sever- 
ally made, namely : One opposite Eoelf Jansen, the butcher ; one in 
Broadway, opposite Yan Dyck's ; one in the street oi)posite Derick 
Smith's ; one in the street opposite John Cavalier's ; one in the yard 
of the City Hall, and one in the street opposite Cornelius van Bor- 
smn's." 

In 16S7 seven other ])ublic wells were constructed, and for the pur- 
pose of defraying the expense, assessments of designated property- 
owners were made, the city government paying one half the expense. 

During the earlier ])art of the last century the city government con- 
tributed annuall}' about $2o for the construction of new wells, while 
the iniiabitants living in the neighborhoods of the weUs paid the 
remainder of the expense. Xone of them were allowed the use of the 
well until they had contributed a fair proportion of the expense. 

In the year 1750 ]3umps fii-st came into use in the public wells, and 
the General Assembly of the province passed an act to enable the city 
to raise a tax for the constraction and keeping in rei)air of the pumps 
in public wells. 

So early as 1774, when the po])ulation was but twenty-two thousand, 
an attemjit was made to establish a uniform water-supply, under the 



FIUST DKiADK. 1H:iO ISIO. .'l.')? 

direction (tf Cliristophcr C'ollos. He sii^r^'fstcd ti» tlic city autlioritics 
tlu' construction of water- works on the easterly side of Broadway, 
north of (])resent) IVarl Stfeet. Tliey were to consist of a large well, 
]uiiii|)ini;' niachinory, and a reservoir, tlie well to he near the edge of 
the Collect Pond, and the site of the city prison called the Toinlis. 
The reservoir was to he ii|>on the high ground opj)osite (jjresi'nt) Woitli 
Street. City honds were issued to the amount of ^l^.'ido. This 
amount was increased the next yi'ar to s1;?.ihiu. The land was pur- 
chased for a little more than s.'.ono, hut the breaking out <»f the old 
war for inde])endence put an end to the ])roject. 

Immediately after the close of the war the suiiject engageil the 
puiilic attentKtn, and from that time until 1S'.V2 various measures for 
sujiplying the city with an ahund'ance of ]mrc water were proposed. 
Only two Avere tried, and these proved inadecpiate. These were the 
!^[anhatta^ "Water AVorks in ("hamhei-s Street, and a reservoir near 
Union Square. In each case the source of the water sujiply was an 
immense well. 

In 1882 Colonel De Witt Clint<in, in response to a resolution of the 
common council, re])orted that \n his judgment the city of New Vorlc 
should rely ujMm the Croton River for its sujiply of wholesome water 
for all puqioses. lie set forth very fully all the advantages of the 
Croton — its purity and unfailing ahundance, its superior elevation, and 
the ease with which it might be introduced. Not havmg niaile sur- 
veys of the route, Colonel Clinton's estimates, summarized below, Avere 
very inadequate. They were as follows : 

" From the best ojiinion I can form, I am satisfied that the waters of 
the Croton River may be taken at Pine's Bridge and delivered on the 
island for a sum not exceeding §7r>0,(M)0, in an o]ien canal and with 
stone linings, ditchings, and walls, and including drainages and other 
contingencies it may swell the cost to $S50,<IOO. The ex])ense of ciis- 
tribution and reservoii-s on the island may amount to ^l,fi.50,(iOO more, 
which would make the whole cost of the work >^2,5(M•,(l()(l." 

In January, is;',;^, the Legislature, at the request of t!ie com- 
mon council, ])assed an act authorizing the governor to appoint 
five water commissionei"s for the citv of Xew Vork to examine and 
consider all matters in relation to sup])lying the city with a sulticient 
quiintity of pure and wholesome water, the commissionei-s to employ 
the necessary engineei-s, surveyors, etc. I'nder this act the governor 
a])jw)inted as commissioners Stephen Allen, B. M. Brown, S. Dusen- 
bui-y. Saul Alley, and W. TV. Fox. The common council appwpriated 
!S.">uoo for their use. They employed Canvas White and ^lajorD. B. 



3.58 IlISTOUY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Douglass, formerly i)rot'essor of engineering iit West Point, to niiike 
surveys, plans, and estimates, and instnicted them to make examina- 
tion of the Croton, Sawmill, and Bronx rivei's in the counties of West- 
chester and Putnam, together with their several tributaries, and to 
furnish the commissioners witli a map and profile of the countr}^ and 
their opinion of the quality of the Avater, the supply that might be 
depended uprm in all seasons, and the practicability of conveying it to 
the city at sufficient elevation to preclude the use of machinery, and 
answer all the purposes contemplated. Also to designate the most 
feasible route and the best manner of conducting the conduits and 
reservoii-s, the probable amount requii'ed to pay for lands, water- 
rights, damages, and cost of construction. 

In his report to the common council, in October, 1834, Major Doug- 
lass (who alone was able to make this survey) recommended the Croton 
River as the source, a masonry aqueduct for the conduit, and described 
two routes — the " inland route" and the " Hudson Kiver route" — the 
former being forty-three miles and the latter forty-seven miles long 
from the proposed dam on the Croton to the cUstinbuting reservoir on 
]\I array Hill. He estimated that a minimum supply of twenty-seven 
million gallons a day might be delivered into the reservoir by either 
route, at an elevation of one hundred and seventeen feet above tide- 
water. The cost of the inland route he estimated at 8^,500,000, and 
of the Hudson River route at $4,768,197. 

The water commissioners, indoi-sing the views and conclusions of 
Major Douglass, submitted a report accordingly to the common council 
and the Legislature. The water commissionei-s were reappointed, and 
the Legislature by act made pronsion for submitting the question of 
" water" or "no water" to the electors of the city at the charter elec- 
tion in 1S35. The common council were authorized, in the event of 
the vote being in favor of water, to issue water stock to the amount of 
$2,500,000, and to instruct the commissioners to proceed with the work 
— to purchase lands, water rights, etc. — and to have the work done by 
contract. 

On the 2d of March, 1835, the common council 

" Hesolved, That a poll be and hereby is appointerl to be opened on the days upon 
which the next annual election fur charter officers of this city is by law appointed to be 
held, to the end that the electors may express their assent or refusal to allow the com- 
mon council to proceed iu raising the money necessary to construct the work aforesaid 
[the Croton Aqueduct, etc.], by depositing their ballots in a box to be provided for that 
purpose in their respective wards, according to the provisions of the act ' To provide 
lor supplying the city of New York with pure and wholesome water.' " 



FIKST DKCADK. IWiO 1S40. 359 

Tl l.'ctii.n uociiiTcil on the 1 Itli. l-Mli, anil Kitli nf April Inlluuin^'. 

Tlieiv li;ul l)een inui-li opposition to lliu iiiwusmv among tax-payi-'i-s on 
account of tlic expense, and so claniorou-; liail been tlie opiwisition tliat 
friends of tlu3 measure were most agreealjly surprised at tlie result. 
Tliere were 17,:5:^i> votes in favor of j)roviiling for pure water, and 
onlv ."i'.M!;i against it. Had a vote on tlie same (piestioji been taken 
iminediately after tlio great (in^ it woultl probably have been almost or 
quite unanimous in favor of water. 

The great work was almost immediately begun. On the Ttli ol' May 
the common council instructed the water commissioners to proceed 
with the work, and authorized a loan of !j;:i,.5(i(t,(MMi, at five ])er cent 
interest, to provide for the current expenses. Tho commi.s.sionei-s 
appointed ^[ajor Douglass their chief engineer, and directed him to 
organize a corps of engineers as soon ius practicable. An engineering 
party took the lield on the <'.tli of July and proceeded to stake out the 
land required for the lake forinrd by the Croton Dam and for the line 
of tlie aqueduct. 

The sui-veys and resurveys for the above-named jiui'iioses were not 
completed until the latter part of the summer of ISSC. During the 
progress of these surveys the i-oute was in several places jimended and 
shortened, making the distance linally from the Ci-oton Dam to the 
distributing reservoir on Murray Hill about forty and one half miles. 

In October, IS^f.. John B. Jervis succi'cded ilajor Douglass as chief 
engineer, and contimied in that ]X)sition until the great wt)rk w:us com- 
pleted. Under Mr. Jervis's direction, the map, drawings, and working- 
plans were completed during the winter of 183(1-37, and in the sjn-ing 
of 1837 the work of construction was fairly begun by placing a portion 
of it under contract. 

It was orifinally intanded to have the water cross the Harlem River 
on a low bridge through an inverted siphon, but in ISH'.t the Legisla- 
ture passed an act requiring the Harlem River to be passed on a high 
brid"-e. The contract for the bridge was made in August of that year. 
It was consti-ucted of stone, and supported by thirteen arches resting 
on solid granite piei-s. The crown of the highest arch is one hundred 
and sixteen feet above the river sui-fac» at high tide. It is fourteen 
hundred and sixty feet in length, and crosses the Ilarlem Valley at 
One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Street. The water is carried over the 
bridge in a conduit of iron pipes protected by brick masonry. There 
is a wide footpath across the bridge, to enable visitoi-s to have a view 
of the fine scenery from the lofty i>osition. "When the High T.ridge 
was completed the water commissioners appointed by the governor 



360 HISTORY OF NEW VORIv (ITT. 

finished their laboi's, and tlie whole water system came under the 
charge of the Crotoii AqueiUict Board. 

On the 27th of June, 18-t2, with appropriate ceremonies, tlie water 
was firet conveyed through the aqueduct into the receiving reservoir at 
Eighty-sixth Street, and on the 4th of July following it was received 
into the distributing reservoir on Murray Hill, between Fortieth and 
Forty -second streets and Fifth Avenue. . 

The celebration of tlie coinjjletion of the Croton Aqueduct occurred 
on the l-lth of October, 184:2. That mcnnorable event will Ijo noticed 
hereafter. 

The year 1835 is conspicuous in the annals of Xew York for the per- 
fection of an ingenious literary hoax which puzzled the scientific world 
for a moment, and set journalistic pens in motion in both hemispheres. 
The chief perpetrator was a modest, genial, unpretentious young Eng- 
lishman named Kichard Adams Locke, who had been employed as a 
reporter on the Courier and Enquirer, and was then the editor of the 
Sun newsj)aper, in the columns of which it appeared, credited to a 
supplement of the Edinbui'gh Pliilosojjhical Journal. 

It was a pretended account of wonderful discoveries on the surface 
of the earth's satellite made by Sir John F. W. Herschel at the Oapeof 
Good Hope, by means of a newly-constructed telescope. It stated that 
by means of this telescope the mooii's surface was brought within the 
appai'ent distance of eight miles of the earth, iis seen by the naked 
eye. The topography, vegetable productions, and animal life were all 
perceived quite clearly. The chief inhabitants — the family of the ' ' man 
in the moon" — were described as being something of the form of bats; 
in a word, Herschel had giA'^en to the world a revelation of a hitherto 
unknown inhabited sphere, the nearest neighbor to our earth. The 
construction of the telescope was so ingeniously desci'ibed, and every- 
thing said to have been seen with it was given with such gi-aphic power 
and minuteness, and with such a show of probability, that it deceived 
scientific men. It played upon their credulity and stimulated their 
speculations ; and the public journals, regarding it as a grave historical 
fact, felt piqued by tlie circumstance that an obscure and despised 
"penny sheet" should have been the first vehicle for announcing the 
great event to the American ]ieopie. One journal gravely assured its 
readers that it received the " supplement" by the same mail, but was 
])revented from publishing the article on tlu^day when it appeared in 
the Sun, only because of a want of room I 

The newspapers throughout tlie country c(Ji)ied the article and com- 
mented on it. Some dishonestly \vithhcld credit to the Sun. leaving 




o4/^u^ 






FlUST I)i:<ADK. I*t0-1840. 361 

the iiifoiviicc tliat they liad taken it Iroin tlic famcius '• sii|i|.lciii.-iit." 
The moro stately iie\\-si)ai)eis — the "respectable weekUes" — were 
thorouglily liuax'ed. The New York DuUy Aihy-rtmr, one of the 
" respettalA' sixiieunys,*" siiid that "Sir .lohn had added a stiK-k of 
knowledge to the present age that will immortalize his name and place 
it high on the page of sc-ience." The Albany Dtilhj Aih-irtiwr read 
" with unsiwakable emotions of i)leiusure and astonishment an article 
from the last Edinburgh PhlloHophUnl J,„in»t> containing an account 
of the recent discoveries of Sir John llerschel at the ('apv of (iood 
Iloiie." Some of the grave rehgious j<iurnals made the great discovery 
a subject for pointed homilies on the " wondei-s of God's W(trks more 
and more revealed to nian." 

Scientific men were equally deceived at first. On the morning of 
the appearance of the article in the Smi tho late Ti-ofessor J. J. Mapes 
had occasion to start for AVashington on business, lie believed the 
story, to(ik a copy with him, and hamlod it to Professor Jones, of the 
Georgetown College. The learned professor read it with most absorb- 
ing interest, with a profound belief in its truth, until he came to some 
statements about the telescope, which presented an impossibility in 
science, when lie drojiped the iiai)er and said, with tears starting from 
his eyes, " Oh, Professor ^fapes, it's all a hoax ! it's all a hoax !" 

It is said that M. Arago, the great French savant, proposed in the 
French Institute the sending of a deputation to the Cape of Good Hope 
to confer with Ilei-schel, and other scientific bodies in Eurojie were 
deeply stirred by the idea of the " marvellous discovery." 

But it was not even a "nine days' wonder." In a few days the 
story was discovered to be a pure fiction. Locke had discerned the 
readiness of belief in theories put forth by men like Dr. Dick and 
othei-s, who framed them to suit theii- own religious speculations, and 
he readily engaged in preparing the " Moon Hoax," as it is known in 
the reahn of literature, for the purpose of testing the extent of public 
credulity. It was a successful experiment, but the editor of journals 
and scientific men who had readily swallowed the bait never forgave 
Locke for this cruel infliction. They were the butt of univei-sal merri- 
ment for a long time. 

The secret history of the "Moon Hoax" is this : Afr. Moses \. 
Beach had recently become sole proprietor of the Sun, and Richard 
Adams Locke was "the editor. It was desirable to have some new and 
startling features to increase its iwpularity, and Locke, for a considera- 
tion, proiiosed to iM-epare for it a work of fiction. To this proposal 
Mr. Beach agreed. Locke consulted Lewis Gaylonl Clark, the e.litor 



362 HISTORY OF NEW YORK (IIY. 

of the Knlclcerhocker Magazine, as to the subject. The Eilinburgh 
Seientlfic Journal was then busied Avith Hei-scheFs astronomical explora- 
tions at tlie Cape of Good Hope, and Clark proposed to make these 
the basis of the story. It was done. Clark was the real inventor of 
the incidents, the imaginative part, while to Locke was intrusted the 
ingenious task of imfolding tlie discoveries. Messrs. Beach, Clark, and 
Locke were in daily consultation while the hoax was in preparation. 
It was tlnis a joint jn-oduct.* 

Taking advantage of the public excitement caused b}^ the publication 
of the iloon Hoax, Mr. Harrington, then exhibiting "moving dio- 
ramas" in Xew York, produced one which exhibited scenes in the lunar 
sphere as described by Locke. It was painted by John Evers, the 

* Moses Yale Beach, one of the most enterprising men in the business of journalism in 
New York forty years ago, was a native of AVallingford, Connecticnt, where he was born 
on January I, 1800. He was a descendant of one of the first settlers of Stratford, Coun., 
of that name. On his maternal side he was a descendant of a member of the family of 
the founder of Yale CoUege. He was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker at Hartford. Ener- 
getic and ambitious, he purchased the remainder of the term of his indentures when he 
was eighteen years of age, and entered the business world on his own account at North- 
ampton, Slass. There, with a partner, he opened a cabinet-making establishment, and 
soon afterward received the first premium of the Franklin Institute for the best cabinet- 
ware on exhibition. 

Mr, Beach married Nancy Day, a sister of the founder of the Sun newspaper, and in 
1821 established himself in business in Springfield, Mass. Possessed of genius for in- 
vention, several projects claimed his attention. A favorite one was aerial navigation. 
One of his daily associates was Thomas Blanchard, inventor of the stern-wheel steamboat 
and the lathe for turning irregular forms, such as lasts, gun-stocks, etc. The two neigh- 
bors were so intimate that Jlr. Beach's friends regarded them as joint inventors of the 
stern-wheel. 

Mr. Beach was also intimate with the paper-makers in his neighborhood, and he de- 
vised the simple machine now in universal use to obviate the necessity of a large amount 
of hand labor in cutting the rags. This led to his obtaining an interest in a paper- 
mill at Sangerties, on the Hudson, and to that place he removed with his family in 1827. 

In 183.5 Mr. Beach purchased an interest in the i<un newspaper, and finally he became 
the sole proprietor of it. His management of the business from the beginning was 
marked by great enterprise in the adoption of new methods for obtaining the earliest 
intelligence of current events for his paper. On special occasions he established daily 
expresses. For example : During the trial at Utica of Alexander McLeod, a British sub- 
ject, for complicity in the burning of the -steamboat Caroline in the Niagara River, an 
express was ran between that city and the Sun office in New York. Another was run 
from Halifax to New York, carrying European news brought by the Cunard steamships, 
then the only regular line of vessels carrj-ing the mails between Europe aud America. 
Frequently expresses were run fi-om Boston and from Albany to New York at the expense 
of Mr. Beach. Those from Boston were usually confided to Alvin Adams and his associ- 
ates. In this service Mr. Dinsmore, the (present) president of the Adams Express Com- 
pany, distinguished himself by celerity of movement with a single horse between Spring- 
field and Hartford, in forwarding Mr. Beach's news budget. 



Kiiisr i>ii;«.'A L>K. i8ao-i84o. 



363 



swno-|iiiintcr at tlio Park Tlirativ. wlm is still livin-: (lSf>;^,). one of the 
three survivors of the fouiidci-s of the National Aiadeiiiy of the Arts of 
Design. It was very jiopulai- for a while. The Iloax gave the Sim a 
great business iinjielus. 

This was the era of tlie advent of two mighty jx.wei-s which have 
l)layed a most iniportant part in the growth, prosjierity. and marvellous 
expansion in the wealth anil population of the city of New York. 
These were railways and ocean steam navigation. 

At the beginning of this deca<le, steandujats, whiili iiad l»cn in 
operation <jnly about twenty years, were comi)aratively few in num- 
ber ; and the tii'st charter given to a railway company in the T'nited 
Stater, was granted by the Legislatuie of New York to the Mohawk 

Today, on the roof of the Commrrcial Advrrliser (tho oUl .'<"mii) l.uilding. cornel of 
Nassau and Fulton Htrccts, may be seen n structure erected by Mr. Heat-li o-s the nbode 
of numerous carrier-piyeons, the services of which were often used in the swift ti-aus- 
mission c( news to tho Sun from many directions. Sometimes a ]iit;eon was set fr(?e on 
the deck of a jnst-arrived steamship from Liverjiool in Boston hiubor, with European 
news wrapped about its legs ; others would come from political nominating convcntitns, 
from race-cnurses. and from other public gatherings, with news of the results. But with 
the advent of the electro-magnetic telegraph these enterjirises were superseded : Mr. 
Beach found his " occupation gone." 

When the war with Mexico was afptating the country the telegraph ■wires were not 
extended farther southward than Richmond, Va. The " fast mail ' then occupied seven 
days and nights iu the transit between Now Orleans and New York. It was the quickest 
method for communication between the two cities, and consequently from the seat of 
war. Mr. Beach was satisfied that the time might be much shortened by nmning im 
express somewhere. He sent his son to investigate the matter, and it was found that the 
route between the cities of Mobile and Jlontgomery, Alabama, which occupied the " fast 
mail " thlrhj-six hours, might be traversed in tirelve hours by a horse and his rider. Mr. 
Beach established an express with this result, and it was continued several months. He 
asked his fellow-publishers to join in the expense of this important enterprise. They 
did so, ami this was the origin of the alliance of tho leading newspapers of the country 
known as the " .\ssocialed Press. 

It is an interesting fact not generally known that Mr. Beach was instrumental in 
obtaining the basis of the treaty of peace between the United States and Jlexico at 
Guadaloupe Hidalgo, in 1848. Impressed with tho disastrous effects of war upon an\ 
countr>-, he conceived a project of ending this one through the indirect intervention of 
tho Koman CathoUc clergy. His aecpiaintance with Bishop Hughes and with IVesident 
Polk and his cabinet opened tlie donr for proceedings in that direction. With simple 
letters of introduction and commendation he went to Mexico, obtained important inter- 
views, and secured the points of agreement on which peace was afterward ratified. 

•\niile in Mexico Mr. Beach felt the first symptoms of the disease (paralysis) which 
finally terminated lis life. After struggling against it for some time he retired from 
business late in 1849. and took up his residence among his native hills, where he lived 
qnietiv twentv years longer, dying .Iiinnary 10. 18(18. 

Mr. Beach was a warm friend of popular education, and in all matters of public need 
he was ever an active worker. 



364 HISTORY OK NEW YORK CITY. 

and Hudson Railroad Company in 1S25. This railroad, which ex- 
tended from Albany on the Hudson to Schenectady on the Mohawk 
River, a distance of about sixteen miles, was completed in the smnmer 
of 1831. It was opened for passenger traffic on the 9th of August. 
The fii-st jiassenger train went over the road fi'om Albany to Schenec- 
tady and back on that day, carrying twelve citizens of Albany. One 
of these was the late Thm'low Weed, who was the representative of the 
press. On the crown of each of the two steep slopes leading to the 
Hudson and the Mohawk there was a stationary engine to place the 
train on the summit of the liigh plateau, an extensive pine-barren. 
The cars were ordinary stage-coach bodies on four-wheeled trucks, and 
were drawn by a very small engine constinicted by the Kemljles at the 
West Point foundry. Cold Spring, and named De Witt Clinton. The 
cars were connected by a three-link chain. There were seats on the 
tops of the coaches, where the passengers screened themselves with 
umbrellas from flying sparks from the locomotive, that was fed with 
pine wood. These umbrellas were sometimes made skeletons by fire 
when the end of a journey was reached. Passengers frequently had 
holes burned in their clothes. Such was the beginning of the magnifi- 
cent railway system which now radiates from Xew York City and 
transports annually to and from the metropohs merchandise valued at 
billions of dollars, as well as millions of human beings. This is the 
marvellous growth of that single promoter of business in the city of 
Xew York within the space of fifty j^ears. 

The first instance of ocean steam navigation originated in the harbor 
of New York. In the year 1808 the steamboat Plioeni,r, built at 
Hobokcn, opposite jS'ew York, by John C. Stevens, was sent round to 
the Delaware River. She had been intended for navigating the 
Hudson River, but Livingston and Fulton had procui'ed an act from 
the Legislature giving them a monopoly of navigation by steam on that 
stream. 

This bold experiment was followed by one still bolder in 1S19. In 
that year the steamship Savannah, built in New York by Fitchett & 
Crocket for Daniel Dodd, of Savannah, Georgia, crossed the Atlantic 
Ocean from that port to Liverjiool, and after tarrying there some days 
Avent on to the Baltic Sea and reached St. Petersburg, her destina- 
tion. Her whole sailing time from Savannah to St. Petersburg was 
only twentj''-six days. Iler commander was Captain Closes Rogers. 

The Savannah Avas a vessel of three hundred and fifty tons burden, 
and her engine, constructed by Stephcm Vail and Daniel Dodd, of 
Morristown, N. J., Avas ninety -horse poAver. She carried only seventy- 



FIHST DEtADK. IWJO-IS-JO. 365 

live tons of roal (tlio amount fuiismiird cai-li day l>y om- of our larj,'r 
ocran stoamoi-s now) and twi'iity-livc rords of wood. She was also 
furnislii'd witli sails. 

On the arrival of the Siii'iin/ui/i in the ^rci-soy si ic attracted nuuli 
attention. Compelled to lie outside the bar until the tide should serve, 
liundreds of people went off in hoats to see lier. 

'• I)urin<i: (his time she had all her eoloi-s flyinj;," namtes the cap- 
tain's loj,f-l»ook, •• when a boat from a P)ritish man-of-war came along- 
side and haili^l. The siiiling-nui.ster was on deck at the time. The 
oHicer of the hoat asked him : 

'* ' Where is your master ? ' 

" ' I have no master,' was the laconic reply. 

" ' Where's your fn/ifniii, then ? " 

" ' He's below. Do you want to see him ; " 

" ' I do, sir.' 

" Tlie captain, who was then below, on being called, asked what he 
wanted, to which the olficer answered : 
• • Why do you wear that pennant, sir ? ' 

•• ' ilecause my country allows me to, sir.' 

" ' Mv commander thinks it was done to insult him, and if you don't 
take it down he will scud a force that will do it. ' 

'• Captain Rogers then exclaimed to the engineer : 

" ' (ret the hot-water engine ready! ' 

" Although there was no such machine on board the vessel, the 
order had the desired effect, and John Ihill was ghul to paddle off as 
fast as possible." * 

As the SaiHiniuih entered the harbor, tiie shipping, piei-s, and roofs 
of houses were thronged with wondering sfiectatoi-s, and naval officers, 
noblemen, and merchants visited her, and were very curious to ascer- 
tain her speed, destination, and other particulai-s. 

The Saivnnxih remained at Liveiiiool twenty-five days, and became 
an object of suspicion. The journals suggested that she might " in 
some manner be connected with the ambitious views of the United 
States." It was known that Jerome Bonajiarte, of Baltimore, had 
offered a large reward to any one who should succeed in releasing his 
brother ?H'a]ioleon fiom St. Helena, and some surmised that the Saran- 
iHih had this undertaking in view. 

Sailing from Liveqiool late in July, the Savannah touched at Copen- 

* " The Log-Book of the Sftvannah," by Dr. H. C. Bolton, in Biri^-'s MaijaziM, ToL 
liv. p. 345. 



366 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

liagen and at Stoclcholin, where slie exciter! great curiosity. At the; 
latter place she was visited by the royal fainily, and on the invitation 
of Christopher Hughes, the American minister at Stockholm, she made 
an excursion among the neighboring islands. Arriving at St. Peters- 
burg early in September, she remained there a month , and then ' ' set 
sail on her homeward voyage with about eighty sail of shipping." 

This achievement of the Savamta/i, a New York built vessel, seems 
to liave been forgotten when, nearly twenty yeai-s afterward, on the 
arrival in Xew York harbor of the steamships Si /'ins and Great Wedern, 
the New York E.rj>ress said that it produced " unusual joy and excite- 
ment in the city, it being almost universally considered as a new era in 
the history of Atlantic navigation. 

It seems to have been forgotten then — indeed it is hardly known now 
— that New York is entitled to the crecht of a pioneer in ocean steam 
na\igation. Nevertheless it is so. In the year 1S21 or 1822 the emi- 
nent shipbuilder, IIenr\' Eckford, completed a steamship (which was 
also fitted for sails) for David Dunham, an old and prominent auction- 
eer, which was named Itobert Fulton. She was fitted out for carrying 
on freight and passenger business between New York, New Orleans, 
and Havana. After making a number of successful voyages on tliat 
route she was sold to the Brazihan Government on account of the pecu- 
niary embarrassments of her owner. Mr. Dunliam afterward lost his 
life by being knocked overboard from a sloop while on a passage be- 
tween Albany and New York. The Fxdton was converted into a war- 
vessel, caiTving sixteen guns, and was the fastest sailer in tlic Brazilian 
navy. 

The beginning of I'egular ocean steam navigation between Europe 
and America was postponed until 1838. The unwisdom of the Ameri- 
can Government, and the jealousj^ of the British public of everything 
originating in America were the principal causes which effected this 
postponement. Even with the practical proof of the feasibihty of 
ocean steam navigation offered by the*?at'««w«// in the harbor of Liver- 
pool, England, the great philosopher, Dionysius Lardner, proved to his 
own satisftiction and to tliat of the average Englishman that it could 
not be done ! 

Enterprising and thoughtfiU Americans had for some time cherished 
a project for the establishment of Unes of ocean steamships, and early 
in 1835 Nathaniel Cobb, of the old Black Ball lino of sailing packets, 
proposed a line of steam.ships to ran between New York and Liverjwol, 
and appUcation was made to the Legislatm'e of the State of New Y<irk 
for an act of incoi-jioration. But nothing came of it. Almost simulta- 



FIRST DECADE, 18a0-1840. 867 

npously enteqirising citizons of Bristol, England, witli otiiors. j)rf)jecU.'d 
a line of ocean steanisliips l)otween tliat poit and Now York, and in the 
spring of ls:{s tlie S/'n'nM sjiiled from that ]H>rt for New York — the iK)rt 
in western England out of which sailed Sebastian ("abot three hundred 
and foi-ty yeais before, on the voyage duiing which he discovcre<l the 
continent of Xoitii America. The Lond(m 7"/ ///<>, which had si)oken 
dispanigingly of the project, sjiid, a few days before the Si'n'uM sailed : 

" There is really no mistnko in the long-tiUkcd-of project of navi|:;nting the Atlantic by 
stcuni. There is no doubt of nn intention to make the attempt, and to give the experi- 
ment, as such, n fiiir trial. The .Sinus is absolutely getting nnder weigh for America." 

^^ean^vhil(^ an association had been fonned in London called the 
British and American Steanisiiip Company. They built the (r'/rat 
Wi'-nteni, which was launched on the I'.lth of July, ls37. She sailed 
for New York early in April, and on a beautiful morning (the 28d) of 
that month the Orcut WiMhru and the Slrliix both entered the harl)or 
of Xew York. The Siriax arrived very early in the morning, the 
Great Wrxf,/-)) a few hours later. Their arrival cieated intense excite- 
ment, not only in the city but throughout the country. The New 
York newspapers were full of glowing notices of the event. One of 
them siiid : " Myriads of pci'sons crowded the Battery to have a 
glance at the first steam vessel which has crossed the Atlantic from the 
British Isles and arrived safely in port." 

Such was the beginning of pennanent ocean steam navigation. The 
voyage had been made l)y the (rnut WrMhrn in eighteen days. Other 
vessels soon followed. In less than twenty yeai-s there were fifteen 
lines of steamships running between Europe and America, numbering 
forty-six ships in all, of which thirty-seven ran out of New York, 
making the tri})s each way on an average of from nine to twelve days. 
At that time fully half a million of passengers had been carried across the 
Atlantic in steamships, of whom only twelve hunilred had been lost. 

The most successful of the lines then, as now, was that established 
by Samuel Cunard in l'^4ii, to run between Liveq^ool and Boston and 
New York. The fiist Cunard steamship (the Briftnuik) arrived in 
Boston on July IS, 184<). In the year ending June 30, 1SS2, 4<i27 
ocean steam vessels entered the ])orts of tlie United States, having an 
aggreg-ate tonnage of 8,.520,O2T. Of these vessels r.)03, with a ton- 
nage of 5,099,185, entered the port of New York. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE begiuniug of permanent ocean steam navigation was the 
dawning of a new era in journalism in New York — namel\', the 
employment of regular foreign correspondents. This had been done to 
some extent before, but only in a limited and desultory manner. 
Robert AValsh had written letters for the JVational Gazette from 
Europe, j!s^athaniel Carter for the Statesman, N". P. Willis for the New 
York Mirror, James Brooks (who established the New York Express 
newspaper in 1836) for the Portland Advertiser, in which he gave 
sketches and incidents of travel of a young American on foot in 
Europe ; the late R. Shelton Mackenzie (long connected with the 
Philadelphia Press) with gossipy letters from London for Noah's 
Evening /Star and Sundaij Times / but no organized European corre- 
spondence Mke that of the leading journals of to-day was then known. 

This new feature in journalism was introduced in 1838 by Mr. 
Bennett, of the New York Herald. He took passage in the Siriits, on 
her return trip in May, to make extensive arrangements for correspond- 
ence with the principal pohtical and commercial centres of Europe. 
These, and indeed Eurojje itself, were not then knowTi in detail in 
America. 

With the advent of the ocean steamers came also a change, as we 
have observed, in the methods of obtaining news for the morning 
journals of New York. News-schooners, that put out to sea to meet 
incoming ships, were now made obsolete. These were superseded by 
swift row-boats and light sail-boats. These would meet the steamship 
below Quarantine, and while the inspection of the health officer was 
going on they would hurry up to the city with the news, and have it 
published before the passengers arrived. On these occasions the 
excitement among the acpiatic news-gatherers was intense. 

About the middle of this decade an abnormal expansion of the credit 
system occurred, which speedily bore its legitinuite fi-uit. In 1833 
President Jackson b(?gan a deadly warfare against the United States 
Bank, because he knew it to be a moneyed institution of great ])ower, 
socially and politically, and therefore possibly dangerous to the perma- 



KIRST DKfAUE, 1830-1840. 369 

nent pirwperity of the country. In liis annual messjige to Congress in 
Deconibor, 1S:{2, he recommended that body to autliorize the removal 
from tliat institution of the government moneys de|K)sited in it, and to 
sell tlie stock of tiie bank owned by the United States ; in a word, to 
decree an absolute divorce of the government from tlie Bank. C"on- 
gress refused to do so. After the adjournment of that Jwdy the Presi- 
dent took the responsibility of ordering ilr. Duane, the Secretary of 
the Treasury, to withdraw the jiublic funds from the bank, then 
amounting to about §l(»,oo( 1,000, and deposit them in certain State 
banks. Tiie Secretary refused to do so, and lie was dismissed from 
office. He was succeeded by Roger 1*. Taney, wiio was afterward 
chief-justice of the United States. He was then attorney -genei-ai. 
Taney was ordered to remove the deposits, and he oljeycd his 
superior. 

Tiie process of removal began in October, 1833, and tiie task was 
com[)leted in tlie space of nine months. This act produced great 
excitement all over the country, and much commercial distress. The 
loans of the bank were over §t]0,ooo,0(Ml when the work of removal 
began. So intricate were tlie financial relations of the institution with 
tiie business of tiie country, tliat when the funds of tlie bank were tiius 
paralyzed all commercial operations felt a deadly shock. This fact 
confirmed the President in his suspicions and opinions of the dangerous 
character of the institution, and lie pci-sistently refused to listen favor- 
ably to all prayei-s for a modification of his measures, or for relief, 
made by numerous deputations of manufacturere, mechanics, and mer- 
chants who waited upon him. He .siiid to all of tiiem, in substance : 
" The government can give no relief or provide a remedy ; tlie lianks 
are the occasion of the evils which exist, and those wlio have suffered 
by trading largely on borrowcil capital ought to break ; you have no 
one to blame but youi-selves." 

The State lianks in which the government funds liad been deposited 
came to the relief of the business community. That relief was 
spasiiKxlic, and resulted in more sei'ious commercial emliarrassments. 
Tliey loaned the money freely ; the jninic subsided ; confidence was 
gradually restored, and tliere was an a|)]ieai"ince of general jirosperity. 
Speculation was ;tiiiiulated by the freedom with whicli the State 
banlcs loaned the public funds, and the credit system was enonnously 
exjianded. It was upon this in.securc basis that New^ York merchants 
largely resumed active business after the great fire in December, 1835. 
Trade was brisk ; the shipping interest was prosixjrous ; i)rices ruled 
high ; luxury abounded, and nobody seemed to ]ieifcivc tin- (l:in<ri*i<n:s 



3T0 IlISTUKV OF NEW YORK CTIY. 

undercun-ent that was surely wasting the foundations of tiic absurd 
credit system and the real prosperity of the city and nation. 

Suddenly the Ithuriel spear of Necessity pierced the great bubble. 
A failure of the grain croj) of England caused a large demand for com 
to pay for food ])roducts abroatl. The Bank of England, seemg ex- 
changes running higlier and higher against that country, contracted its 
loans and admonished liouses who were giving long and extensive 
credits to the Americans by the use of money loaned from the bank, to 
curtail that hazardous business. 

It was al)0ut that time that the famous Specie Circular was issued 
from the Treasury Department of the United States Government. It 
was put foi'tii in July, 1836. It directed all collectors of the pubhc 
revenue to receive nothing but coin. Thus it was that from the parlor 
of the Bank of England and from the Treasury of the Umted States 
went out almost simultaneously the significant fiat, " Pay up !" 
American houses in London failed for many millions of dollars, and in 
1837 every hank in the United States suspended specie payments, but 
resumed again within two years afterward. The United States Bank 
had been rechartered by the Legislature of Pennsylvania ; it soon fell 
into hopeless ruin, and with it went a very lar-ge numlier of the State 
banks of the country. A general bankrupt law ]iassed in 1841 relieved 
of debt about forty thousand persons, whose liabilities, amounted in tlie 
aggregate to almost $-441, 000,000. 

The city of New York suffered severely from the terrible business 
revulsion of 1836-37. Martin Van Buren succeeded Jackson as Presi 
dent in March, 1837. During the two months succeeding his inaugu- 
ration there were mercantile failures in the city of New York to the 
amount of more than §100,000,000. The jmnic there was fearful. 
Two hundred and fifty mercantile houses had been compelled to suc- 
cumb in tlie month of April. Every business man and every moneyed 
institution seemed to be standing on an insecure foundation. At this 
crisis a deputation from the merchants and bankers of New York 
waited on the President and petitioned him to defer the collection of 
duties on imported goods, suspend the operations of the Specie Circu- 
lar, and call an extraordinary session of Congress. Their prayer was 
rejected. When this fact Ijecame known all the banks in New York 
City suspended specie payment. That event occurred on the 10th of 
May. This act embarrassed the government, for it could not get coin 
wherewith to discharge its own obligations. In this dilemma the 
President was induced to call an extraordinary session of Congress, 
which met in September. It did very little toward adopting measures 



l-ll'.ST DKl'AUK, 1830 1840. 371 

i)f roliL'l' cxtrpt tn aiitlidii/f tlic issue of trcusurv notes to :in amount 
not exceetlinj,' ftln,(tii(»,(i()(i. 

The hanks luul resolved to ivsunie specie jiaynuMits witlun one year. 
On tlie (lay of the suspension tlierc was a lar;j;e meeting of l)usiness 
men at the Exehange, when .lames G. King, tlu- junior partner of the 
banUing-house of rrinie. "Ward A: King, addressed them, and olTercd 
resolutions t<i the etleet that the paper currency should he recognized 
as money and pass as usual among husiness men until the hanks should 
Hnd It practicalile to resume sjiecie payments. These resolutions were 
seconded hy Mr. Prime, the senior of that hanking-house, and they 
were adojited hy unanimous vote. This measure produced a feeling of 
relief, and the panic gradually subsided. 

In Octoiier Mr. King went to London to confer with tiie (jjficei-s of 
the IJank of England. To these gentlemen he made the startling 
proposition that the bank and the great capitalists should cease embar- 
rassing American merchants by discounting paper connected with the 
American trade, and send over to New York at once a large amount of 
coin. The officers of the hank hesitated. Such a transaction would 
be wholly foreign to the Imsiness pohcy of the institution. IJut they 
finally consented to send several million dollai-s in coin, on the sole 
resi)onsil)ihty of the house of Prime. Ward & King and the guaranty of 
Banng Urothers, of Liveqiool. The fii-st con.signment of 85,(i<ni,(XiO 
was forwarded in March, 1838. This coin was sold on easy terms to 
the banks, and confidence being revived, business resumed its usual 
activity. Another large meeting of merchants and othei-s had been 
held, which pledged the basiness community to stand by the lianks. 

During the winter of lS3(i-37 there were abundant signs of distress 
and discontent among the so-called laboring classes. The cereal crops 
of the jireceding season throughout the country did not amount to 
much more than half the usual yield, and flour during that winter, 
which was one of unusual severity, was from §12 to ^ITt a barrel. 

The poor suffered much. The demagogues of the political factions 
improved the occasion to inflame the po])ular mind, one party trying 
to increase their following by impressing the sufferei-s with the idea 
that the rich were opjn-essing the poor ; that the high ]irice of food 
was owing to the greed of wealthy monojiolists. At i^ meeting held la 
the P>roa(iway Tabernacle to consider and act ujion the causes of the 
high and increasing prices, such views were set forth by some of the 
speakers, though these harangues wore not absolutely incendiary in 
substance. Nothing of importance was done. Resolutions were 
adopted, but nothing practical was offered. 



373 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

There was anotlier class of men at that time who attempted to make 
capital for tlie cause in whicli they were laboring. These were the 
radical tempei-ance advocates. "With profound ignorance, ajjparentlj, 
of the fact tliat there had been a failure of the cereal crops, they 
endeavored to impress the pubUc mind with a belief that the distillere 
were making grain scarce by converting the rye crop into whiskey ! 

The popular discontent reached a crisis in February, 1837. On the 
10th of that month a notice was published in some of the city news- 
papei"s, and in placards of large lettei-s and conspicuousl}' posted 
throughout the city, of a meeting to be held in the Park on the after- 
noon of P'ebruary loth. The following is a co])y of the notice : 

" BREAD, MEAT. RENT, FUEL ! ! 

" THETB PBICES HUST COME DOWN ! 

" tW° The voice of the People iciU be heard, ami miisl prevail 

" E^" The People will meet in the Park, rain or shine, at 
4 o'clock Monday afternoon, ,^^3 

" To inquire into the cause of the present unexampled distress, 
and to devise a suitable remedy. All friends of humanity, 
determined to resist monopolists and extortionists, are invited 
to attend. 

" MosES Jacqt:es, Daniel Gokham, 

Paulus Heddle, Johx Wixdt, 

Daniel A. Robeetson, Alexasdeb Ming, Jb., 

Waeden Hatwakd, Elijah F. Ckane. 

"Xew York, Feb. 10, 1837." 

Obechent to this significant call, fuUy si.x thousand pei'sons assembled 
in front of the City Halt at the appointed hour. It was a cold and 
bleak winter day. The great mass of human beings presented repre- 
sentatives of almost every class and nationality in the city— very 
largely of the classes which are readily converted into a mob when 
their passions are excited. Moses Jacques was chosen chairman. 
Tlie}^ did not lack appeals to their ])assions on tliis occasion, for the 
midtitude were soon gathered in different groups listening to numerous 
speakers, the most chstinguished of whom was Alexaniler Ming, Jr., a 
well-knouTi and active pohtician of the Loco-Foco school in Xew York 
City for several years. 

The burden of each orator's discourse consisted chiefly of denuncia- 
tion of the rich, especially of landlords and the holders of large quanti- 
ties of provisions, particularly of flour. 



FlUSr DKiADIC, IH-.iO 1S40. 373 



Hart J ( .., exto.is.v. com.nissiun uu-rchants, wl.os. ston- wus a huge 
"k UuMmg ..n Washington Street, .H-t.een Uey --' 'o't^-f 
streets. It luul tl.ree wide and strong non .loo.s u,H,n the street 
This store w;us lull of tlour and wheat, and knots of u.en were seen to 
stop opposite and g-aze at it with furtive glances, an.l sometnnes uttei- 
^? angry words. °S..netinK.s n.en would he heard nuUter.ng cu,.es a. 
thev pas .Ml. The friends of Mr. Hart tned to pe,.uadc hnn to ake 
e aut-onary n,easures for protection, hut he could not If-/., them 
v.th pat.enc'e. He s.vw these signs of a gathern^g stonn, hut belaned^ 
or professed to helieve, they indicated notlung very senous, and he 
and h.s pa,lnei-s renmined tran.iuil wlnle their fr.ends we.-e alanned 

One clav an anonvnums letter .ul.lressed to a well-known e.t./.en vva. 
picked up in the Park, m which the writer «ud a c.nspn-acy was 
".t^red or .vcklng the store of Hart & Co. on son.e dark n.ght. The 
plan he s.i.d, was to start two alar.ns of fire simultaneously, one at the 
C'ery and the other .n Bleecker Street, ami wlule the -atdnnen and 
,i,vnKMi would he attracted to these distant points, a large .ody of men 
with sledges and crowbars wouUl rush upcm the store break m the 
doors, and rifle .t before the guard.ans of the peace eoul.l arrjv Th s 
letter was handed to the famous h.gh constable Jaco "' ' ^'« 
showed it to Hart & Co.; but they regarded it as an attenipt to 

'"ft'll^hedng in the Park on the 10th of February was not an 
ano™us wa.^mg. It was an ominous notice of <^;';;^';^,- >^ ^ 
Hart & Co., but to the peace of the city. Mr. Hart attend..! the 
mie m^^ Tie utterances of the several speakers on that occasion u ere 
Xmatory in the extreme, excepting that of ^1*"^ J «.-;;!" : 
candi.late for the office of city register. He seeine.1 to think .t n . a 
nre chance to win votes, and he devoted his soul and ..hIv on tha 
^^sLn to the subject of the currency. He was a ^^-1 ^^^^ 
Democrat-Loco-Foco pure an.l spotless. He ^^^^^^f'^l^^^"^ 
and half-brutish mob before him on ^he e^nls produced , a, m 
rencv In.lee.l it was recognized as the chief cause of all the d..t.ts. 
Zi- was prevailmg among his hearers. With grjm satu. he^s^ 
the sh.verin.' son^-r>'/oftrs to refuse any i-aper dollar that might be 
offere then.: and to receive nothing but gold and silver, wc41 knowing 
the ho,,elessness of a large part of his audience ^-^^^^^^^ "^^^^^ 
,l„llar l.f anv kin.l. The motley multitude were s,. ^l;^'"'-'. ? '*^ ^ 
disciuisition'on the currency that they seemed to f-^- ;^ "^;^^ 
•' Bread, meat. rent, and fuel," which they had been called together to 



374 HISTOHY OF NE\\ YOUK CITY. 

consider, and when he offered a resolution proposing a nieinonal to the 
Legislature to forbid any bank issuing a note for any sum under §100, 
it was carried by a wild shout of affirmation that shook the winilows of 
the City Hall. To show their appreciation of Mmg's logic, the " sov- 
ereign people" wlioni he had eulogized seized the orator, hoisted him 
upon their shoulders, and bore him in triumph across the wide way to 
Tammany Hall, where they were undoubtedly rewai'ded with the 
enjojnnent of spirituous blessings poured out in abundance. 

The speeches of others were more to the ]5oint at issue. One of 
them, who had worked up the feelings of his hearers to the highest 
])itch, exclaimed : 

" Fellow-citizens, Eli Hart & Co. have now fifty-three thousand 
bai'rels of fioui' in their store ; let us go and offer them $8 a barrel for 
it, and if they do not accept it — ^" 

Here some more judicious or more cautious pereon, seeing the mayor 
an<l many pohcemen near, touched the speaker on the shoulder, and 
whispered in his ear. He at once concluded liis harangue, saying, in a 
lower tone of voice, " If they will not accept it — we will depart in 
peace." 

The hint he had given produced the desired effect. The great crowd 
at once began to dissolve, when those who had heard the speech alluded 
to started off in a body in the direction of the store of Eli Hart & Co. 
They rushed down Broadway to Dey^ Street, increasing in number and 
excitement every moment, so that. when they reached AYashington 
Street they had become a roaring mob. 

Hearing the tumult of the on-coming multitude, the clerks in the 
store hastened to close and bar the doors and windows. But the van 
of the mob was upon them before they could sufficiently secure one of 
the heavy iron front doors, and the mob rushed in and began roll- 
ing barrels of flour into the street and staving in the heads. "When 
they had thus destroyed about thirty barrels, some jjolice officers 
arrived and drove out the plunderers. 

^Ir. Hart, who was at the meeting, as has lieen observed, when he 
saw the crowd rushing in the direction of his store, hastily gathered 
some policemen and started for his menaced castle. In Dey Street the 
mob fiercely attacked the guardians of the law and disarmed them of 
their clubs. The policemen, however, made their way into "Washing- 
ton Street before the great mass of the i-ioters had arrived there, and 
entered the besieged store and drove out the inaraudei-s. 

Mayor La\\Tence, infonned of the mob at Hart & Co.'s store, 
hastened to -the scene. He mounted a flight of steps opposite and 



FIRST DKCADK. lH:',n I«4(i. 375 

liofTiiii to n'liionstriitc witli the riDtcis on I lie crime imd folly and the 
cons<'(Hicm<-s of tlit'ir acts. II is words wore in vain. Every nioinont 
tiio nnnilicis of tiic inol) increased l>y accessions from tiie dissolving 
crowd in the I'aik, and the mayor was answered hy a sIiowim- of mis- 
siles—bricks, stones, sticks, and pieces of ice— so copious that lie wjis 
conqielled to retire to a place of siifety. Tlie mob was now nnre- 
sti-.iined by law or reason. They made a rush for one of the pondert)Us 
iron dooi-s, which was speeddy wri'iiched from its hinges. Using it sis 
a battering power, they scwm be;it down the other doors, when the 
riotei-s rushed in in great mmibei-s. The clerks lied, and violence 
rei<med supreme. The dooi-s in the ui)per lofts were torn down, the 
windows were broken in, and when hun(b-eds of barrels of Hour had 
been rolled into the stivet from the lower Hoor and destroyed, they 
were hoisted ujton the window-sills aiuive and dashed to pieces on the 
ground. Sack after s:ick of wheat was also destroyed. At one of the 
windows a half-grown boy was seen, exclaiming, as each ban-el was 
tumbled into the street. " Here goes flour at eight dollars a barrel !" 
For this crime he suffered several years' hard labor in the State Prison 
at Sing Sing. 

A larger j>ortion of the moli were of foreign birth, yet there were 
hundreds of spectatois who were native-born citizens that gave the 
rioters encoui-agement and aid. When the di.sturbance was at its 
height, at twiligiit, there was observed a strange feature in the scene. 
Scores of women were perceived, many of them bareheaded and in 
tattered garments, rushing here and there with eager zeal, like cani])- 
followers after a battle, to secure a share of the plunder so prodigally 
])re,sented to them. They apjieured with boxes, pails, sacks, baskets, 
and everything tliat would carry flour, and with their ai)rons fiiU of 
the same bore away large (juantities to their squalid homes. It was 
the only bright picture in the terrible scene— these mothei-s gathering 
food f<ir their starving children, notwithstanding it had been furnished 
them l>y the hand of violence. 

When night had fairly set in, the rioters, who were yet in full force, 
were suddeidy alai-med and scattered by the appearance of the 
National f4ua'r(l, under Colonel ^^organ L. Smith, and otiier military 
forces which the mayor had summoned to the aid of the police. Their 
services, however, wei-e needed only as a resti-iining power. The mob 
(juickly dispersed on their appearance, aftiM- having destroyed all the 
books and papers in Hart «fe Co.'s counting-room. The police, so sus- 
tained, arr(>sted a number of theriotei-s and took them t(j the Bridewell, 
in the Park, but were assailed on the way liy some of the mob. The 



37fi HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

chief of police luul his coat torn off l)y the mol), wiio rescued several 
of the prisoners. The store was closed, and order again reigned in 
that neighborhood. 

As the cowardly mob at Hart & Co. "s store were about to fly, some 
one cried out " Meech's !" Avhen a body of the rioters rushed across 
the town to assail the large flour establishment of Meech ife Co. , at 
Coenties Sliji. On the way they began an attaclc upon the flour store 
of S. 11. Herrick & Co. They had broken in the wimlows with mis- 
siles, forced o]wn the dooi-s, and had roUed ai)out thirty barrels of flour 
into the street and destroyed it, when a body of police and a largo 
number of citizens who had volunteered their services dispersed the 
rioters and arrested some of the mob. The nngleaders, as usual, 
taking precious care of their own persons, escaped. 

About one thousand Ijusliels of wheat and six hundred Ijarrels of 
flour were wantonly destroyed by this senseless mob. The scai'city of 
flour was, of course, made scarcer by this destruction, and the distress 
of the poor was thus aggravated. The .stock of flour being thus 
reduced, the price naturally advanced, and fifty cents a barrel more 
was asked than before the not. Hart & Co. estuiiated the value of 
tlieir property destroyed by the mob at $10,000, which, of course, the 
city was compelled to ])ay them. 

About forty of the rioters were caj^tured, afterward indicted, and 
sent to the State Prison at Sing Sing, but not one of the ringleaders 
was punished. It is said that so strong was the influence of politicians 
brought to bear upon the ministers of the law that not one of the 
persons who signed the significant call for the meeting in the Park, 
or of the several orators who incited the mob, was arrested ! 

Another meeting of citizens was held in the Park on the 6th of 
Mai'ch following. Ajiprehendmg a repetition of the disturbances in 
Febi'uary, tlio city authorities directed some of the city military to be 
m readiness to suppress any outbreak. The Xational Guard were 
under arms during the afternoon, but the meeting m tiie Park passing 
off quietly their services wei'e not needed. 

This was the last exciting scene in tlu^ way of real and anticipated 
disturbances of the ])ublic peace which had made the administration of 
Mayor Lawrence a tr-oublous one, beginning with the Abolition Riot in 
July, 1835, and ending Avith the Flour Riot in 1837. A few weeks 
after the latter event he was succeeded in office by Aaron Clarke. 

In ^lay following the Xational Guard was again called out for the 
suppression of a possible riot. On the 9th of that month the banks of 
the city resolved to suspend specie payments. For some weeks the air 



KIKSr DECADK. 18:50 1H40 377 

had l..>e'n lill.-.l witl. flvinjr runioi.. of m conspiracy l)rpwincr for a con- 
certo.! attack upon ll.o l.anks for the purpose of rohl.in- them. 1 ovv 
far the n.cencharv haran-ues of ix.ht.cal <lenuigogues at nieetinfrs had 
incited hostditv to the moneved institutions of the city nobody knew. 
Preeaiitionarv measures were thouglit necessary, for the |nil.lic an- 
nouncement i.f ilie suspension of specie i>ayinents by the banks m tiic 
newspapei-s tlie ne.Kt moining might i)ro(Uice an exasperat.on among 
the ..moraut classes winch might lead t.. deeds of violence. So tlie 
National (niard were requested to assemble in the Park at seven 
o'clock on tlie morning of the H'th. 

The aiin..uncement of the action of the banks di.l protluce much 
excitement. TgiK.rant or timid deposit..rs rushed to these institutions 
to with.lraw their fuiuls. At ten o'clock Wall Street was thronged 
with an excited multitude, but there were no symptoms of any vi..lent 
or riotous spirit on the part of the populace The National (niard iiad 
paraded in the Park at the appointed hour. The ilay wore away with- 
out anv signs of impending .hsturl.ance. The crowds in Wall Street 
..•radualtv dispersed, and the military retired to their hom(>s. 
^ The Twenty -seventh P.egimeiit (Naticmal Guard) now felt tliat tli.'V 
^vere entitled "to some special consi.leration at the hands of the city 
auth.H-ities <m account of their frequently remlere.l services at the call 
of the mavor as conservato.-s of the peace and onler and or the 
securitv of 'property in the city. The Second Com,«ny, the teeblest in 
numbe".-s, Ki^t moved in the matter. They thought the city ought to 
furnish the National Guard with <liill-rooms, and so relieve the latter 
of considerable expense. Accordingly at a meeting of the comiiany in 
Aucrust, 1S37, a committee were apiiointed to petition the common 
council on the subject. They Jiske.! for a suitable hall. The petition 
wius fav.ii-ablv received, and the apaitments in the second story of 
Centre ^larket were assigned as drill-rooms. This furnished a pre- 
cetlent for the future, and to this movement of the Second Company is 
,lue the honor of providing for the use of the militia of New \ork 
Citv such elegiint accommodations as they now enjoy. It was the 
initial step toward securing for the Seventh Pvegiment Nati.mal (Tiiard 
(the old Twentv-seventh) the magnificent armory situated on l-iith 
Avenue, the most exiiensive, luxuri.nis, and elegant military (juart<-is 

in the world. f i i i 

The express business, now so extensive, jirofitable. and useful, Innl 
its origin in the city of New York in 1S37. In that year James AV . 
Hale, yet (1883) living, one of the most active men of his day, was 
con.luctintr an adminibh- news-room— a sort of Lloyds for tli.- shi]iping 



378 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

interest of New York — in tlie old Tontine Coffee-House, at the comer 
of Wall and Water streets. Hale was a genial, talkative, sensible, 
and kind-hearted man, ready to help those who needed help, and 
was popular with everybody, especially all business men, who were 
attractetl to his news-room in great numbers for general information 
about commerce, trade, stoclcs, etc. That was before the telegraph 
was known, and before railways were much used in conveying lettei's 
and newspapei-s. 

Up to nearly that time the newspapers had to rely chiefly upon the 
old stages or post-riders for transportation, and the transmission of 
neAvs fi'om point to point was tardily performed in comparison with 
the swift passages made by them now. So late as 1S34, when trains 
Avere run by steam on a railway between Charleston and Hamburg, on 
the Savannah River, the directors of the road advertised that the com- 
pany then sent one train daily between these two points, one hundred 
and thirty-six miles, in twelve houre, and ' • that in the daytime. ' ' They 
added : " The daily papers of this citj'^ [Charleston] are sent by this 
conveyance, but merchants' letters, of the utmost importance to them 
in business, are not less than two days going ; under contract." The 
government was slow in recognizing the importance of rapid transit in 
those, days ; and, though quite rapid communication between New 
York and Boston by steamboat and railway had been opened in 
1835-36, business men lacked public facilities in transmitting letters 
and packages between the two cities. This want was soon supplied. 

One ])leasant morning early in the summer of 1837, a 3'oung man 
about twenty-five years of age entered the office of Mr. Hale in rather 
a dejected mood. He was a native of Massachusetts, was .seeking em- 
ployment, and had called on Mr. Hale for advice how to obtain work. 
It was a season of great depression in all kintls of business. The \'oung 
man was rather delicate, even fragile in physical composition, yet he 
seemed to possess ambition and an energy of character that interested 
Mr. Hale. lie inquired his name and his antecedents, llis name was 
William F. Harnden, antl his antecedents were satisfactory. 

In the course of a few tlays, when young Harnden made his usual 
morning call and anxious inquiries, Hale suggested to him a new busi- 
ness, fitted, he supposed, to his physical strength. Xearly every day 
Hale was asked Ijy bankers, brokei-s, and merchants if he knew of any 
one going to Boston from Xew York in whose hands they might in- 
trust small packages. This want of a messenger was continually grow- 
ing. Tlie postage on letters was then very lieavy, antl packages, even 
small ones, could only be sent as freio-ht — a slow process. Hale 



#^l^ 





FIRST PKCADK. IftiO 1840. ;J7!) 

tliou-i;!!! tlio niiittci" uvct ciircfiiUy, iiiid one morning' wlirii young 
llai'iidt'ii c;mu' in witli jinxious liKjks, lii' suit! to llic yoiitli in his pleas- 
ant niannor : 

" llarndt-n, I tiiink I can put you in tlie way of cniploymji: youi-si'lt" 
in Ijusiness. It' you will travel iK-tween New York and lioston on tin; 
steainhoat, and <lo errands for iiusiness men in both jjlaces, charging a 
fair remuneration for your services, it will pay.'' 

" I will try it," said Il.irnden cheerily. " Ilow shall I get the busi- 
ness to do V 

" I'll help you," siud Hale. 

And so he did. most elTectually. To all in(|uirers about carriei"s, he 
dii'ected merchants, bankers, and brokei-s to young Ilarnden, who hung 
up a slate in Hale's news-room for orders. In the coui-se of a week he 
stalled on his new business, which, at the suggestion of his good friend 
and adviser, he called " The Express," the tenu used for the fastest 
railway trains, and which had been in use scores of years to designate 
the character of a special messenger. 

Ilarnden started in his new business with a single carpet-bag. The 
older business men were at first slow to perceive the advantages they 
might derive from his services, and di.scour.igement met him at the 
outset. Ilis steamboat exjwnses for piissjige and meals were consider- 
able, and at the end of two months his little store of money was ex- 
hausted, foi' his expenses had exceeded his receipts. He was alxjut to 
abandon the enteii^rise when some friends i)rocured for him free pas- 
sage on the steamljoat. 

This " subsidy" was the important point on which his fortune 
turned. His business became more and more popular and profitable, 
and it was not long ijcfore his single carpet-bag became too small for 
his rapidly increasing business. Two, three, and four bags were added 
to his means of transportation, and finally he bought and used a large 
hair-covered trunk, which bore on each end, in strong brass-headed 
nails, the words, " Hak.nden's Express." 

As the labor of the business increased, Ilarnden disjiosed of a part of 
his business to an assistant in Boston, and a small office was o[)ened in 
both cities. A'^ery soon they were enabled to employ a man as express 
messenger on both the morning and evening steamiwats, to take charge 
of articles sent in hand-crates. 

"When pixir overworkeil Ilarnden saw twenty dollai-s saved in one 
day, bright visions of a speetlily won fortune stimulated his ambition to 
do more. He began to consider the advantages and ])mfits of land 
routes, and verv soon Ik^ established a line between I'.oston and .Mbanv. 



3S0 HISTORY OF NEW VORK CITY. 

and met with success. Tlie Cunard steamships gave liim niucli Inisi- 
ness between Boston and New York, and he conceived a project for 
organizing a system of emigration. There was no estabhshed means 
to enable emigrants who had settled in the United States to remit 
money to their brood " at home," or prepay tlie passage of those who 
wished to come to America. Hamden attempted to supply tliis want. 
In tlie year 1S41 he established a system of communication which lie 
called " The English and Continental Express," with offices in Liver- 
pool, London, and Paris, and branches in other parts of the continent 
and Gi'eat Britain. He also made arrangements for the cheap convey- 
ance of emigrants from Liverpool in sailing vessels, and cliartered a 
considerable fleet of Erie canal-boats to carry them and their effects to 
"the West," which then meant Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and 
Wisconsin. 

At the end of about three years from the establishment of tliis emi- 
gration system, this small, fragile, energetic man had been instrumental 
in bringing to the United States move than one hundred thousand 
laborers, and so adding many millions of dollars to the national wealth. 
But he had impoverished himself, and was dying with consuni|)tion. 
In 1845 he died, comparatively a poor man, only thirty-three years of 
age. But his name is immortal as the founder of the great express 
business, in which his successor have accumulated immense fortunes. 

When it was perceived that Ilarndeii's express business was success- 
ful, Alvin Adams, a native of Windsor, Vermont, then a man between 
thirty-five and forty years of age, entered into the business. He had 
been engaged in business in Boston and St. Louis, and finally in 1840 
he began an oi)position to Ilarnden's Express between New York and 
Boston. For a long time he struggled against great discouragements. 
His ]>oekets would almost hold the ])ackages daily intrusted to his care, 
and a dollar carpet-bag was his chief vehicle for trans])ortation for a 
long time. Hamden became so engrossed in his emigration scheme 
that he lost much of his express business, which Adams, with great 
sagacity, found and jH-ofited by. Prosperity followed. He first asso- 
ciated \rith himself in the business E. Farnsworth, and afterward 
William B. Dinsmore, who took charge of the New York office. In 
ten years the business had so increased that Aflams & Co. jiaid 81T*>0 a 
month for a small space in a car of a fast railway train nimiiug be- 
tween New York and New Haven, for the conveyance of money and 
small packages. IMr. Adam ; (licnl in 1877, when Mr. Dinsmore became 
president of the company, and now f 1883) occupies that ])osition. 

Tiie Adams Express Company is a V(>i'y wealthy corporation, and is 



FlUST DKCADK, 1830-1840. 881 

a leader in tlie oxpi-ess luisiness in this country. In ls4'.> Mr. Adunis 
estubli.slicd an overland expre.ss to California, to meet the wants of tlie 
givat anny of gold-seekei's who had Hoc-ked into that region in search 
of the newly discovered precious metals there. In time he opeiie*! a 
banking-house in connection with the express business at all the princi- 
pal points in that State, thus enabling iniiiei's and otheis to send homo 
to the East their golil anil lettei-s. After that he started an express for 
AustniUa. It was iin profitable, and was soon abandoned. 

The company rendered great a-ssisUince to the government iluring 
the late Civil War, tpiickly transporting war munitions to different 
exjwsed jwints. Their agents often received money from the soltliere 
when ])aid otT in the field and on the eve of liattle, and delivered it to 
their families or friends at home. These agents were always furnished 
with a competent escort, with three safi>s, to points of general distribu- 
tion of their contents. As the national armies closed in ii]M)n the terri- 
tories wherein insurrection ami rebellion existetl, these agents followed 
closely, and reopened their express offices in the Southern States.* 

Meanwhile Livingston, "Wells <k Co.'s express had been established. 
They carried letters in o])position to' the government. AVells had been 
Ilarnden's agent at Albany. He fii-st extended the business to Buffalo, 
and thence westward. The fii-st line extended l)eyond that city was 
that of Wells, Fargo it Dunning. In IS-fS John Butterfield established 
an express, and was soon joiiunl by ilr. Wasson. In 1850 the compa- 
nies of Wells, Fargo & Dunning and Butterfield <k Wasson were cou- 

* Alvin Adams was bom at Windsor, Vermont, on June IG, 1804. His parents both 
died when he was about eight years of age, and Alvin lived with his oldest brother on 
the farm which was their patrimony until be was sixteen years of age. Then he began 
to desire a broader sight of the social world, and went to Woodstock, the capital of 
AVindsor County. Here ho engaged himself to tlie principal tavern-keeper in the town, 
who owned a line of stages that ran between that place and Concord, N. H. With this 
pnblican Alvin stayed about five years, and then went to Boston, where, after trj-ing 
several emploj-ments, he started in business for himself as a produce commission mer- 
chant. In 1837 he discontinued that business, went to New York and thence to 
St. Louis, but soon returned from the latter place. In Hay, 1840, he starteil in tho 
express business, as mentioned in the text, and was wonderfully successful. His chief 
characteristics were energy and a preference for things of magnitude. His moral charac- 
ter was unblemished, and his honor and probity were proverbial, llr. .\dams died at his 
home in Watertown, Mass., September 1, 1877, at the ago of about seventy-three years. 
He married Miss Anne R. Bridge, of Boston, and left a widow, two sons, and a daughter. 

In addition to his rich moral qualities, Mr. .\dams was endowed with a genial disposi. 
tion and a capacity of pleasing all with whom he became acipiainted. 

One of the earliest and most efficient pioneers in tho express business was Edward S. 
Sanford, who died in 1882. Ho was for over forty years prominently identified with the 
management of the Adams Express Company. 



382 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

solitlated. P>y the union of the three companies above named the 
American Exjiress Company Avas formed, Avhicli soon became a power- 
-ful rival of the Adams Express Company. These two associations are 
now the leading express companies in the world. 

It was estimated at the time of the establishment of the American 
Exj)ress Company (about 1850) that the aggregate express agents trav- 
elled in the discharge of their duties 30,000 miles a day. In 1882 they 
travelled about 405,000 miles a day, over nearly 80,000 miles of road. 
The aggregate companies then emjjloyed about 22,000 men and over 
4000 hoi-ses, and had fully 10,000 business offices. They employ in the 
business nearly 8-30,000,000. 

This is the product in less than fifty years of the small seed, " like a 
grain of mustard seed," jdanted in James "W. Hale's news-room in 
"Wall Street by William F. Haniden, in the form of a small carpet-bag 
and a capital of $10. The city of New York, where the express 
business originated, has continued to be the focal point of the business. 
From it nearly or quite all the express hnes radiate as from a common 
centre of imjiulse. There are eleven foreign expresses emanating fi'om 
ISTew York. There are also two 'domestic expresses in the citj", that 
of Dodd (N. Y. Transfer Co.) and Westcott's Express Company. The 
value of the express system to the city is simjjly incalculable. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

L^IMlLTANF-OrSLV witli llw Ix'ginning of tho express system, 
O wlucli so crreatlv increase.l tlie facilities for exchanges of every 
kind, appeared the dawn of the era of the electro-magnetic telegraph 
system, which has supei-sede.1 and far outstripped the steamboat, the 
railway, and the express systems in the interchange of tliought and the 
diffusion <jf knowledge throughout the civilized world. 

Althtmgh for nearly forty years men have lieen so familiar with the 
nperatiomoi this mighty nlotor that it is comnumplace to the common 
mind, yet to-dav, to the ai)i)rehension of profound thinkers and skdled 
scientists, this invisible agent, in its essence and origin, is an undiscov- 
ered iind apparently undiscoveraljle mystery which human ken may not 
fathom, nor of which human imagination may conceive a theory. 

In our i)rofound ignorance we may with reverence regard it iis did 
Poi)e, who, in speaking of the univei-se, said of creation : 

'• Whose Vioily Nntnrc is, nnd God the s.inl ' : 
and then, witli dim discernment of the truth, thus spoke of its mam'.es- 
tation to man : 

- Warms in the snn, refrenhes in the 1)roeze ; 

Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees ; 

It lives through all life, extends throngh all extent : 

Spreads nndivided, operates unspent." 

It was early in the year 183S that Samuel Finley P.reeso ^[oi-se,* a 

• Samuel Fitdev Breesc Horse, LL.D., was » son of the Rev. .Jedediah Morse, and was 
bom in Charlestown. Mass.. .\pril 27, 1791. He gmJiH'ted at Yale ColleRe in 1810. and 
went to England the next year, where he studied the art of painting under Benjamin 
West. On his return in 1815 he practised the art, chiefly in the line of portrait painting, 
in Boston, Charlestown, and New York. In the latter city he beaime the chief founder 
of the National Academy of the Arts of Design, in lS2f.. He went to Knrope in isi'.l. and 
remained until 1H3-2. While abroad he was elected professor of tho literature of the arts 
of design in the new University of the City of New York. He had been a close student 
of chemical science, and had been interested in electrical experiments in France. ■VN'bile 
voyaging home in 1832 he conceived the idea of an electro-magnetic recording telegraph, 
wliich, as is seen in the text, he afterward perfected. This subject absorbed his atten- 
tion largelv during the remainder of his life. Yet from 1832 until about 1838 he wos 



384 IIISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

portrait and historical painter of rare merit, and then professor of the 
literature of the arts of design in the University of the City of New 
York, tii-st made a jjartially pubhc exhibition of his invention of an 
electro-magnetic recording telegraph. He did not pretend to be the 
discoverer of electro-magnetism,' nor the first inventor of an electro- 
magnetic machine with dynamic power. These had been known long 
before. So early as the middle of the last century Dr. Franklin had 
produced a mechanical effect at a distance of half a mile from his elec- 
trical machine, by means of a wire stretched along the bank of the 
Schuylkill ; and other philosophers, from Franklin to Professors Henry 
and Wheatstone, had from time to time been apj^roaching the solution 
of the great problem which iloi-se triumphantly solved — the jH'oblera 
of giving inUllujence to the subtle power of electro-magnetism in its 
operations. Kay, more : the power of giving to it an audiljle language, 
as j)erfect and comprehensiv^e to the skilful operator as the spoken 
English language. 

While on a professional visit to Europe as an artist in 1S32, Mr. 
jMoree, who had enjoyed many convereations with his friend, Ptufessor 
J. Freeman Dana, and heard his lectures on electro-magnetism at the 

much engaged in the pursuit of his profession. He possessed the elements of a superior 
artist, and was rapidly gaining in popularity as an historical painter when his mind and 
efforts were directed to the consideration of the telegraph, which gave him terrestrial 
immortality, world-wide fame, and a competent fortune. The consequence is, his biogra- 
phers have passed over his most interesting career as an artist with slight mention. His 
journals and note-books on art, in the possession of his family, denote his great devo- 
tion to his favorite pursuit, and reveal his character in its really most interesting aspect. 

Monarchs of Europe testified their appreciation of Professor Morse's beneficent ser- 
vices in producing a recording telegraph by gifts of money and " orders." In many 
■ways, at home and abroad, he was the recipient of honors from his countrymen. In 1856 
a banquet was given him in London by British telegraph companies, and in 1858 he par- 
ticipated in a banquet given in his honor in Paris by about one hundred Americans, rep- 
resenting nearly every State in the Republic. 

In LsiiS a bronze statue of Professor Morse was erected in Central Park, Kew York, and 
paid for by the voluntary contributions of telegi-aph employes. It was unveiled by 
Brj-ant, the poet, in .June, 1871, and that evening, at a public reception given him at the 
Academy of Music, Professor Morse, with one of the instruments first employed on the 
Baltimore and Washington line, sent a message of greeting to all the principal cities on 
the continent, and to several on the transatlantic hemisphere. His last public act wa.s 
the unveiling of the statue of Franklin in Printing-House Square, New York, January 17, 
1872. He died on the 2d of April foUowing, at his home in New Y'ork. 

Professor Morso was the originator of the idea of submarine telegraphy, as the narration 
in the text certifies. He lived to see it in successful operation. He also lived to see 
performed, what he had long believed to be a possibility— namely, the transmission of 
despatches over the same wire each way at the same moment. The philosophy of this 
feat is yet an unsolved riddle to electricians. 



KlliST DKiADK, 18.(0-1840. 385 

AtlifiKi'Uiii. iiiadi' it a s|M'cial stu<ly ti> a.sccrtain wiiat sciriitilic iiicii 
alu'oad liad (liscovcri'd in that special Hold nf iiiV('sti<i;ation. llo wa.s 
laniiliar with the fal(lf-|)r<>]»liec'V of Struda, a .k'siiit prie.st, in 1<!41<, con- 
coniiiifi' an I'luctiic tolc^rapli, and was vi-ry earnest iti lii.s piii-siiit of in- 
formation, lie was satislicd that no tdegra]»h proper — no instrument 
for writing at a distance — luui yet been invented. 

Moifie lieeame niueh inteivsted in a ivcent diseovcry in France of the 
means for olitaining an electric spark from a magnet, and in his hoine- 
ward-ljound voyage in the ship SkIIij, from Havre, in the autunni of 
Is.'W, that discovery was the principal topic of convei-sation among his 
cultivated feilow-passengei"s. After much deej) thought a sudden 
mental illumination enabled Mr. ^loi-se to conceive not only the idea of 
an electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegrapii, but the i)lan of 
an instrument for etlecting such a result, liefore the Sulli/ reached 
New York he had made drawings and specifications of such an instini- 
ment, which he exhibited to his fellow-passengei's. 

Other occupations absorbed ]Mr. Morse's attention for two or three 
yeais afterward, and the grand idea was allowed to slumber in his 
mind. He was ai>pointed to the professorehip alr(>a<ly mentioned, in 
the Univei-sity of the City of New York. Finally he ag-ain turne<l his 
thoughts toward the production of a rcconling electro-magnetic tele- 
gr.iph, and in Xovember, 1 >!:'..">, he had completed tlie rude instrument 
which his family preserve at their house near Poughkeejisie. It em- 
bodied the general mechanical piinciples of tlie machines now in u.se. 

Pui-suing his experiments, in July, 1S37, Pmfossor Moi-se was ena- 
bled, by means of two instnnnents, to communicate /Vo/// as well as to 
distant points. Scores of pei-sons sjiw the telegra])h in oi>eration at the 
univei-sity in the late summer and early autumn of 1837, anil pitied 
the dreamer because he was foolishly wasting his time and high genius 
as an artist in playing with what seemed to be a useless scientific toy. 

The great city — tlien containing a population of about three hundred 
thousand — full of intellectual, moral, and material activities of every 
kind ; rapidly extendii.g in commerce, manufactures, the mechanical 
arts, architectural beauty, wealth, and moral, religious, social, and 
benevolent institutions ; in a word, endowed with everything which 
constitutes a prosperous and enlightened community — the gretit city 
did not dream of the effulgence which was about to overepread it, and 
make it conspicuous for all time, by a di.scovery unparalleled in imiwr- 
tance in the history of civilization. And yet that effulgence at firet 
seemed like a waxing aui-ora. It appeared dimly when, in res|>onse to 
invitations like the following, (luito a large number of intelli"-ent and 



386 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

influential citizens assembled in Professor Morse's room in the uni- 
versity : 

" Professor Morse requests the honor of Thomas S. Cummings, Esq., and family's 
company in the Geological Cabinet of the University, Washington Square, to witness the 
operation of the electro-magnetic telegraph, at a private exhibition of it to a few friends, 
previous to its leaving the city for Washington. 

" The apparatus will be jjrepared at precisely twelve o'clock, on Wednesday, 24th in- 
stant. The time being limited, punctuality is specially requested. 

"New York University, January 22, 1838." 

A goodly company of l3elievei"s, doubters, and critics wei-e assem- 
bled. There stood the instrument, with copper wire coiled around the 
room attached to it. Professor Morse requested his visitoi-s to give 
him brief messages for transmission. These were sent around the 
circuit and read by one who had no knowledge of the words that had 
been given to the operator. In compliment to Mr. Cummings, Avho 
was present, and who had recently been promoted to the military rank 
of general, one of the gentlemen present handed to Professor Moree the 
following message : 

"ATTENTION THE UNIVERSE! 
BY KINGDOilS, RIGHT WHEEL !" 

Tins was distinctly written, letter by letter, in the newly invented 
telegi-aphic al])habet, on a strip of paper moved by clock-work. As- 
tonishment filled the minds of the company, as they with grave pon- 
derings witnessed the seeming mii"acle that had been A\Tought. The 
sentence was jjrophetic. It was a call to attention by the mundane 
univei"se to which it was about to speak, and has been speaking ever 
since. Five days afterward the Xew York Jnnrnal of Commerce con- 
tained the following sentence : 

" The Telegraph. — We did not witness the ojjeratinns of Professor Horse's electro- 
magnetic telegrajih on Wednesday last, but we learn that the numerous company of sci- 
entific persons who were present pronounced it entirely successful. Intelligence was 
instantly transmitted through a circuit of /en miles, and legibly written on a cylinder at 
the extremity of the circuit." 

Professor ilorse now started foi- Washington to seek government aid 
in perfecting and testing his invention. He accepted an invitation to 
stop in Philadcl])hia and exhibit his discovery to the committee on the 
arts and sciences, of the Franklin Institute. Their verdict was 
highly commendatory, and on repeating this fact to his brother, the 
late Sidney E. ilorse,* that gentleman resix)rided in words that exhib- 
ited great prophetic ]>rescience. He said : 

* Sidney Edwards Morse was born in Charlestown, Mass., Febmarj' 7, 1794. He grad- 
uated at Yale College in 1811 ; entered the famous law school at Litchfield, Conn., but 



FIUST I'KCAKE. IH30 1S40. 387 

" Your invention, niptuinring it li.v tiio power which it will give man to nccomplixh 
bis pluDK, in not only the greatest iuveutiou of the age, but the greatest invention of any 
age. I sec, us un almost iniiiiedinte effect, that the surface of the earth will he net- 
workeil with wire, and every wire will be a nerve, conveying to every part intelligence o£ 
what is iloing in every other part. The earth will become a huge animal with ten million 
hands, and in every hand a pen to record whatever the directing soul may dictate. No 
limit can be assigned to the value of the invention." 

Sidney E. Moi-so wa.s tlieii tlio editor and in-opi'ictDi' of tlie New 
York (>l)x,r}-ti\ now (lss;{) the oldt-st weekly newspaper in the city of 
Jsew York, liaving lieen puldislied sixty consecutive yeai-s. It is ably 
edited by tlie IJev. S. I. Prime, D. !>., who lias lieen connected with it 
as editor and jiroprietor since ls4i'.* 

preferring literature to the legal profession, he established the Boston Heconhr, the first 
so-called religions newsjinper issued in America. That was in lHl."i. when he was twenty- 
one years of age. In 1S23, in connection with his younger brotlur, Richard C, he 
founded the New York Ohsenir, also a " religions newspalier," which he, as senior 
editor, conducted with great ability and success until 1H.58, when he disposed of his 
interest in the paper. Like his brother the professor, Mr. Sidney ilorse was possessed of 
an inventive genius. In connection with that brother he invented a lire-engine, in 1817. 
In 1H2II ho published a small geography for schools, and in ]83'.>, in connection with an- 
other, he invented a process for producing maps and other outline pictures to be printed 
t\^)og^aphically. This process was tirst practically applied to the production of maps for 
a new edition of his geography, of which lUD.OOO copies were sold the tirst year. Ho 
called the process Cerography. Its product was a crude prototype of the plates of what 
is now known as tho lloss pbotograi)hic process. During the latter years of his life Mr. 
Jlorse devoted much time and study to an invention for making rapid deep-sea sound 
ings. He died December 23, 1H71. 

* Samuel Irena-us Prime, D.D., is a leader of the conservative religious press of our 
country-. He is of clerical ancestry. His great-grandfather, the Kev. Ebenezer Prime, 
was a graduate of Yale and a distinguished scholar and divine before the period of the 
Hevolution. His grandfather. Dr. Benjamin Young Prime, was a graduate of Princeton 
College, and was on accomplished physician. Ho was a man of varied learning, writing 
both poetrj' and proso freely in Greek, Latin, French, and English. He wrote many 
jioimlar songs and ballads during the Revolution. The father of S. Irena^us Prime was 
the Rev. Nathaniel S. Prime, D.D., who died in 1855. He, too, was a graduate of Prince- 
ton, and -was distinguished for his scholarly attainments and fervid eloquence as a Pres- 
Vivterian preacher. 

The subject of this sketch was bom at Ballston, N. Y., on November i, 1812. While 
he was yet an infant his parents removed to Cambridge, Washington Coimty, N. Y.. and 
there his boyhood was spent. Bright and studious, he was fittcil for college at the age of 
eleven years. But he was nearly fourteen yeors of age before he was iiermitted to enter 
Williams College. He was graduated with one of the highest honors of his class before 
he was seventeen years old. Studying Iheologj- at Princeton, he entered upon the duties 
of the Christian ministry before he was twenty-one years of age, at Ballston Spa. near his 
birthplace. He labored with great earnestness and zeal ; and, overworked at the end of 
ft year, he was compelled by failing health to leave the pulpit for a while. 

5lr. Prime resumed clerical duties in Matteawan. Duchess County, where for about three 
years he labored most earnestly and acceptably, when again his health gave way. It 



388 lllSTORV OF NEW VOliK CITY. 

Professor Moi"se exhibited his wotulerlul invention to govei'nuient 
officials aiul members of Congress, but met with httle encouragement ; 
so lie liled ;i caveat in the Patent Office and went to Europe to seek 

now became evident to him that his physical strength was not adequate to the sustention 
of continnous labor in the vineyard which he had chosen for his life-task, and he turned 
his attention to literature and the tield of journalism. In 1840 he became assistant editor 
of the New York Observer. With only one slight interval, he has been editorially con- 
nected with the Observer until now, a period of forty-three years. That interval was in 
1849 when be was appointed secretary of the American Bible Society. He soon found 
that the much public speaking which the duties of that office required was too much for 
him to endure, when he resigned and resumed his connection with the Observer. 

In 1853 Dr. Prime tried the advantages of foreign travel, on account of frequent failing 
health, when his brother, the Eev. E. D. G. Prime, became associate editor of the 
Observer. He spent some time in Europe and extended his travels to Egypt and Pales- 
tine. During that time he enriched the columns of the Observer with a most valuable 
series of letters over the signature ot " Irenasus, ' which were afterward published in 
book form. In 1858 Mr. Morse soW his interest in the Observer property to Mr. Prime, 
since which time the latter has been the chief editor and proprietor of this venerable but 
vigorous and progressive newspaper. 

Dr. Prime has been all through life a most industrious laborer, e.spec!ally in the iield 
of literature, and a most earnest and faithful worker in various societies for the promo- 
tion of Christianity and good living. He is the author of more than forty volumes, many 
ot them not bearing his name. They have been issued by excellent publishers— Harpers, 
Appletons, Kandolph, and Carter. Among them, as mo.st prominent, may be mentioned 
" The Old White Meeting-House, or Reminiscences of a Country Congregation," 1845; 
"Travels in Europe and the East," two volumes, 1855 ; '■ Letters from Switzerland," 
1860 ; " The Alhambra and the Kremlin," 1873 ; " The Life of Samuel F. B. Morse."" 
1874 ; " Under the Trees," 1874 ; " Songs of the Soul" (selections), 1874 ; four vol- 
umes on " Prayer and its Answers. ' 

Dr. Prime is as " busy as a bee" in social and religious work. He is president of tho 
New Y'ork .\ssociation for the Advancement of Science and Art, vice-president and 
director of the American Tract Society, ex-corresponding secretary and director of the 
American Bible Society, vice president and director of the American and Foreign Chris- 
tian Union, corresponding secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of the United States, 
director of the .American Colonization Society, director and member of the executive 
committee of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime, member of the Inter- 
national Code Committee, trustee of Williams College, and ex-president and a trustee of 
Wells College for Women. Besides these offices and trusts, he is identified with many 
institutions in the Presl)yterian Church, of which he is a member. None of these offices 
does Dr. Prime hold as sinecures, but he is a working member— generally a " wheel- 
horse" bearing the brunt — attending all meetjng.s, and giving his time gratuitously to 
ever}' cause which he undertakes to promote. 

Dr. Prime is eminently conservative in all things. He is earnest in controversy. 
Bight or wrong, he deals telling blows. In the social circle he is one of the most genial 
ot men, fnll of wit and humor and pleasant repartee. In the pulpit he is always im- 
pressive, and his arguments are convincing. As a speaker ho is easy, graceful, impas- 
sioned, and marked by simplicity. He bears the burden of more than threescore and 
ten years with ease. Dr. Prime received his honorary degree from Hampden-Sidney Col- 
lege, Virginia. 



FlUST DlilADt:. 1830-lSlO. 381* 

tlio ci'iinlcimncc of soiiii' I'oivij;;!! fifdx-erimu'iit. Ili' was misiU'Cfsslul. 
Englaml wdiiIiI imt ynuit him a pati'iit, ami from France lie received 
only a hm.'d (T nifnitloii, a worthless piece of paper that did not secure 
to him any s))ecial privile<fe. Yet amoiij; scieiitilie men like Arajj^n 
and Huniholdt the invention excited W(jnder, admiration, and great 
expectations. 

Professor Morse returned to New ^'ork in the sti-amsiiip droit Wint- 
cm, in April, 183'J, disappointed liut not disheartened. He waited 
nearly four years before Congress did anything for him. Meanwhile 
he had demonstrated the fea.siliility of marine telegraphy in' laying a 
suljmarine cable across the liarlnn- of New York, and working it j>er- 
lectly. This achievement won f',>r Moi-se the gold nu-dal of the Ameri- 
can Institute. 

Soon after that Piofes.sor Morse suggested the feasibility of an ocean 
telegraph to connect Euro])e anil America. In a letter to the Secretary 
of the Treasury, John V. Spencer, in Augu.st, 1S43, Moree said, after 
referring to certain scientific princi[)les : 

" The practical JDference from this law is that telei^phic commnnication on the 
eleetro-njagnetic plan may with certainty be established across the Atlantic Ocean. 
Stnrtlint; ns this may now seem, I am confident the time will come when this project will 
be realized." 

In February, 1S43, the late John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore, then in 
Congress, moved an appropriation of ^3(i,(t(Mi. under the direction of the 
Secretary of tli(! Treasury, for testing the merits of tiie telegrapii. 
Cave Johnson, of Tennessee, proposed one half that sum to be used in 
testing the merits of mesmerism, while Ilou.ston, from the s;inie State, 
thought ^lillerism ought to l)e included in the benefits of the appro)>ri- 
ation. In this cheap wit and dis])lays of ignorance the Speaker of tlie 
House (Joiin "White, of Kentucky) indulged ; but there were wiser 
men enougii in the House to pa.ss a bill making the desired appropria- 
tion on February 23(1. When it went to the Senate it did not meet 
with sneers nor opjMisition, l)ut at twilight on the la.st day of the 
session there were one hundred and nineteen bills before Morse's, anil 
he retii-ed to his loilgings with a heavy heart, Sittisfied he woulil have 
to wait another year. He ]iaid his hotel bill, jHYKured his railway 
ticket for home the next morning, and had just seventy -five cents left 
— *' all the money I had in the world that I could call my own," said 
the ])rofes.sor in relating the circumstance to the writer. 

While taking his breakfast, before it was fairly light, the next morn- 
ing, a waiter told him there wits a young lady in the parlor who de- 
sired to see him. There he met Miss .Vnna Ellsworth, a daughter of 



HilO HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

his good friend Tlenry L. Ellswortii, tlio Commissioner of Patents. 
She extended her hand, and siiid ; 

" I have come to congratulate you !" 

" Upon what ?" inquired the professor. 

" Upon the passage of your bill." 

" Imj)ossible ! its fate ^vas sealed at dusk last evening. You must 
be mistaken." 

'' I am not mistaken," responded the earnest young girl ; " father 
sent me to tell 3'ou that your bill was passed. He remained until the 
session closed, and youre was the last bill acted ujion. It was ])assed 
just five minutes before twelve o'clock, the hour of final adjournment, 
and I am so glad to be the first one to tell you. l\rother says, too, you 
must come home with me to breakfast. ' ' 

Gras])ing the hand of his young friend, tlie grateful professor 
thanlvcd her again and again for bringing him such pleasant tidings. 
He assured her that the only reward he coukl offer her was a promise 
that she should select the first message to be sent over the telegraph. 

A little more than a year after this interview a line of telegraph was 
constructed between Washington and Baltimore. The instruments 
Avere ready at each end; the one at Washington, managed by Professor 
!Morse, was in the Supreme (?ourt room ; the one at Baltimore, man- 
aged by Mr. Alfred "N'aii, was in the Montclair depot. Morse sent for 
Miss Ellsworth to bring her message. She gave him words from the 
lips of Balaam : " What hatii God wrought !" 

And this was the fii'st and ajjpropriate message ever transmitted by 
a recording lelegrapli. The fii'st public message was the announcement 
from the Democratic jN'ational Convention sitting in Baltimore, to Silas 
Wright, in Washington, that James K. Polk was nominated for the 
Presidency of the United States. The Johnsons, the Houstons, and 
the sneering Speaker Avere astounded. Doubters were soon ready to 
bring garlanded bulls to sacrifice to it as a god, and a jjoet wrote : 

" WTiat more, presumptuovis mortals, will you dare V 
Sec Franklin seize the Clouds, their bolts to bury ; 
The Sun assigns his pencil to Daguerre, 

And Morse the Ijightning makes his secretary." 

The regular inisiness of the Morse electro-magnetic telegraph was 
begun in a small basement room, Xo. 4(5 Wall Street, JVew York, m 
IS-t-t, for which a rent of 8500 a year was paid. There was a single 
telegi'ai)liic instrument m tlic room and a solitarv operator, who was 
idle most of the time for want of business.* But the invention was 

* The only survivor of the first operators of the Morse telegraph is Captain Louis M. 



FiusT DKt'AUE, iy:jo-imo. 391 

soon ii|)|nriialcil l)y tliouglitl'iil an<l fnttTjirisiii;^ iricn. Several telo- 
jjnipli comiiaiues wore urj^.iiii/.ed to use it. 80 early lus 184<> Henry 
O'Keilly, one of tlie eneij[i:etie cilize?is of New York, formed a project 
for using all the eonipanies for a <^eneral system of telegrapliic opera- 
tions, and lie aetually establislied a system extending over a line eight 
tlioiisand miles in length.* Within seven years from the time when 
the liist message i)asse(l over the wires between Washingtcjn ant! Balti- 
more, there were more than fifty separate telegraph organizations 
within the limits of the Tniteil States. The most important of these 
companies were eoiisolidated m Is.jl, the year in wliieh the Western 
I'liioii Telegraph Company was formed. That is the leading company 
in this country. It occU|)ies t he greater |)ortion of an iinmen.se huilding 
which was erected about ten yeais ago cm the corner of Broadway and 
Dey Street, New York, at a cost of over §l2,<itMi,oiMi. In that building 
about six hundred o[)crators and clerks ai-e einjiloyed. They are 
divided into relief gangs, so that work never ceases. A large portion 
of this force is composed of young women. They all work entirely by 
the ear, for the telegraph has, for them, a distinct language of its own. 
In the summer of 1844, less than forty years ago, three men |jer- 
formed the eiitiri! tch'gra|)li service in the United States. In 1S82 the 

Chnstean, who was living la riiilailelphia in August, 1883, the cnniniander of the Park 
Guard, and an oUl journalist. At the beginning of operations, after the line between 
AVashington and Baltimore was completed l>i>fessor Morse was the superintendent at 
Washington, with .\lfred Vail as his efficient assistant superintendent there. Henrj' .J. 
Rogers was the assistant superintendent at Baltimore. Lewis Zautzinger was the opera 
lor at Washington, and Mr. Chastean at Baltimore. Of the persons here mentioned, only 
Mr. Chasteau. as wo have observed, now lives on the earth. 

The telegraphic line l>ctween Wivshington and Baltimore was then a copper wire 
wrapped in cotton. The instruments were all very large : the relay magnet was kept in a 
box three feet long, locked, and the key in Superintendent Vail s pocket. No insulators 
Were then known, but sealing-wax, glass, oiled silk, and an imperfect preparation o£ 
asphaltum were used. AH connections were made with glass tubes filled with mercury, 
and all operators during thunder-storms held in their hands large pieces of oiled silk. 

* Mr. O'Reilly yet lives in the city of New York, and at the age of seventy-seven years 
possesses remarkable vigor of mind and body. He is a native of Ireland, where he was 
bom in 1800. He came with his parents to America in 181<>, was apprenticed to a 
printer in New York, and at the ago of seventeen years became assistant editor of a lead- 
ing New York newspaper. Before he was twenty-one he was chosen editor of a doily 
paper at Rochester, N. Y., the first established between the Hudson River .ind the Pacific 
Ocean. During a long life he has ever been an advocate and promoter of the most 
important measures tending to the prosperity of the conntrj-. whether State or national, 
anil was a pioneer m many movements to that end. He has deposited in the New York 
Historical Society abont two hundred manu.script volumes, which comprise valuable 
authentic materials for a history of the public iiuprovemcnts m the .State of New York. 
For a biography of Mr. OKeilly, see Losiungs " Cyclopicdia ot United .States History." 



392 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Western ITnion Teleo;i'a])li ('oiiii)any alone," wliich has a capital stock 
of $SO,()0i),0O(l, had 181, odd miles of jioles and 374,3(38 miles of wire 
employed ; had ]2,0()S olticcs ; had sent out during tlie year 38,842,- 
247 messages ; received as revenue $17,114,165 ; expended §9,996,095, 
and secured a profit of §7,118,070. This is the substance of a report 
from only one of the telegraph companies now (1883) existing in our 
countiy. Over tliis great corporation Dr. Norvin Green presides. f 

* The officers of the Western Union Telegraph Comimny in 1882-83 are : Norvin 
Green, pi-esident ; Thomas T. Eckert, vice-i^resident and general manager ; Augustus 
Schell, Harrison Durkee, and John Van Home, vice-ijresidents ; D. H. Bates, acting 
vice-president and assistant general manager ; J. B. Van Every, acting vice-president 
and auditor ; A. K. Brewer, secretary ; E. H. Rochester, treasurer ; Clarkson Carey, at- 
torney. 

■)• Norvin Green, M.D., the president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, is a 
native of Kentuckj', where he was born in 1818. In 1840 he graduated in the medical 
department of the University of Louisville. Active and energetic, he early took part in 
political movements, and was several times elected to a seat in the Kentucky Legislature, 
in which he served with distinction. Dr. Green was appointed, in 18.53, a comuii.ssioner 
in charge of the building of a new custom-house and post-office at Louisville. The next 
year he became interested in telegraphy, and showed such administrative ability that he 
was soon chosen president of the South-Western Telegraph Company. Dr. Green was 
not only held in highest esteem by business men, but he was exceedingly popular with 
all classes, and is especially noted for his kindness of heart. He won great success for 
his telegrajjU company, which was finally merged into the American Telegraph Company, 
organized some twenty-five years ago by Peter Cooper, Cyrus W. Field, Wilson G. Hunt, 
and others, of which Peter Coojier, Abram S. Hewitt, and Edwards S. Sanford were succes- 
sive presidents. It became a constituent part of the Western Union system in 186G, and 
in recognition of his services and ability Dr. Green was made vice-president of the latter 
company, which position he filled with gi-e.it ability until the death of the president, 
William Orton, in 1878. 

Dr. Green was chosen to succeed jVIr. Orton in the jiresidency of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company, and has performed the functions of that important position with 
rare ability ever since. He combines two essential qualifications for that office, namely, 
a thorough jiractical knowledge of the telegraph system, and experience in public life and 
a knowledge of public men. While he was vice-president of the company he was one of 
three candidates for a seat in the Senate of the United States, .ind was only defeated by 
a blunder in counting the votes. 

In the summer of 1883 Dr. Green visited England, and on August 3d, just before his 
departure for home, a dinner was given in bis honor in London by the directors of the 
Eastern Telegraph and Eastern Telegraph Extension companies, at v.hich John Pender, 
a member of Parliament, presided. 

Thomas Thompson Eckert, who is virtually the managing head of the Western Union 
Telegraph system, was born at St. Clairsville, Ohio, April 23, 1825. He learned teleg- 
raphy in 184!), beginning at the bottom of the ladder, and had made such a reputation 
for ability in that field that at tlie breaking out of the war he was summoned to Wash- 
ington and placed in charge of the military telegraphs of the Department of the Potomac, 
with the rank of captain. In 1802 he was promoted to the rank of major, and given 
charge of the military telegraph department at Washington. In 1864 he had successfully 



KIUST nr.CADE, IWiO 1840. 



393 



It was at ahuiit tliis i>.>ri.Ml, wlion tlio tlivoo frrcat clcnionts wliicli 
have c.ntril.ut.Ml s.. larj,'L'ly to the growtli aii.l imwiM-rity uf Now York 
City— the railway, thoexpi-ess, ami the telegnii)ii sysl.'i.is-weic m the 

orRxnize.! the outiro military telegropU B.VBtoiii. and luul in so m«ny ways shown 
his nbilitv that 1... w«s <ho8en for Assistant Seorelar)- of War, with tlie rank of heutt-u- 
nnt^colonel lu IHO". ho was sclcc-tecl for Iho .luty of conferring with tho commissioners 
„f the Southern Coiife.leraev at City Point, and for his services was breveted briKadier- 
ceneral He resigned the scereUiryshin to accept the responsible post of general super- 
intendent of the e>»stern division of the Western Union Telegraph Cnn.pany. In th.s 
position he org.mi/.od all the connecting lines for tho new cables and the supervision of the 
transatlantic correspondence, which began with tho successful laying of the first cable 
In 1W7.5 he accepted the presidency of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company, and 
made it so prominent a factor in the telegraph business of the country that the Western 
Union Company made overtures for a pooling arr..ng«meut between the companies, 
which resulted in an arrangement satisfactory to both. -Wter a year or two of inactive 
work as president of the Atlantic and Pacific Company, General Eckert withdrew from 
its ser^-ice and in 1879, in conjunction with Jay Oould and others, oi-gan.zed the 
American Union Telegraph Company. In 1«81, when Mr. Gould became one of the 
largest owners of the Western Union Company, it .vnd the American Union Company 
w-^e mei^ea, and General Eckert was unanimously chosen for the position of general 
manager of the consolidated companies, in which position he has added largely to the 
reputation of the company for prompt and efficient service, and, if possible to his own 
reputation of being the most vigorous, straightforward, and able pnictica telegraph man 
of the day In Dr. Greens absence in Europe, during the great strike of telegraph 
operators and linemen, in July and August, 1883, the general was in tnl -•""'-;^^° 
the company and while he was uncompromising in yielding anything to the strikers 
durin- its progress, he acted with great magnanimity toward them as soon as it was 



over 



William Orton, the predecessor of Dr. Green in the presidency of the \^ estern Union 
Telegraph Company, was a man of rare gifts. He was a native of Allegany t-o'.nt.v V \ 
where he was bom in June, 1826. He died at his residence in New lork C t -M.nl 2- 
1878 Keceiving a meagre common-school education, young Orton entered the Normal 
School at Albany, gra.luated with honor, and began school teaching in Geneva N. \ 
He became a bookseller, first in Geneva, then in Auburn, and fina ly in New ^^ork Ho 
was a warm Republican in politics and a thorough patriot, and in 180.2 ho was appointed 
a collector of internal revenue in New York City. In this positron he «b"--l ''>■'«-„ 
executive ability, and, without being a lawyer, ho displayed such egal skill that he was 
strongly commended to the favor of Secretary Chase. He was called to A\ ashing on as 
commissioner of internal revenue at the seat of government because of his " adm.nis rat.vo 
ability and his power of grasping details." His hc.Uth giving way he resigned. Almost 
immJdiately be was offered tho presidency of the United States Telegraph Company, at a 
salars- of $10 000 a Vcar. He accepted it. In this position he showed such rei.mrkablo 
ability that when his company united with the Western Union Company in isr.f;. Mr Orton 
was mad,- vice-president of the new organization. On tho retirement of its president on 
account ■ f failing health, in lSfi7. Mr. Orton was chosen his successor, and ho immediately 
brought to boar ui-on its business his wonderful organizing powers and administrativo 
abUity with what success its history fully attests. He was at once its president, its cham- 
pion on all occasions, and its yigilant and untiring servant. Overwork broke him down. At 



394 



msToav OF new yukk citv. 



first stages of IIkmi- development, between 1835 and 1840, tliat Samuel 
Woodworth, a printer by ])rofession and a poet of umcli excellence, 
wrote a remarkable ])oeni.* 

the time of his death Mr. Orton was president of the International Ocean Telegraph 
Company (the Cuban line), the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company, and the Pacific and 
Southern Atlantic Telegraph companies. He was a member of the Union League Club, 
of the Board of Trade, and of the Chamber of Commerce. 

* This poem, which is inserted below, seems to have been designed to call the ntten 
tion of the citizens of New York, who were then witnesses of the amazing growth of the 
metropolis -its marvellous transformations, its inventions, and its wonderful promises 
for the future- to the contrast of the then aspect of the city and that of the more feeble 
town, when the poet's "old house was new." The poem, written when the author was 
partially paralyzed, lay hidden in manuscript until brought to public notice in the New 
York Jivening Post, by Mr. J. Barnitz Bacon, a zealous antiquarian. Woodworth died in 
1842. 

" THE HOUSE I LIVE IN. 

"Yua, I thmk it meet, as loii^ as I ara in this tabernacle, to etir you np by putting you in remem- 
brance, knowing tliat shortly I must put oil this my tabernacle."— 2 Peter 1 . 13. 



' When this old house was young and new, 

Some fifty years ago. 
Before this thriving city grew 

In population so ; 
The Revolution was just past. 

Our States were weak and few, 
And luaiiy thought they could not last. 

When this old house was new. 

' Then Chatham Street was Boston Road, 

Queen Street was changed to Pearl — 
For we with love no longer glowed 

For king and queen and earl. 
The British troops had gone away. 

And every patriot true 
Then kept Evacuation Day, 

When this old house w as new. 

' Our country, then in infancy. 

Had just begun to grow. 
Oppressed by debt and poverty. 

Some fifty years ago. 
But Washington, the first of men. 

To (I.^d and virtue true. 
Presided o'er the nation then. 

When this old house was new. 

' We'd thirteen feeble States in all, 

And Congress met, we know. 
In the old Wall Street City Hall 

Some fifty years ago. 
There did our chief, as President, 

His godlike course pursue. 
We were not into parties rent. 

When this old house was new. 

' Louisiana was not ours. 

We merely lined the coast ; 
While colonies of foreign powers 
Encircled us almost. 



We had not then the Floridas, 
Our coasting ships were few. 

Though some from China brought us teas. 
When this old house was new. 

'Commerce and agriculture drooped, 

The arts we scarcely met, 
Nor had a native pencil grouped 

Our deathless patriots yet. 
Genius of literature, 'twas thought, 

Would never rise to view. 
And native poetiy was short. 

When this old house was new. 

' Our city then did not extend 

Beyond the Collect Brook. 
And one might from its northern end 

Upon the Battery look. 
Broad Street was but a muddy creek. 

And banks were very few ; 
The Greenwich stage ran twice a week. 

When this old house was new. 

' We once a week from Boston heard. 

From Philadelphia twice, 
And oft in summer we got word 

Of Southern corn and rice. 
Tobacco, cotton, indigo, 

Whate'er the ])lanters grew : 
The mails all travelled very slow, 

AVTien this old house was new. 

' To visit .\Ibany or Troy 

Was quite an enterprise : 
In Ta]))ian Zee the wind was flawy, 

Anci billows oft would rise ; 
And then the Overslaugh alone 

For weeks detained a few : 
Steamboats and railroads were unknown 

AVhen this old house was new. 



KIUST UKCAUE. isyo lw40 



395 



Tlie iilliision in the pucin to tlie IJalls of .Iiistici' or tlic Toiiihs. 
as the city prison is culled, briiiji^ us to a considciatioii of tlic |ihice,s 
in the city jinjvidcd lor the restraint of criminals and debtors at that 
lime. 



' Our trade witli thi' Wtsl Indiii Isles 

Wns not fxtrt'iiulv ui">d. 
But we got Fnnc'li iiiiil Kn(;lisli fileH 

Of papers wbcu \vc oonld. 
News-hniils were tlieii not known at all, 

And Imlliliiis were few ; 
But there were boatmen at Whitehall 

When this old house was new. 

■ An ocfngon jiayoda rose 

lipou the Battery Kfeen, 
Which we ascended when we chose, 

If ships were to be seen. 
'Twas built some fifty years ago ; 

There Freedom's banner Hew, 
And there small beer and ale would flow, 

When this old house was new. 

' No towers with dark E)JJ^)tian frown » 

(iraced Centre Street, we know, 
Brirlewell and .Jail were far up town. 

The courts were far below. 
Nor did we have such vice and guilt 

.\s now disgust the view ; 
StAte prisons had not yet been built 

■When this old house was new. 

' 'Tis true our streets were somewhat dork, 

No gas its lustre shed, 
There was no pla\ house near the Park, 

Nor near the Old Bull's Head. 
And as our journalist records. 

E'en churches were but few ; 
Our city had but seven small wards 

When this old house was new. 

' Oswego JIarket, from Broadway 
Ran down in Maiden Lane, 
And Barley Street has since that day 

Been alteretl to Duane. 
Duke Street has since been changed to 
Stone. 
.And Cedar Street, 'tis true. 
As Little (^ueen Street then was known. 
When this old house was new. 

' Crown Street is now called Liberty, 

Prince .Street was changed to Rose, 
Princess to Beaver -thus the free 

New appellations chose. 
The celebrated Doctors' mob. 

From which some mischief grew, 
Had nearly proved a serious job. 

When tiiis old house was new. 



' Old Trinity was just rebuilt— 

'Twas burnt by British men ; 
Modern improvement bears the gnilt 

Of razing it again. 
We sighed for water jiuro anil sweet, 

\s now we daily do. 
And saw them bore for 't near Wall Street 

When this old house was new. 

' The Federal Constitution bronght 

.\bout a greot parade — 
A grand procession, where they wrought 

At ever}' art and trade. 
The .\lmshouse, fronting Chambers Street, 

Had not then risen to view. 
Nor Broadway diil the Bowery meet. 

When this old house was new. 

■ Dire Pestilence, the fiend of wrath. 

With yellow, withering frown. 
Scattering destruction in its path. 

Oft sadly thinned the town. 
Terror, dismay, ami death prevailed. 

With mourners not a few. 
Who friends and relatives bewailed 

When this old house was new. 

' The smallpox, loo, would oft assail ; 

The kinepox was not known ; 
Societies did not prevail. 

Though since so numerous grown. 
We'd no ,\cademy of .Vrts, 

And schools were very few. 
With drawings, pictures, ma]is, and charts. 

When this old house was new. 

' We had no licensed coaches then, 

Arranged on public stamls ; 
We'<l not two boards of aldermen 

To vote away our lands. 
On beef and venison to regale. 

With turtle at Bellevue : 
They'd take their crackers, cheese, and ala 

When this old house was new. 

' No Navy Yard and no T>rv Pock, 

No City Hall in Park. 
And no illuminated clock 

To light us after dark 
No omnibuses thronged Broadway, 

And ran with furious heat 
Over the people, night and day. 

Who tried to cross the street. 



' An nlliislon to Itie Viij Prison or "Tombs," which wns compK-teil la I8W. 



396 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 



The construction of the Halls of Justice was completed in the year 
1838. The building occupies a ^Jortion of the site of the old Collect 
Pond, a sheet of fresh water lying m a hollow between the Bowe^ "' and 
Broadway, and receiving the drainage of the surrounding hiUs. Its 
outlet Wiis a rivulet that flowed through oozy land (Lispenard's 
Meadow) into the Hudson River along the route of the present Canal 
Street, which derives its name from that circumstance. 

Tills pond was filled up in 1836, and the present building of the Halls 
of Justice was erected upon the site in the course of two veal's after- 
ward. The pond for a time seemed to he bottomless. An immense 
quantit}' of stones and earth was throwai into it, and when it appeared 
filled, and the solid matter was above the surface of the water at even- 
ing, it would be unseen in the morning. And when the builders of the 
structure, who laid the foundations much deeper than usual, began to 
pile up the blocks of granite, there was at one time such evident set- 
tling at the foundation that the safety of the building seemed in peril. 
But it has stood well-nigh half a century, and seems to rest upon a 
solid foundation. 

Externally the Halls of Justice building is entirely of granite, and 
appears as one lofty story, the windows being carried above the ground 
up to beneath the cornice. It is thought to be the best specimen of 
Egyptian architecture out of Egypt. The main entrance is in Centre 
Street, and is reached by a flight of wide, dark stone steps, then 
through a spacious but dark and gloomy portico, calculated to impress 



' The wheels of State had fewer crants, 

All turned by honest men ; 
And we'd no crusade 'gainst the banks 

And no defaulters then. 
Virtue and honesty survived, 

Our offices were few ; 
Sub-treasuries were not contrived 

When this old house was new. 

' We had no linf^ering Indian wars 

To drain the public purse. 
And Revolutionary scars 

Were hciiled by careful nnrse. 
We had no (piacks, nor hygeian pills, 

Nor steam physician then ; 
No gambling-shops, nor stepping-mills, 

Nor Graham regimen. 

'No tinkers of the currency 

Had altered bad to worse. 
For healthy infants then, yon see, 

Were not put out to nurse. 
We quarrelled not 'bout public lands. 

For they were wild and new, 
As everybody understands. 

When this old house was new. 



' The evil days have come at last. 

In which few joys I find ; 
The morning of my lite is past-- 

I'm lame, and almost blind. 
The keepers of the house now shake 

As palsied porters do. 
And my strong limbs obeisance make 

Where it was never due. 

' The smallest weight a burden seems. 

The curbstone is too high ; 
How different from my former dreams, 

When I could almost tly ! 
My sight is dim, my hearing dull. 

For music's tones decay ; 
And ah ! this dome— I mean my skull — 

Is thatched with silver gray. 

' But though my sight be dull and dim, 

My Saviour's love was prized : 
In youth I placed my hopes in Him, 

-Vnd now they're realized. 
Yea, though He slay me, still I'll trust ; 

His promises are true ; 
Though this old house decay. He must 

Keljuild it good as new." 




o//^^?^'>^-<^ 




I'-IHSr DKiAOK. 1830-1S40. 31»7 

the iiiind of llic milortiiiiiitr prisoner with thr idcii th;it " wlio chum's 
here leavfs hupi' lu-hiiul "' — :i sort of " Iiri(lj,n' of Si^His." It was tiiis 
gloomy aspccl of the Imilihii;,' tliat gave it tlie name of " tlie K;,fy|)tian 
Tombs'" — tlie Tonihs— wlieiv the woi-st felons an<l murderei"s are eon- 
fined, and where tlie death-sentenees of eriniinals are exeeuted in the 
])resence of the limited nmnher of pei-sons ret|Uired l»y law. 

Before the ereetion of the Mails of Justiee there were live |>ulilic 
])risons in the city, one of whieli lielonired to the State. These were 
the Dehtoi's' Prison (now the Hall of Keeords), east of the ("ity Hall ; 
the Bridewell, the reiiitentiary, the State riisnii, ami the House of 
llefuge.* 

The Bridewell or old City Prison was devoted tr) the temporjiry 
incarceration of prisoners, where they were held until discharged as 
innocent or convicted as guilty of charges ]ireferred agsiinst them. 
The Iniilding was constnicted of stone, and consi.sted of a central edifice 
and wings, three stories in height, and stood between the west end of 
the City Ilall and Broadway. Its affairs were directed by live citi- 
zens, ap])ointed I >y the connnon council, with the title of ( 'ommi.ssion- 
ei-s of the Abiishouse, Bridewell, and the Penitentiary of the City of 
New Yorlc. 

The Penitentiary wiis a stone building at Bellevne, on the East 
River, adjoining the almshouse. It has already been describe*! in a 

* The first named was exclnsivcly devototl to the confinement of prisoners for det)t. 
■whom bnrbaroiis laws illogically and cruelly incarcerated. Well did Red Jacket, the 
great Seneca chief, illustrate the folly and injustice of the imprisonment of a debtor, 
when, on seeing a man taken to prison in Itatavia, N. Y., he inquired what his crime was. 

"He is in del)t ami cannot pay," answered his companion in the street, the late vener- 
able Sir. Hosmer, of .Vvon, who was the first lawyer settled west of Utica. 

"Why, he no catch beaver there !" said the chief— he could not work in jail to earn 
money to pay his debt. So this " son of the forest" illustrated the unwisdom of the 
law. 

Happily such a law no lonpcr prevails in any part of our Republic. The State of New 
York was the leader in adopting measures for its abolition so early as 1831. It is be- 
lieved that one of the most powerful instrumentalities in Viringing about the repeal of 
laws which sent debtors to prison was a stirring poem wTitten by the gentle Quaker poet, 
John G. Whittier, called " The Prisoner for Debt," in which he said : 

" Down with the law that binds him thus I 

Unworthy freemen, let it find 
No refuge from the withering curse 

Of (iod and human kind ! 
Open the prisoners living tomb, 
And usher from its brooding gloom 
The victims of ymr savage code 
To the free sun and air of God ; 
No longer dare as crime to brand 
The chastening of tb' Almighty's hand !" 



398 IIISTOliV OF NEW VOHK (TrV 

notice of Belle\nie Hospital. It was opened in May, ISIT), and was 
devoted exclusively to the confinement of such persons at hard labor as 
should be convicted at the Court of Sessions of petit larceny and other 
offences, and of vagrants. Some of the prisoners were employed on the 
roads on tiie island, or in garden work ; others in house-work, shoe- 
making, tailoring, and whatever other employment they were efficient 
in, wlule the women were employed in the kitchen, or in making and 
mending the clothes of their fellow-prisoners. 

The House of Refuge for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents 
had its origin in a benevolent movement in 1S17, in which John Griscora, 
LL.D., a member of the Society of Friends, w-as the chief leader. He 
was the pioneer in the fouiiding of the Society for the Prevention of 
Paui)erism. In tiiis society his most earnest coadjutors were Thomas 
Edd\- and John Pintard. The society investigated the catiMS of ])au- 
perism, studied the statistics of prisons in England and the United 
States, and came to the conclusion that the most efficient work in the 
enterprise must be among the young of both sexes. 

Late in 1823 some benevolent pereons formed an association entitled 
The Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents. Into this 
society the former association was merged. Measures were then taken 
for the establishment of a house of refuge for erring or criminal youth, 
the first institution of the kind ever founded. A charter was obtained 
in 1824, and in the old arsenal grounds, on the site of Madison Square, 
near the junction of Bi-oadway (then known as the Bloomingdale Road 
at that point) and Fifth Avenue, two stone buildings, two stories in 
height, were erected, one for boys, the other for girls. The grounils 
were surrounded l)y a strong stone wall inclosing an area three hundred 
by three hundred and twenty feet in size, and seventeen feet in height. 

The House of Refuge was opened on the first of Januaiy, 1825. On 
that occasion there appeared before a large and respectable audience, 
gathered at that dreary out-of-town spot, nine wretched "juvenile 
delinijuents'" — three boys and six girls — in tattered garments, as candi- 
dates for the reformatory. They were the first of nearly one hundred 
who were found within its walls tluring the first year. The first super- 
intendent Avas the late Joseph Curtis, a philanthropist of purest mould, 
and f(jr many years before his death an indefatigable worker in the 
cause of free schools in the city of IS'ew York. 

The Refuge remained there until the buildings were destroyed by 
fire in 1838, soon after which time it was removed to Bellevue. There 
it continued until November, 18.54, when it was removed to Randall's 
Island, its present location. 



FlltST DKCAOK. t«:!0 IHIO. 



399 



Atinidini,' tn til." lifty oiffhth aiimiiil report of tlu' Society for tlie 
UefonniitioM of .luvenile l)elin<iuents (Issl'), tlim- had Ueen received 
into the llous.' ..r liefuge, since its opening in is^.'., :>n,t;-j4 juvenile 
dehn(|uents, and that the weekly average nuniher of inmates during 
the year was 771. Careful in(|uiries reveal the fact that intenipemnce 
IS not a prevailing vice of the parents of these deliiu|uents, nor that 
their deUmim'ncy is chargeahle to their being orphans, for ahout sC, per 
cent of the fathei-s and '.14 per cent of the mothers were temjierate peo- 
ple, and correspondinglv few of the children had lost their parents.* 

Kandairs Island is one of a group of heautiful and jiicturestiue islands 
in the East Uiver lielonging to the city of New York. It contains 
about one hundred acres of land. 

The other islands of the group alluded to are Blackwell's and Ward's. 
Blackwell's contains about one hundirnl and twenty acres, and was 
purchase.1 by the city in 1828 for ^.-.njioo. It has a heavy granite sea- 
wall, built bv the convicts Its public edifices are large and substan- 
tial, built in"modi£eval style of architecture, with turrets and battle- 
ments. The buildings are of stone (luarried on the island by the con- 
vi(!ts. Around the buildings are gardens and pleasant shaded grounds. 
On this island are a penitentiary, with an average of between twelve 
hundred ami thirteen hun.lred inmates ; a correctional workhouse, a 
charily hosi)ital, with accominodaticms for eight hundred patients ; an 
almshouse, a lunatic asvhim for females, an a.sylum for the blind, a hos- 
pital for incui-<d)les, and a convalescent hospital. The houses of the offi- 
cials are pleasiintly situated among the trees on the island. It is esti- 
mated that the entire [x )pulation of the island is about seven thousjind, all 
under the care of the coininis.sionei-s of public charities and correction. 

Kamlall's Island, as we have observed, contains about one hundred 
acres of land. It is divided from the shore of Westchester County on 
the north by a narrow channel known as the Harlem Kills, ami on the 
south from "Ward's Island by Little Hell Gate. It contains, besides 
the House of Refuge, an idiot asylum, a nui-sery, children's and infants' 
hospital, schools, ami other charities provided by the city of New York 
for destitute children. The buildings of these institutions are chietly 
of brick, an.l imiwsing in appearance. The island is pleasjintly sha.led 
with ti-ees. These institutions are all under the care of the commis- 
sioners of jiublic charities and correction. 

• The officers of the society for 1882-83 are : .Tohn A. Weeks, president ; Benjamin B. 
Attcrbnry, .Inmes M. Hnlsted, J. W. C. Leveri.lse, E.Xgnr S. Vnn Winkle, John J. Town- 
send, Alexander JIcL. Agnew, vice-presidents ; Xalh.iniel .lursis, Jr., treasurer ; Frederick 
W. Downer, secretary ; Israel C. Jones, superiiil' ii'l. nt. 



4:00 HISTORY OF NEW VUKK CITY. 

On the soutliern end of tlio island is tiie House of Eefuge, under the 
care of tiie Society for tiie Reformation of Juvenile Delintjuents. The 
two principal building-s are of ijrick, nearly one thousand feet in length, 
in the Italian style of arcliitecture. Tiie boys and girls are kept sepa- 
rate, and tliose guilty of social crime apart from the younger inmates. 
Children brought before magistrates are sentenced by them to this 
institution. Tlie average number of inmates is about eight Imndred. 
They are all taught to work, and are educated in the common English 
branches. Tlie total ])oi)ulation of the island is about twenty-five 
hundred. 

"VTard's Island is nearly circular, .and is situated near tlie junction of 
the East and Harlem rivers. It is the largest of the three islands, con- 
taining about two hundred acres, and is finely wooded in some parts. 
It is owned partly by the city and partly by individuals. The part 
belonging to the city is apportioned between the commissioners of 
emigration and the comniissionei's of public charities and correction. 
Under- the care of the latter is an insane asylum for males and a 
homoeopathic hospital ; imder the charge of the former are the State 
Emigrant Hospital, a lunatic asylum, houses of refuge, and a nursery 
or home for children. In these institutions, under charge of the com- 
missioners of emigration, sick and destitute aliens arriving in New 
York are cared for. 

The buildings on Randall's Island are generally plain but substantial 
structures of brick. Those erected by the commissionei*s of emigra- 
tion are noticeable for their spaciousness ami beauty, being built of 
brick and gray stone. They are much hidden from spectators on the 
water by fine old trees. The lunatic asylum contains an average of 
over one thousand patients. The con\ncts fi-om Blackwell's Island are 
constantly engaged in the grading and beautifying of Ward's Island, 
and in constructing a sea-wall around it. 

These three islands in the East River display the richest fruit of the 
magnificent public charities of Jfew York City. 

The State Prison stood near the bank of the Hudson River, at what 
was then known as Greenwich Village, and about a mile and a half 
north-west of the City Hall. It was one of two public prisons author- 
ized liy the Legislature of the State of New York in the closing decade 
of the last century. One was to be erected at Albany, and one at 
Xew York. 

The prison at Greenwich Village was built of stone, three stories in 
height, and surrounded by a massive stone wall fourteen feet high in 
front and twenty feet high in the rear, where the workshops were sit- 



FlUST DECADE. 1H30-1K4(I. 401 

uatcd. Tlio pi'ison and its apiM-ndiifift's covcitMl alxmt four aci-cs of 
f^ntund. It was calk-d N'cwjratc, and was opened for tlie reception of 
prisonere in 171*7. It soon liecaine el-o\vded, and another prison was 
oroeted by tlie State at Aulmin, Cayug-.i County. Of the convicts in 
this prison, tlie average was always about seventy per cent of foieign 
birth. 

The rooms in this prison weiv hirge, and several convicts occupieil 
the same sleeping;; a|iartment. This was found to be a very unwise 
arrangement, as it liatl a powerful tendency to a further t^orruption of 
the morals of the inmates. It was linally deemed wise to aiiandon 
this prison in the city and erect another and more spacious further 
up the Hudson Kiver. In ls25 the Legislature authorizeil the erection 
of a new prison, and the spot selected was Mount I'lea.sant (Sing Sing), 
t)n the Hudson, in Westchester County. The foundations of this new 
])rison were laid in May, I^l'i;, and it Wius completed in is^s. The site 
was selected largely because it was in the vicinity of extensive beds of 
white marble, the ciuarrying of which would give pr<pfitable employ- 
ment to the prisoners. 

A powerful impetus to the growth of a city consists in facilities for 
transporting persons or merchandise within its Ijoitlei's to and from 
distant iR)ints. New Yorkers |)erceived this whi n the steamboat ap- 
])eared, the Erie Canal was completed, the omnibus was introduced, 
and the railway made its atlvent into this country. Such facilities on 
the island would greatly inciea.se the migration of population from the 
dense jirecincts of l)usincss, and increase the value of real estate at 
remote |X)ints from the centre of trade. Alert Xew Vorkci-s readily 
joined in a scheme for so benefiting the city l)y building a railway that 
would bisect Manhattan Island longituiliually, l>ut extend finally to 
Albany. 

New York City has the honor of introducing to the world the system 
of horse railroads in city streets, that of the New York and Harlem 
Eailroad (Fourth Avenue) having been the first con.structed. 

The New York and Harlem Kailroad Company wa.s incorporated on 
the 25tli of xVpril, 1S31, with authority to construct a double-track road 
to any point on the Harlem River, between the east ijounds of Third 
Avenue and the west bounds of Eighth Avenue* The capital stock 

• Tlie tnUowing persons were the incorponitors of the New York and Harlem Railroad 
Company in the spring of 1831 • Benjamin Bailov. Mordecai M. Noah, Benson MacGowan. 
.tames B. Hurray, Charles Henry Hall, Moses Henriqnes. Isaac. Adrianee. Thomas Addis 
Emmet, Gideon Lee, Silo-s E. Bnrrows, Samuel F. Halsey. Comolins Hansen, Robert 
Rtowurl. .\t till' first election of directors, in .Inly, 1S31, .lohn Mason was elected president. 



402 IlISTOUY OF NEW yOKK CITY. 

was $1,100,000. An act was passed the next year autliorizing tlie com- 
pany to extend the track along the Bowery (now Foui-th Avenue) to 
Fourteenth Street, and such other streets as the city autliorities might 
from time to time permit. The use of steam as a motor was Hrst in- 
troduced in 1S3A on this road — W. T. James, the machinist of the 
road, being the inventor of the first steam-motor for city railways. 

In 1S33 the common council passed an ordinance authorizing the 
company to lay a track in Broadway. Rails were actually laid the 
distance of two blocks, but there was so much opposition to the meas- 
ure that they were taken up, and a track was laid down to Prince 
Street and the Bowery. A portion of the road was open to travel m 
1832. The conductors were boys, and they were required to report 
the receipts to the superintendent once a week — every Saturday night. 
There arose a suspicion that the boys were " taking toll." A liberal 
rewai-d was offered to the boy who should re]X)rt the largest amount of 
receipts at the end of the week. The result was a very large increase 
in the receipts returned by each boy. 

The introduction of a street railway into New York City in 1831-32 
created a new mechanical business in the metro]3olis — the manufacture 
of tramcars, as the Englisli call them, for the use of such roads. In 
that business John Stephenson was the pioneer. He had recently 
finished his apprenticeship to a coach-builder, and began manufactur- 
ing omnibuses for Abraham Brower on bis own account, when he 
received an order from the New York and Harlem Railroad Company 
to build a street-car for them. ill*. Stephenson constructed it after a 
design of his own, and named it Jo/iti Mamn, in honor of the first 
president of the company and founder of the Chemical Bank. 

This was the fii-st street-railway car ever built. It was made to hold 
thirty passengers, in three compartments. The driver's seat was in 
the roof, and it had passenger seats on the roof, which were reached 
by steps at each end. It was a sort of cross between an omnibus, a 
rockaway, and an Enghsh railway coach, and had four wheels. This 
was fii"st put on the road between Prince and Fourteenth streets, on 
November 26, 1832, carrying the president of the road and the mayor 
and coimuon council of the city of New York. For this car Mr. 
Stephenson received a patent from the United States Government. 

(Jther orders from the same company soon followed, and very soon 
Mr. Stephenson was employed to build passenger-cai-s for railways as 
they rapidly increased in numbers and extent in our country. These 
were, at first, cars with four wheels. When eight-wheeled cars were 
introiluced Ijy Ross "VViuaus, of Baltimore, Mr. Stejjhensuii found it 



1-MKST DKCADK. 1«:10 ls|(i 403 

ncci'ssiirv t<i cxti-inl Ins prfiiiist's. In \s:>,r, he Itnilt a s|);u,ious factory 
at Ilaiii-m, and in 1n4.'5 In- Im)uj.'IiI IIk' land on Twrnty-si'Vfntli Strc'et, 
near Foiutli Avt-nuc, wlicri' liis |)ii'si-nt L'staMislinicnt now is, and imilt 
till' nucleus of tlic factory which, with its lunilici -yai-ds, covci-s sixteen 
city lots. Mr. Sieplicn.son has coiitinueil to huild innnilni.scs from the 
bejLfinning, and lias lieen a constructor of these and railway caiN for the 
space of lifty-three yoais. Now, in his seventy-Jifth year, he is vi^'oioas 
in mind and IkmIv. 

The stivet-niilway car is a purely New "\'ork prodiic-t. It was in 
successful operation in that city for tweiity-fivo years liefore it apjiearod 
in any other city of the Union or elsewhere. (Jeorire Francis Tniin 
introduced a street railway into liirkeiihead, Eiii,dand, in isilo, and also 
commenced one in I.onilon. It ljre<l a liot, and the niol> tore up the 
rails. Now they ai-e seen in all civilized countries, and the John 
Stephenson Company manufacture .street-railway eai's for Xi>rth and 
South America, loi Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and isles of the 
sea. 

!Mr. Stephenson (with ^Ir. Slawson) is the inventor of the " bobtail " 
or one-hoi'se car, now so po])ular. They were lii-st introduced into 
New Orleans just at the breaking out of the Civil "War, but only since 
the war have they been in use everywhere in the United States.* 

* John Stephenson was bom in the north of Irelnnd on July 4, 1809. His parents, 
.James .Stephenson and Grace .Stuart, ol English and Scotch lineage, had settled there. 
In 1811 they came to New York with John, their tirst-born, who received an academic 
education at the Wesleyan Seminary in New York. His father designed him for mercan- 
tile life, bnt his proclivities for mechanics changed his destiny and caused liini to be 
apprenticed to a coachmaker. .\t his majority (1831) he set up business for himself, 
chiefly as a maker of oranibnscs, then a new business in the city. His shop was adjoin- 
ing the rear of Brower's stables, No. 6C7 Broadway. Here, in 18.31, he designed and con- 
structed the first omnibus built in New York. In less than a year he lost all his property 
V)y fire. He then planted his business in Elizabeth Street, and therp he built the first 
street-railway car. He transferred his business to Harleui (Fnurlh .\vetiue and One 
Hnndred and Twenty-ninth Street) in 18:ifi, and to its present silo in lW4;i, then a rural 
district of the city. His prosperous course in railway-car and omnibus building has been 
intimated in the text ; and now, at the age of over seventy-four years, he is actively 
engaged at the head ol the most extensive establish'uent of the kind in the United States. 

Mr, Stephenson is an earnest working member of th^' llollitidist Episcopal Church, as 
both his parents were. He had seven sisters, who were all church members, .\bout 
181G he entered a Sabbath-school, then just organized by Mrs. I)ivie Bethuue, Mrs. JIary 
Mason, and others ; and from that time to this he has been active in Sabbath-schools in 
various capacities. He has now (18S3) under his teaching a Bible-class of forty mem- 
bers. He is passionately foml of ransic. He was a performing member of the Sacred 
Music Society, which about fifty years ago met in the Chatham Theatre (then Chapel), 
and he was snbse<inently an active member of the Hanuouic Society. He was for forty 
years leader of a church choir of forty vulunti'i r singers, chiefly from Sunilay-school 



404 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

The New York and Harlem Eailroad was extended to Yorkville, a 
suburban village, in 1S37, a distance of about five miles. Late in that 
year it had a douljle track from Prince Street to Yorkville. Its 
coaches ran at intervals of fifteen minutes every day in the week. The 
far'e for each passenger was twenty-five cents. The i-oad was extended 
down tlie Bowery to WaOcer Street, and afterward through Broome, 
Centi-e and (Jluitham streets and Park Row to the southei-n end of the 
City Hall Park, where the Post-Office now stands. 

Such, in brief, is the genesis of the first horse-railroad in the world. 
Tiiis system originated in the city of New York about fifty -two yeare 
ao'O ; now (1SS3) there are twenty hnes of railway traversing the city 
in various directions. 

As the New York and Harlem Railroad was the first of the 
great arteries of transportation which coutriliuted to the life, vigor, 
and growth of the city, the history of its extension toward the 
political capital of the State may be appropriately given in a few 
sentences. 

In 1887 tlie widening of Fourth Avenue from Thirty-fourth Street 
to Harlem River was authorized, and the extension of the New York 
and Harlem Railroad into the open country beyond the Harlem River 
Avas speedily begun. 

In 1835 the company was authorized to convert into capital stock the 
amount of money which it had borrowed. The ampunt of the ca])ital 
stock was increased from time to time, and in 1849 amounted to 
§1,00(1,(101). That year the company was authorized to extend the 
road in the county of Westchester beyond the Harlem River, to build 
a bridge across the same, and to connect with the New Y'ork and 
Albany Railroad. In 1845 it was authorized to extend its road through 
the counties of Putnam, Duchess, and Columbia. The road was com- 
pleted to Ciiatham, its northern terminus, in 1852. 

In the year 1859 the company was authorized to run horse-cars to 
Forty-second Street and up Maclison Avenue to Seventy-ninth Street ; 
also to use steam on Fourth Avenue, from Forty-second Street to the 
Ilarlejn River, for thirty years. 

The capital stock of the company was increased to §lo,(iO(»,()00 in 
1871, and in 1872 the great Fourth Avenue improvements, between 
Forty -second Street and Harlem, were authorized. The actual cost of 
those improvements was about 86,500,000. The Grand Central Depot 

classes which he had trained. He has in his librarj' a rare coUeetion of musical litera- 
ture. Mr. Stephenson was for over twenty years a public school trustee in the Twenty- 
first Ward. 



KIUST DKCAUE. 1830-1840. 405 

wiusciiiistructiMl in isTn 71, iit a cost of alxuil $:t,iHMi,(HM(, inc-Uulinf,' 
tlie cost of tlic land. 

A givater portion of the stock of the New "\'oik and llarli-in Rail- 
road (as well as tiie New York Centnd and Hudson River Railroad, to 
wliieli it is leased) lielongs to the Vanderliilt family. Conx-lius Van- 
derliilt,* familiarly known as '• tiie t"onini<j<lore."" was made a direetor 

* Cornelius Vandcrlalt, ii mitivo of Stnton IhIuiuI, X. Y., wiw the most eiuinont and 
sneccssful orgiinizcr of iiu>thii<ls of tniunportiitiou I).v steuiii on land iind water. Win 
ancestors were nnionj,' the earlier Huttlers ou Stateu Island. The original uu-iubers of the 
family settled in riatbnsli. Long Island, ami held a high social position as persons of 
wealth and puhlic spirit. They were members of the Keformed Dutch t'hnrch. The 
first of the family who settled on Stnten Island was Jacob, who made his residence there 
about 1715. He was the great-grandfather of Cornelius. The latter was bom May 27, 
1794, and died Jannarj- 4, 1H77. The famous " Kose and Crown" tavern on Staten 
Island, which was the headquarters of GeneriJ Sir William Howe in le summer of 177C, 
belonged to the Vanderbilt family. 

The place of Cornelius Vanderbilt's birth is claimed by several pU ces on Staten Island 
—Port Richmond, various houses in Stnpleton, ond two or three in the interior of the 
island. While ho was an infant his imrents were residents of Stapleton. His mother 
was Phebe Hand, of New .Tersiv, a niece of Colonel Hand of the Revolution. His only 
inheritance was the careful training of his mother, a vigorous physical constitution, a 
clear head, sound judgment, and indomitjible energy. He received very little book 
learning away from his mother's knee. He was a ■' healthy, harum-scarum lad," a good 
oarsman, on expert swimmer, and a perfect rider. He rode a race-horse against a colored 
boy in a race when he was six years of age. He worked on the farm, sailed the boats of 
his father (who was a ferryman), and when ho was sixteen years of age he earned money 
enough to purchase a sail-boat and began business on his own account in the transporta- 
tion of pas,sengera and garden " tnick" to and from New York City, then containing 
between 70,000 and 80,000 inhabitants. In the same line of business largely, Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, at the close of an active life of about sixty.scven years, had aecnniulated a 
fortune estimated at :f;l00,000,000. Honestly recognizing his duty to his parents, he gave 
to them a larger portion of the receipts from his business until he was twenty-one years 
of age. 

During the war of 1812 young Vanderbilt's boats were in constant demand in carrying 
soldiers and supplies from point to point in the harbor. In this public service his per- 
sonal braverj- was often called into reiiuisilion. The business was verj- remunerative. 
Meanwhile ho had married his cousin. Sophia .Johnson, in 1813, a sensible and practical 
young woman. He had been able to become the owner of several boats of larger 
capacity, and he was soon the acknowledged head of the local transportation business of 
the harbor. He also extended his voyages up the N.irth and Kast rivers, engaging in 
traffic of e\vT\ kind, and so combining the merchant and the navigator. 

At the age of twenty-three years Vanderbilt had accumulated nearly $10,000 in addi- 
tion to his property in vessels. At that time (1817) he became captain of a small steam- 
boat called the .1/oh.ip, owned by a wealthy New .Terseyman. The next year he was put 
in command of a larger steamboat, which remained over night at New Brnnswiek. 
Thither he removed his family, and became the successful proprietor of a hotel there for 
the accommodation of travellers. In that hotel his son and successor, William H. 
Vanderbilt, was born in 1821 Such was the" Omimodorc's" introduction to the steam- 



406 HISTORY UK NEW YORK CITY. 

in 1858, and in ISd-k lie was chosen president of tlie corporation. After 
his death, in 1877, his son, Wilham H. Vanderbilt, was elected presi- 
dent, and ///.y son Cornelius was chosen vice-i)resident. J. H. Eutter 
was chosen president in 1883. 

boat business, in whicli he so profitably engaged. Atter serving twelve years he pur- 
chased the vessel he commanded of the owner, and became master in the business in 1829. 

During the next twenty years Vanderbilt built steamboats, established opposition lines 
to various monopolies, and drove some of his competitors Irom the field. It was during 
this tiiiio that he received the title of " Commodore." When the discoveries of gold in 
California caused a line of steamships to be established between New York and Panama, 
Vanderbilt proceeded to form an opposition line to San Francisco by way oi Nicaragua, 
having first obtained valuable charter privileges from that government. The Transit 
Company was formed. Vanderbilt constructed first class steamships on the Atlantic and 
Pacific sides of the isthmus, and a semi-monthly line between New York and San Fran- 
cisco was put into operation in 1851. In 1853 Vanderbilt sold his vessels to the Transit 
Company. 

Jb'. Vanderbilt was now a very rich man, and in 1853 he made a tour of European ports 
in his fine steamship Xorlh Star, with his family. His reception everywhere partook of 
the character of an ovation. His voyage occupied about four months, and the distance 
travelled was about 15,000 miles. The Kev. Jlr. Choules, a Baptist clergj-man, accoui 
panied them, and wrote an account of the trip. Mr. Vanderbilt afterward established a 
line of steamships between New York and Havre, building a number of superb vessels 
for the purpose. Among them was the Vanderbilt, which cost $800,000. When, in 1862, 
his country was in peril and in distress for want of means for transportation, he gen- 
erously presented to his government this magnificent vessel of 5000 tons burden, for 
which patriotic and munificent gift Congress thanked him in the name of the nation. 
ill-. Vanderbilt had then disposed of all his ships. He had been the owner of more than 
one hundred water craft, from his hundred doUar sail-boat to his $800,000 steamship. 

Mr. Vanderbilt now turned his attention to railroad matters almost exclusively, and 
became the controlling owner of the Harlem, the Hudson Kiver, and the New Yoik Cen 
tral railroads. In this species of property and in other railroad securities he chiefly 
"operated." He made the roads which he managed the best paying and the best 
equipped roads in the country. Under his direction the Grand Central Depot at Forty- 
second Street, and the vast improvements between it and the Harlem River, were con- 
structed. His financial career was successful until the last, and he left, as we have said, 
property valued at $100,000,000. 

In August, 1868, Mrs. Vanderbilt, one of the noblest of women, died. Thirteen chil- 
dren had blessed their union. In August, 1869. Mr. Vanderbilt married Miss Frances 
Crawford, of Mobile, Alabama, whose devotion to and religious influence over her hus- 
band was most salutary. He became interested in the ministration-; ot Dr Deems, pastor 
of the Church of the Strangers, in Mercer Street, and when the church edifice was sold in 
1873 Mr. Vanderbilt bought it tor $50,000, and gave it to the minister for the use of his 
congregation. The same year he munificently endowed a universitj' at Nashville, Ten- 
nessee, the name of which was changed to Vanderbilt University. Subsequent dona- 
tions by him made his aggregate gifts to the institution $1,000,000. 

In person Mr. Vanderbilt was erect until the last. In his diet he was simple and even 
abstemious. He was one of the finest specimens of manly vigor until past fourscore years 
ot age. His equanimity of temper was remarkable, and at the age of eighty years the 
■wear and tear of an exceedingly active and excitable life seemed not to have affected him. 






-^ 




^ir/(oc ^c^'^^ }-'-<-< 



CllAITKIi XXII. 

ALMOST siimiltancoiisly witli tlio inventiim of tlie recording 
U'legraph in the c-ity of Nuw Voi-k was tlio discovery <jf the 
daguerreotype process of protlucing pictures, wliicli began a wonderful 
revolution in the arts of design and its great and momentous improve- 
ment hy citizens of New York. The prwess was so named from its 
discoverer, L. .1. ^I. Dagueri-e, a Fix-ncli scene and panoi-ama painter, 
born in 1T^'.', and who died in Is.")!. He was the ii.ventor of the dio- 
rama about \s-2-2. 

Daguerre made im|)rovements in the effect of pictures bv the skilful 
use of sunlight, and for several yeai-s he experimented in efforts to pro- 
duce fac-similes of ])icturcs and other objects by means of the chemical 
action of sunlight and the scieiitiHc toy known as the camera-obscura. 
At the same time another Frenchman, N. Nieia-e was making similar 
experiments for the same jnii-pose. He made the partial discovery, and 
late in 182'J Daguerre and Niepce united to develop and perfect it. 

After the death of NieiK-e. in ls^.V^, Daguerre prosecuted his cxi)eri- 
ments and researches alone, and made such great improvements in the 
])rocess that Niepce's son const>nte(l that the discovery and invention 
should be known as Dagueire's, instead of the names of both, as had 
been agreed. 

At a session of the Academy of Sciences in January, Is.I'.t, il. Arago, 
the eminent French i)hilosophcr, announced the discovery. Profound 
interest was at once excited. This was intensified by tlie exhibition, 
soon afterward, of ])ictures taken from statues by the ])rocess. In the 
summer of the .ianie year Daguen-e offered the French (JoV(>rnment to 
make the invention ]iul)lic for an annuity of four tliousiind francs for 
iS'iepce's sim, and the same amount for himself. The offer was 
accepteil, and the sum to l»e paid to Daguerr(> was increased to six 
tlioiisiind francs on condition that he should also make ])ublic the secret 
method of ]iroducing dionimas, and any improvement he might make in 
the (lagnerreotA^ie. Daguerre was also made an officer of the Legion 
of Honor. 

At the time of this wonderful rev(>lation, ProH'ssor ^foi-se was in 



40S HISTORY OF NEW YORK flTY. 

J'aris seekini;- official recognition for his more wonderful invention. 
Tlir()U<'-li the kinthiess of Air. Walsh, the American consul at Paris, 
AIoi"se and Daguerre had a pei-sonal interview, and exhiijited their 
respective inventions to each otiier. Daguerre promised to send to 
^lorse a descriptive jniblication he was to make so soon as his ])eiision 
should be secured. 

Daguerre ke|)t Ins jiromise. By the hand of M. Segur lie sent a 
cojiv of his pamphlet to Moree, who was undoubtedly the lirsi iecii)ier.t 
of the work m this country. It contamed illustrative diagrams, and 
these the writer of these pages reproduced for Professor JUajjes's 
"American Rejiository of Aits, Sciences, and ^Manufactures. '' This 
■vvas m the autumn of 1839.* 

Professor Aloi-se took the description and drawings to George W. 
Prosch, an instrument-maker in the basement of Xo. 142 Nassau 
Street. In less than a month after the pamjjhlet was received, or in 
October, 1839, the instrument was finished, and the first daguerreotype 
ever produceil in the United States was by Professor Moi-se. He 
placed the camera-obscura on the steps leading down to Prosch's shop, 
and the picture taken was that of the Brick Church (Dr. Spring's) and 
the City Hall. In the foreground was a hackney-coach and horses, and 
the driver asleep on the seat. This pictaire was a great curiosity. 

The process was very slow. Dr. John AY. D'-ajier f took great in- 

* James J. Mapes, LL.C, a practical chemist, was bom in the city of New Y'ork in May, 
1808, and died in Newark, N. J., in January, 1866. He was a man of varied learning and 
accomplishments, with a genius for art, a love for science, a taste for mechanics, and 
eminently social in his habits. He was a very popular and highly esteemed citizen. 
He was a professor of chemistry and natural philosophy in the National .\cademy of the 
Arts of Design. In the later years of his life he devoted his talents to the pursuit of 
agricultural science, with great success as a farmer, near Newark. Professor Mapes 
edited the Working Farmer. He manufactured a fertilizer called " nitrogenized super- 
phosphate." His lectures and essays on agriculture and cognate sciences were exceed 
ingly useful, and his " American Repository of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures," in 
four volumes, attest his industry and judgment. 

f John William Draper, M.D., LL.D., was bom near Liverpool, England, in May, 
1811 ; was educated in scientific studies in the University of London, and came to 
America in 1833. At the University of Pennsylvania he continued his medical and 
chemical studies, and there took his degree of M.D. In 1836-39 he was professor of 
chemistr}', natural philosophy, and physiology in Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia. 
Dr. Draper was connected, as professor, with the University of the City of New York 
from 1839 until his death, which occurred on the 4th of Januarj-, 1882. He aided in 
establishing the University Medical College, of which he was appointed professor of 
chemistry in 1841. From 1850 he was president of the medical faculty of the University 
until his death. In 1874 he was chosen president of the scientific department of the 
institution. 

Dr. Draper was one of the most patient, industrious careful, and acute scientific 



lllisr DKCADK. 1h:10 1810 40'.) 

U-H'st 111 tlic iliscnvcrv, ami Ik'UcvimI mi Us ^rn-iit possiliilitics. Ili-anil 
Moi-se experinu'iilcd totrL-tlifi-. Tlicro SL'tMiictl liardly a |nissil)ility of 
taking a picture ul llii- luimaii loriii xvillioiit soiiie inati-rial jiiodilications 
ol tiio i>r()cess. Tlie liist thing ol' iiii]»»rlance wiui to gel a good work- 
ing achromatic Ions, and tlic second. chL'iiiicals more sensitive to tlie 
action of light tlian iodine, wliidi Daguerre liad used m preparing tlie 
])lates. To this end Dr. I)ia])er iirought ins kno\vle<'g<' of chemistrv 
and the pio))ert_v ot light to bear, and succeeded, llf tnok the Hist 
j)ortrait from the living human face with tin- ,■;/,.■< ojh n hy the daguer- 
rian process. 

Meanwhile Professor Moi-se had heeii experimenting. I'rom u 
window of the Univci-sity he tcjok a fair picture of the tower of the 
Church of the Messiah, on IJi-oadway. and surrounding Iniildings, on a 
plate the size of a playing-card. .Vfteiwaril, m a studio wliicli he and 
ri-ofe.s.sor Drajier had erected on the roof of the liuvei-sity, lie suc- 
ceeded in taking likenesses from the human figure. The process was 
so slow It took nearly fifteen minutes at a sitting, and the suhjecl had 
to have the eyes closed. In tliis way lie took the likeness of his 
daughter and a young lady (his kinswoman, whom hi' afterward mar- 
ried, and who survives him), who s:it with their hoiinets on and their 
eyes closed. This picture and r>thei-s taken at the time are in the pos- 
ses.sion of Vassar College, at Pouglikeepsie. The discovery of Professor 
Dmper, m the autumn of 1^^:?!», greatly facilitating the process, is the 
real beginning of the wonderful and useful art now known as photog- 
1-ipliv, the legitimate otfs]jring of tin; tiaguerreotype invention. 

()])eratoi's immediately appeared. Prosch, who made the fii-st 
daguerreotype instrument, opened the fii-st daguerriaii gallery on 
the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street, and his first sitter was 
Professor Charles E. West, of the Rutgei's P'emale Institute. The 
sunlight was reflected full on his face by a mirror suspended outside 

investipntors. His indnstrj- in experiuientnl resenrclies M-as iiinrvcUons, and his publica- 
tions through various vehicles on scientific subjects are very voluniinons. Tn him is 
due the knowledge o( many fundamental (nets concerning the jihenomena of the spec- 
trum, ot light and heat. His researches materially aided in developing the great dis- 
covery of Daguerre. In 1H7(i the Rumford gold modal was bestowed upon him by the 
American Academy of Sciences for his researches in radiant energy. 

Dr. Draper was equally industrious in researches and expositions in other departments 
of learning. His " Historj- of the Intellectual Development of Europe," " Thoughts on 
the Future Tolicy of America," " Philosophir.il History of the Civil War in .Vmcrica," 
and " Historj' of the Conflict between Science and Religion," are all works which 
attest his profundity ot knowledge, philosophical tone of mind, and gni.ii' •<< uii.ll.i-t- 
nal forces. 



410 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

the window. One of the most successful of the early oi)erators was 
A. S. "Wolcott, who had his establishment on the corner of Broadway 
and riiambei-s Street. 

Tiie honor given Dr. Draper has been claimed Ijy others, but with- 
out substantial proof of correctness. Dr. Draper first gave an account 
of his improvement in a note to the editor of the London Philosojjhieal 
M(i<iazine, in ^larch, 184i>, in which he announced that he had proven 
it to be ]30ssible, by photogenic process, such as tlie dagueiM'eotype, to 
obtain likenesses from life. 

Tlie daguerreotyjje ])rocess was soon succeeded l)v tlie photographic 
jn-ocess ; indeed tiie latter sjieedily superseded the former altogether in 
the production of sun-pictures, because the images made by it were 
ca])able of indefinite multiplication from the original or "negative,'' 
a-s it is termed, which is on glass. 

AVedgwood and Sir Humphry Davy, in experimenting, had been 
successful in making " negatives" on leather imbued with a solution of 
nitrate of silver and exposing it under the images of a magic-lantern 
slide. But these images Avere evanescent, and their expei-iments were 
useless. 

So eai'ty as 1835 Dr. Draper began a series of pa])ers in tiie Journal 
of the Franliiin Institute on the subject of photogenic methods. In his 
experiments thus reported he had used bromide of silver and other com- 
pounds nmch more sensitive to light than any that had hitherto been 
used. The discoveries of Daguerre and Niepce, publicly announced in 
1839, aroused the attention of scientists to the subject of photogeny, 
and in England William II. Talbot, who had made the discovery of a 
method for i)hotographing on i)aper in 1833 or 183-t, at once announced 
a ]5rocess which he called Calot^qie or photogenic writing. It was also 
called Talljotype. It consisted essentially in covering a sheet of paper 
with a changeable salt of silver, exposing it on a camera, and develo]v 
ing the latent image by a solution of gallic acid. The result was a 
" negative" — that is, a photograph in which the light sand shadows 
answer respectively to the shadows and lights of the originah These 
negatives are now made on ])late glass. It had the advantage over 
Daguerre's process, that it was capable of nmlti])lication ; yet the 
daguerreoty]je had an advantage, which it has to the pi-esent day — 
namely, its images wei'e exquisitely defined and sharp, and given with 
microscojMC minuteness. 

Since the introduction of the ])hotograph, vast and valuable improve- 
ments liave been made in its metiiods and products, not only in beauty 
l)ut in permanence ; and to-day it is playing a most important ])art in 



MUST ItKCADK, l.SJO-IH^U. 411 

tin* realm of tiic liiu- arts, in litcratui-c, in science, tiie iisel'ul ails, and 
in coninioii, eveiv-day life. Pliutograiiliy is U(j\v luilowed liy tliou- 
sanils and tens of tiidusands as an industrial pui-suit. ami entei-s largely 
into liteniry piodnctions and various pmcesses of the jlt'i'I'I'Ic art. 

Among the living and active |)hott>gr.i|)hers in the city of New York, 
Jlr. ('. D. Fredricks ami ^Nfr. AViiliani Kurtz liave po.ssilily «lone more 
to develo]) the advantages and illustrate the true chai'aeter, mission, 
and influence of the art than any of their com]»eei-s. Mr. I'redricks 
may properly ije classed as a veteran and a lienefactor of the photo- 
graphic art. His earlier life was an eventful one, and the outline of it, 
which is given below, is full of hints for a iTHii.ance.* 

• Mr. Fredricks wns bom in the city of New York in 1823. AVben he was ii hi<l his 
father sent him to Hiivnnn, where he remained a year and ncijiiired a knowledge of the 
Spanish language, which was afterward of great service to him. On his return he in- 
tended to complete bis collegiate stmlies, but the finuncial crash of 1837 swept away his 
father's forHiue, and yonng Fredricks was c<ini|iL-IU'd to seek some occujiation for a 
livelihood. With a South Street mercantile firm he was engaged about two years, when 
he entered the banking-house of Cammann Si 'Whitehonse, in Wall Street. 

Fredricks had a brother in Venezuela. Having received from him glowing accounts 
of business prospects in that country, and slimnlated by a love of adventure and the 
expectation of speedily winning a largo fortune there, he purchased aii as.sortment of 
goods suitable to that market and with §400 cash— his whole fortune at that time — he 
sailed for .\ngoslura in 1843. He had wisely reflected that the bright dream might pos- 
sibly prove delusive, that he might lose his venture, and before he started he received 
some lessons in daguerreotyping from Mr. .1. Gumey, the knowledge of which might be 
a resource to fall back upon in case of a failure of his mercantile operation. He took 
with him a complete daguerreotype apparatus and a small stock of plates. 

.\t .Vngostura Fredricks went through the usual process of paying duties on his goods, 
but when the custom-house officer came to his daguerreotype instrument he was puzzled. 
He had never seen nor heard of such a thing before, and he refused to let it pass Jinless 
Mr. Fredricks would j)ay a hea^■y duty on it. This he would not do, and was making 
arrangements to resliip it to Xew York, when a singular circumstance changed his plans, 
and perchance his whole subsequent career. 

Mr. Fredricks was the guest of the principal merchant of Angostura. While he was 
making arrangements for sending his goods np the river to San Fernando, where his 
brother resided, a child of his hospitable friend died. One of the merchant's clerks 
had informed his employer of the nature of Mr. Fredricks's daguerreotype instrument, 
and of its detention at the custom-house. The merchant went immediately to the latter, 
paid the duty demanded, and had the apparatus sent to the room of his guest. He then 
asked Mr. Fredricks to take a picture of his deail child. Though rather doubting his 
ability to make a satisfactory likeness, he said, " Fll try." 

Information of the intended operation spread over the town, and at the hour appointed 
the room was filled with the principal inhabitants of Angostura to witness the event. 
The operation was perfectly successful. The people were astonished. Few had even 
heard of the great discovery, and none had seen it.s work. The opep.itor received the 
most tempting offers to induce him to stay and take the likenesses of everybody. He did 
so. Ho sent his goods up the river to tbo oare of his brother, and in three weeks he 



412 HISTORY OV NEW YORK CITY. 

After long and varied experience in the business of photography, as 
set forth in the subjoined foot-note, Mr. Frech-icks, on returning to the 
city of New Yoi-k from Paris in 1853, formed a jmrtnei-ship with Mr. 

earned $4000 with his daguerreotype instrument. Then he sent to New York for a large 
supply of materials. While wailing for their arrival he went up to San Fernando, ex- 
changed his goods for hides, which he shipped to New York, and returning to Angostura 
he proceeded to visit the islands of Tobago and St. Vincent, where he was very success- 
ful in his new profession. 

Mr. Fredricks desired to go to Brazil, btit there was no coastwise conveyance from 
Angostura, to which place be had returned There he made the acquaintance of the gov- 
ernor of the province of Kio Negro (a wild country inhabited by many Indian tribes), 
who suggested a plan of going up the Orinoco River and down the Amazon. He guaran- 
teed to Fredricks thousands of dollars" worth of Indian portraits. He also agreed to 
forward Jlr. Fredricks and his brother, who accompanied him. to Brazil. The journev 
was undertaken, and a series of wild and dangerous adventiues was experienced. The 
journey consumed nine months. 

Ascending the Orinoco in a big canoe, with Indian attendants, they came to the rapids 
of Maypnres, where the Indians unloaded the vessel in order to carry it and its contents 
to still water above. The brothers occupied a hut that night. In the morning, to their 
dismay, they found the Indians were all gone, with the canoe and the provisions ! After 
suffering twenty days from hunger, fever and ague, swarms of biting insects, and dangers 
from alligators and venomous snakes, they were picked up by some government officials 
and soldiers from Caracas, and taken to the mouth of the Amazon, where they embarked 
for New York, to recruit their strength. 

Love of adventure and a hope of gain took Fredricks back to Para the next year, 
■where he established a gallery, and was very successful. He visited other places with 
equal success. After a flying visit to New York he went back, visited Bahia, Rio dj 
Janeiro, and other places. He crossed the province of Rio Grande in company with 
Edward Hopkins and George A. Brandreth (a son of Dr. Brandreth). of New York, who 
were on their way to Paraguay. They transported their baggage in an ox-cart, stopping 
long enough at each village to take the likenesses of the principal inhabitants. Coin 
being scarce, a hor.se was generally given in exchange for each picture, and at the end of 
the journey our photographer appeared In patriarchal style, surrounded hy an immense 
drove of horses, which he sold for $3 each. 

At San Borja Fredricks met Bonpland, the celebrated naturalist and the companion 
of Humboldt. With this traveller he embarked in a small boat to descend the river to 
Montevideo and Buenos Ayres. On the way Bonpland paid a visit to the governors of 
Corrientes and Entre Rios. One of them desired Fredricks to take his likeness. He 
asked Bonpland what remuneration he should make the artist 

" None whatever," said tlie traveller ; " it is a compliment to your Excellency." 

This did not satisfy the governor, and as the travellers were about to leave the shore, 
some Indians cam.e, leading a large tiger, which they chained securely in the bow of the 
boat, saying. "A present from the governor to the young American." This was to pay 
for the daguerreotype of the governor What to do with the animal was a serious ques- 
tion ; it would not do to decline to receive it Bonpland was in mortal fear of the animal. 
It was harmless, however, and died at Buenos Ayres. 

Fredricks returned to New York in 1853 and proceeded to Paris, where the photographic 
art was much inferior in its development to the .art in New York. There he made a 
great advance in the art. taking portraits life size and fini.shing them with cra.vons. He 



(Junit'y, a skilliil Dponitor. Tlicy wore togctlitT alxnit t.-ii yi-ui-s, 
wluMi. ill isr).-., Mr. Fmlricks opcm-d ii largo plidtograpliic galk-ry on 
Uroaihvay, opposite tlie M.-tropolitun Hotel, with a corps of Freiicli 
artists whom he had hrought from Paris, ami introdm-ed |>h<.togniphy 
on a grand scale, making hfo-si/.e ixjrtniits. There he remained twenty 
veai-s, until burned out in ls7<"., when he removed to his present (piar- 
tei-s. No. 77U Broadway. In Is.JT Mr. Fredricks married Miss Mario 
Laura llarron, and has live children. 

It has heen asseiteil that only a li.xed proportion of the population 
has an iiihorn taste for the line arts, and that the widesinead demand 
for art productions now observed in the city of New \ ork. as el.se- 
where, indicates cmly the increase in the nunibei-s of the poiailatioii. 
This theory does not seem to lie su.stained by facts. Fine-art produc- 
tions placed before the public liave certainly multiplietl tiie lovei-s of 
art in much greater proportion than the increase of poiuilation, in a 
given time, than ever before, either by creating a ta.ste or developing a 
taste for the tine arts in individuals. In this good work Mr. Kurt/,, 
one of the leading photographei-s of New York City, has l^oine and is 
Iwaring a conspicuous part. 

Mr. Kurtz is a (ierman by birth, having l)een lioni in a village in 
the Grand Duchy of Darmstadt, in May, b'^^i, where he rcceive.l a 
common-school education. He wius tlie eldest of seven chililren. His 
father dying when he was fourteen yeai-s of age. his mother place<l 
him as a clerk with a merchant at Frankfort-on-the-Main. The busi- 
ness was distasteful to him. for he had a taste and talent for art. and 
he was a failure as a merchant's clerk. At the end of two yeai-s he 
was apjirenticed to a lithographer at Offenbach for four yeai-s. The 
storv of his subseciuent cai-eer is interesting.* 

was tho first who nin.le photographs of this kind. He remained in Paris about 
SIX months, when, believing that the novelty of life size portraits painted by French 
artists wonld be very popular and become a profitable business in New York, he deter- 
mined to establi.sh himself permanently in that city. 

« At twenty years of age young Knrtz was drafted into the infantry service at Worms. 
iind leaving Germany joined the British-German Legion and ongiiged in the Crimean 
war. At the conclusion of peace he went to London ind unsuccessfully sought employ- 
ment .LS a lithographer. He became a teacher of drawing and foreman in a carmine 
factory The finineial revulsion in 1857 deprived him of employment, and he went to 
soa IS a green sailor before the mast, making several voyages Finally, while on a voyage 
from England to California with a cargo of coal, his vessel was wrecked below the equa- 
tor. The crew were picked up by an English ship bound for Calcnlta. They were 
speedily transferred to an American ship bound for Hampton Roads. Virginia From 
that port he. with other seamen, went to the Sailors' .Snug Harbor in Sew Vork, in 
Chri.stmas week. ISr.O When he arrived there he had just ten cents in his monkey- 



414 HISTORY OF NEW VOUK CITV 

Great changes in the localities of business centres were begun in this 
decade. We have already noticed the locahties of groups of various 
kinds of business previous to the year 1830, and the first migrations 
from these groujjs. 

The great fire in December, 1S35, caused a inucli greater migration, 
especially in one branch of business, than had yet been seen. The 
locality of that fire, as we have observed, was the chief centre of the 
wholesale diy-goods business. The smitten district was soon rebuilt 
with far superior structures, but the inordinate demands of the owners 
for rent caused the former occupants to push across Wall Street. 

jacket. While tarrj'ing there he saw in a New York jjiijjer au advertisement for an artist 
to retouch photographs at an establishment in the Bowery. He went to the city, and 
was employed there. 

When the Civil War broke out in 18G1, Mr. Kurtz took the preliminary steps toward 
becoming a naturalized citizen. He left the city with the Seventh Kegiment National 
Guard, for Washington, and remained with it in the capacity of sergeant until the expira- 
tion of its term of enlistment— three months. In 1863 he took charge of the artistic 
department of a Broadway gallery, and the next year he married Miss Clotilde Raefle. 
In 1865 he started a jihotographic gallery of his own far up Broadway, where Lord & 
Taylor's store now is. and m the same year he introduced the carbon process, which 
renders photographs altogether unalterable in the air. He also introduced porcelain 
miniatures. At the annual fair of the American Institute, held in the autumn of 1865, 
he received the first medal of that institution for superior photograjjhs. 

In 186G Mr. Kurtz made a revolution in photography by introducing the " Rembrandt 
effect, " which method has been adopted at all the chief photographic galleries of the 
world. In 1870 he received at the Paris Exposition the first premium for superior 
photographs. It wa.^ the first medal that ever came to the United States as a premium 
for photograi>hs. At the Vienna Exhibition in 1873 he received the first and greatest 
awards for portraits— the Medal of Progress and the Medal of Art (medal for good taste) 
combined. 

In 187-1 Mr. Kurtz opened the Kurtz Gallery, on Madison Square, a model building for 
the exhibition of photographs and productions in every other department of art. He 
invested $130,000 in that building and its equipment. The next year he introduced the 
" transfer crayon" portraits, which abolish crayon drawings on photographic bases. 
The process he kept secret. In 1876 his name was first mentioned by the jurors at the 
Centennial Exhibition at Philadel|)hia, in their report. " for general artistic excellence 
in all styles of portrait photography, plain, crayon, oil. and ])astel. and for a new process 
of making durable crayons. " He was the only artist whose crayon drawings were 
admitted as " works of art' to Memorial Hall (where photographs were excluded) by a 
committee of eminent artists. Orders for his crayon drawings have been received from 
Paris and other cities of Europe. 

In 1880 Mr. Kurtj! had received letters-patent for the " vibrotype." an improvement of 
the old way of taking photographic pictures ; also for the " conigraph," an invention for 
a variety of uses lor artists who work on paper. The latter was patented in France. 

Mr. Kurtz has filled the offices of president of the German Photographic Society, vice- 
president of the American Photn;^;raphic Society, and president of the Palette Art .Associ- 
ation. 





^/^t 



..^, 



FIKST DECADE, 1880-1840 415 

Tlii'V iiKuIr riiu', Cedar, ami l,i I H-rty streets the ;j;reat centre of the 
wholesiile ilry-g<i<«ls tratle. (iitulually liriii alter linn veiituied ui)on 
]{i-()a(l\vay in tlie lower part. In l>i4t» a wholesale store on IJroatlway, 
lialf ii mile innn the IJatteiy, was unknown. The centre of hnsiness 
was then witiiin a (juarter of a mile of the IJattery. "When a venture- 
some nierc-hant ojiened a wholesjile store on the site of old Grace 
Church, on the coiner of Ueetor Street and Bifxuhvay, conservative and 
cautious men said, '* Too high up I" 

JJut the omnibuses and the city raih'oads soon wrought a change in 
business and domestic arrangements. These made trans|)ortation to a 
distance of two or three miles easier than fcjot travel a distance of half 
a mile, and enabled the merchant and professional man, the mechanic 
and the common laboi'cr, to have their homes more remote from their 
respective places of employment. The families of merclumts left the 
often inconvenient and undesirable tjuartei-s over the stores for more 
spacious and comfortable dwellings, where they could enjoy more light 
and air. The city, containing in ls4n nearly ;5]8.(mmi iidiabitants, 
rapidly s]>read out in fan-like shape, with the City Hall Park as the 
base, at which point several of the railways still radiate. At that 
))eriod the streets above Fourteenth were rapidly (illing up with dwell- 
ings, and very small stores anil shops for the supply of local wants. 

From that ]>eriod extensive retail stores rapidly multiplied on Broad- 
way below Canal Street, and some speedily a])peared ai)ove that point. 
The first of these retail stores which finally expanded its enonnous 
projxjrtions and continued to our day was that of Alexander T. Stewart, 
who, at the time of his death in 187*!, was the most extensive am' 
probably the wealthiest merchant on the earth. 

Mr. Stewart was of Scotch-Irisli descent, lie was born in 1S03, at 
a little town six miles from Belf.ust, Ireland. Left an orphan under 
the care of his grandfather, who Wiis a Methotlist, at the age of eight 
yeai-s, he was educated with a view to the ministry. Before he had 
graduated from Trinity College his grandfather died, and he was left 
without a known relative in the world. He left the colU'ge with hon- 
ois, and at the age of twenty years came to America. 

Mr. Stewart landed at the Battery in l.S"2.'>. llis guardian was a 
Friend or Quaker, and he gave Stewart lettei"s of introduction to some 
of his coreligionists in Xew York. Being a fair linguist and well edu- 
cated, Stewart obtained a situation in a ])ublic school. He was also a 
teacher of |)enmansliip for a while, and one of his |)upils in that art was 
the late Fletcher Harper, of the fnin of Harper »fc Bruthei-s. 

.\ seemin!' trivial eircuinstance iiitii>diie"d him into the mercantile 



416 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

^orltl. He expected to receive a small patriinonv wlien be should be 
twenty-one years of age. He brought some money with him. A 
young man of his acquaintance applied to him for some fimds where- 
Avith to stock a small tlry -goods store. Stewart advanced the money, 
the little store was stocked, but his friend could not go on with the 
business, and Stewart concluded to undertake it himself. 

Stewart went to Ireland for his patrimony, and invested $3000 of it 
in goods. Soon after his return there appeared in the Da'ihj Adcertinei- 
(Sejitember 2, 1825) a modest advertisement announcing that A. T. 
Stewart olTered for sale, at ISTo. 283 Broadway, " a general assortment 
of fresh and se;isonaljle di'v goods." He had rented one half of a store 
in a little wooden building exactly opposite where he erected his gi'eat 
marljle building afterward. He had a sleeping-room in the rear. He 
moved into a larger store, at Xo. 262 Broadway, antl not long afterward 
to l^o. 257, where, by industry, discretion, sagacity, vigilance, and 
persistence, he laid the foundation of his extensive business and great 
fortune. He soon rose to the head of the dry-goods business of the 
country. 

On the corner of Broadway and Chainbei's Street stood (juite an 
inijjosing building known as Washington Hall. It was completed in 
1812, and was the finest structure, in an architectural jjoint of view, in 
the city at that time. It was erected under the ausjjices of the Wash- 
ington Benevolent Society, one of several political organizations of that 
name which originated in Philadelphia at about tlie beginning of the 
century, but was not thoroughly organized until a dozen years after- 
ward. In jjolitics these societies were opjjosed to the Tammany socie- 
ties. Tliey disappeared with the demise of the Federal party, during 
the administration of President Monroe. 

In 1848 Mr. Stewart, by great commercial sagacity and ojierating 
upon a cash basis, had accumulateil a fortune sufficient to enable him 
to ))urchase Washington Hall, which liad been usetl for manj' years as 
a hotel. Upon its site, the front of which extended from Chambei's 
Street to Reade Street, he erected a magnificent marble structure for 
his business, five stories in height, on Broadway. That store — the 
pioneer of marl>le, freestone, and iron stores on Broadway — attracted 
great attention at home and abroad. It was an efficient advertisement 
for Stewart. The Astor House, grand in size and built of granite, had 
been until then one of the architectural wonders of the city ; now 
Stewart's store Wiis a prolific to])ic of remark. 

Fourteen years later, Stewart's business having outgrown his great 
store, he resolved to anticipate tlie uji-town movement of population. 



riKST DKCADE. 1830 1><1II 417 

the unmistakahlo svinptonis of which wcro tlioii ap])aront. II.' pur 
chased a jiait of tlie Raiulall estate (the Sailoi-s' Snu<: Ilarliort, between 
Nintli aiul Teiitli streets and Hi-oailway and Foiirtli Avenue, wiieivon 
he built an extensive iron strnetuiv, six stories in licight, with a base- 
ment an<l sub-basement. It w:us not unlike, in outward ajipearance, 
the jrreat down-town store, which was subsetjuently <ievoted to the 
whoieside drv-j^'oods business. In the new retail sK^re alxait two thcu- 
siind pei-sons were emi)loyc.l, and the nmning expenses of the estab- 
lishment were estimated at over iSl.odU.t a year. The sides in the 

two establishments are said to have amounte.1 to SL>n?.,(MM..ooo in three 
yeai-s. and his net income for several yeai-s was over $1.i«m),(MMI. 

The business of the house of A. T. Stewart ^' Co. was literally 
" world-wide"' at the time of his death in ISTC. A foreign office ha«l 
been established at Manchester. England, where English g<K.ds were 
collected, examineil, and packed. The finn had a factory at Belfast 
for the perfecting of Irish linens. At Glasgow they had a house for 
the collection and forwarding of Scotch goods. They also had a store 
at Paris, where were gathered goods from India, Krance, and Ger- 
many. They had a woollen Ikjusc at Berlin, and a silk warehouse at 
Lyons. They also had mills in Eumpe and America for the manufact- 
ure of goods"e.xclusivelv for their house, and their agents antl buyers 
were continually ••travelling between Hong Kong and Paris. Thibet 

and Peru." 

Mr. Stewart had no taste for politics as such, nor as]iirations for 
official position. He was very retiring in his haljits. By his shrewd 
business management he had honestly and deservedly acquired the title 
of a "merchant prince," and he wore the honor with modesty. He 
was chainnan of the honorary commission sent liy the United States to 
the Paris Exposition. President Grant nominated him for a seat in his 
cabinet as Seci^etary of the Treasury, but an existing and wise law 
barred his entrance upon the duties of the office. 

It is said that Mr. Stewart's private charities, of which the world 
knew nothing, were extensive and generous. He designed to make 
provision for various iniblic charities. In March, ISTtl, he had ad- 
dressed a letter to his wife (they had no children^ in wiiich he stated 
this determin.'ition. and that he depended upon her to carry out his 
])lans in case he should fail to complete them himself. 

These o-onerous plans were not executed l)v those wiio had the man- 
a.rement'of ^^Ir. Stewart's estate after his death. He iiad begun the 
constmction of a town on Hempstead Plains, on Long Island, called 
(Tarden Citv, designed to furnisli comfortable homes at moderate 



418 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

prices. Tie also had in progress at the time of his death a magnificent 
iron building on Fom-tli Avenue, between Tliirty-second and Thirty- 
third streets, intended to furnish comfortable homes to respectable 
working-girls. A magnificent cathedral (which also serves as a mauso- 
leum) has been erected at Garden City, at a cost that would have built 
scores of cottages. And the Home for Working-Girls was dedicated, 
before it was com|)leted, to the ser\ice of Mammon. Its ground floor 
(as was originally intended) is devoted to mercantile pursuits, but tlie 
remainder of the building, designed for benevolent uses, was made a 
" fii-st-class" hotel. 

The Homo for Working- Girls would have been the noblest monument 
imaginable to the memory of the benevolent and generous merchant 
prince. Even the mercantile house of A. T. Stewart & Co., which 
formed a magnificent monument to his memory as a business man and 
a citizen, who, by his genius and lofty probity, had for half a centuiy 
contributed immensely to the prosperity and good name of the city of 
!Xew York, was allowed to disappear from the reahn of commercial life 
in the city almost immediately after his death. There is 7iow, seven 
years after his departure, on April 10, 1876, nothing in the great 
metropolis to keep alive in memory a knowledge of the existence there 
of Alexander T. Stewart, excepting his marble mansion on Fifth 
Avenue, the rapidly fading recollections in fashionable society and of 
mercantile circles of " Stewart's," and the fact that he left behind him 
a fortune of $50,000,000. 



D 



CIIAITKR XXIII. 

lUINO tins lii-st dcciuU' i)liioes of umuseinent and associations for 
^^ social cn)oVTiKMit nuiltiplicd and were modified in character by 
the ,)ivvaihng'tone <.f society. The theatre was the chief source of 
intellectual ainuseinent, for tlie lyceuin lectui-er was unknown. Tlie 
Park Theatre maintained its supremacy as a dij,'nitied and well-con- 
ducted plav-house. It was the usual i)lace of intio<luction to the 
American 'public of the best foreign act<.i-s, dancei-s, and sin-ei-s, also 
of the best native talent. It was at that house that Thomas A. 
Cooper * Charles Mathews, the Keans, Charles and Fanny Kemble, 
Mahbnin, Celeste, Fannv EUsler, Madame Vestris, and others fii-st 
made thi'ir appeanince in this country, at about the period under con- 
sideration. 1 f 1 

Miss Clara Kisiier was a most remarkable young woman. an<l tairly 
bewitched New York society at the beginning of this decade. She 
was a plump English girl of e.xiiuisite form, below the middle height in 
stature, vivacious, running over with fun, her cheeks continually .Inn- 
pled with smiles. She was seventeen yoais of age when she tii-st 
arrived In New York. She first appeare.l at the Park Theatre. 
The t<.wn seemed crazed by her presence. Her name was given to 
hotels, stages, and race-hoi-ses. She continually performed m the 
character of boys or striplings. Having her hair cut short behin.l. 

• Thomas Ai.th..rpe Cooper. thonKh an old m«n. v»«s a favorite actor dnrinR a portioQ 
of this decade. He was born .n England m l77f.. and nent npon the stage when he was 
seventeen years o( age. nnder Stephen Koml.lo, at Edinburgh At the age of ,wenty 
he appeared on the boards m PhUadelph.a a.s Handet. He was at one ..me the manager 
of a theatre .n Sew York, and did noi leave the stage until 1836. when he was s.xt.v years 

°\r'Febrn«rv. mX Mr. Cooper took a benefit at the Bowery, on which occasion he 
mtrodnoed to'the stage hi. beant.ful and accomplished daughter. Prisc.ll.x Kli/.abeth. m 
the character of Virginia. She entered the profession relnctantly. but <1>-1 «e" '" 
September. 1«M. she married Robert Tvlcr, son of (afterward. President .lohn lyler and 
she was the presiding ladv at the White House while her father-in-law was President. 
Her n.other was a daughter of Major Fa.rl.e nn,l granddaughter of Robert ^'"^"'J^''^ 
York State. In IhU President Tyler appointed Cooper military storekeeper at Franklord. 
Pennsylvani:*. 



420 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

fashionable young ladies under twenty-five years of age adopted the 
fashion, and also her slight lisping speech. 

Miss Fisher was a charming singer, and at the Tark she introduced 
to the Americans the stirring song of *' Hurrah for the Bonnets of 
Blue." It electrified audiences. She was equally at home in tragedy 
or comedy. On December 6, 183Jr, she married James G. Maeder, a 
distinguished musician, and the preceptor in vocal music of Charlotte 
Cu.shman. 

iliss Fisher accjuired an ample fortune in her earlier years, much of 
which was lost in the ruin of the United States Bank. Her last in- 
tended a]jpearance on the stage was in IS-i-i, for the benefit of her sister, 
Mrs. Vernon, but in l^o\ she appeared at Brougham's Lyceum, and 
assisted occasionally at >»iblo"s. Her character was almost faultless. 

Miss Alexina Fisher, a juvenile star, appeared on the boards of the 
Park in 1831, when she was ten years of age ; her last apjiearance m 
iS^ew York was in 1862, when she supported Edwin Booth at the Win- 
ter Garden in the characters of Ophelia, Desdemona, and Emilia. 

Miss Julia Wheatley, daughter of the excellent Mrs. (Ross) Wheatley, 
made her first ajjpearance as an actress at the Park in 1833, Mhen she 
was fourteen years of age. She had been seen on its boards as a little 
dancer when she was five years of age. She had a rich and highly 
cultivated voice. IMiss Wheatley was a great favorite for several years. 
In 1840 she married Mr. E. H. Miller, und retired from the stage. 

Miss Emma Wheatley, the younger daughter of Mrs. Wheatley, was 
also a charming actress. She appeared as one of the children in liimuo 
and Jnln't with Mrs. Barnes in 1828, and was a favorite before she was 
thirteen yeai's old in 1834, when she made her first appearance as a 
regular actress, as Julia in Sheridan Knowles's IIunchhael\ at a 
benefit of her mother. She ])layed the same character in company 
with the author while he was in this country, untd 1837, when she 
married James Mason. His father, who was wealthy, gave them the 
means for supporting a jDleasant home, and she retired from the stage. 
At the elder Mason's death his will gave them little. It was contested 
for some time. Meanwiiile Mrs. Mason resumed her ])rofession. The 
courts finally awarded her liusband an equal share in his father's 
estate. It was an am))le fortune, but she did not five long to enjoy 
the happiness of a model home they had prepared. She died in ISo-t, 
at the early age of thirty-two years. 

Mi*s. Wheatley, the mother of Miss Julia and Miss Emma Wheatley, 
was Miss Ross, a daughter of Lieutenant Ross of the British army, and 
was born in Nova Scotia in 1788. She came to New York with iier 



I'lUSr DECADE. 1830-11*40. *''^ 



n..lher aft.-r Imt fatln-r-s .l.atl., an-l :.|'l--'-«> at th. 1 ark riH-at. 
Hum. (,u,l.- .u-vv. as varlv as isn:.. At llu- cml of tl.at s.>as..n slu- ina.- 
ni'.l Mr. Wla-all'-v. Allere.l circun.stanoc-s cause<l lier to n..suin.- hor 
pmlVssum .n ImI. SI., had two <lau;rl,te.-s an.l a s.jn all of wlunn 
I.un.-.l ci.stnKl.on on tlu- stage. Sla- Jinallv retn-ed from the profession 
m New York u, 1^4:5, with the lu-hest character in every part of the 

drama of hfe. , ,, ,, 

\l,out ls:',o Charles J. Kean M's "•^ '"i^'^' «''>^'''ved), ^Ii-s- l>arnes, 
anil Master Burke, the latter a precocious Irish youth, were very pop- 
ula,- at the Park. Ikuke appeared as Young Norval. He was already 
a skdful v.olnust an.! also an accmphshed smger, especial y of humoi- 
ous songs. His powei-s of numicry were wonderful, and for several 
s^ons he was a most att,.ctive star at the Park Ihnke beca.ne one 
of the hist violinists of the age, and iiss.sted Jenny Lind J allien 
Thalber-, and othe.-s in their concerts. Mi-s. Barnes t..ok the part of 

lW.o;:^as in the play of 7' /<./." at the Park, a draina written by 

Geor.re AVasiiington Parke Custis, the adopted son of ^\ ashington. 

One of tlie nTost attractive actresses known to the American stage 
about 1831 or ^2 was M.ss Emily Mestayer, doubtle^ weU rcjmei.r- 
bered bv the older theatre-going reade.. bhe .s described a. b d 
,n forn,; complexi..n, and character." She was skilled in vocahsm, and 
was o a long time the most popular of the dramatic profession in 
N^w York. It an early .ige she married Mr. Iloupt, but retained her 

maiden name professionally. v ..i- Pitir In IS-Jfi 

Edwin Forrest made bis fii-st appearance in ^.^• ^ < C ty m 8 6 
at the acre of twentv. He was a native of Philadelphia IlaMUf, 
teZ.:^ at Albany: he came to New York and P ^X- ^h. part^o^ 
UtheUo at the Bowery Theatre. He very soon made !'';-> J ',^^ 
position of a great American ti-agedian. ^^^^ J'^'f^'^ ^/^''^^ 
ra-edv of 3f>Lora and Dr. Bird's tragedy of T/.' (Mato. « e 
vi-Ttten for Forrest. He apiieared in the latter at tne Park m lN,l. 
n S" distinguished citizens of New York honored him with a pub 
banciuet, on which occasion he was presented with a massive g d 
ne"l d . esi.me,l bv Ingham, having appropriate <lev.ees and .nsc np- 
Z^ tl^ he mailed a <laughter of John Sinclair, t^.e English 
vocahst The marriage wtis infelicitous. He perfonned botli m 
^;:2aand m Enghmd. He cherished a feud with ^ -e..^-;;;;^ 
his coulee in wantonly pei-secuting that excellen -^^- f *^^'^^^^ 
Astor Place not in ls4..., which will be noticed hereafter -^^ cele 
brated Josephine Clifton fi,-st appeared on the stage m ^-^l- J^t^'^ 
a native of New York, an.l was then eighteen years old. Mis. Chfton 



422 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITV 

appeared at tlie Bowery Tlieatre as Belvidera. Possessed of surpassing 
beauty in form and feature, and tliorouglily cultivated for the purpose, 
she was successful at the start, and at once became a star of the first 
magnitude. In 1S35 she appeared at the Drurv Lane Theatre, London. 
She brought out the play of Bianco, Vwconti in 1837, which was 
written foi- her by N. P. "Willis. Miss Clifton man-ied Mr. Place, 
manager of a Ne^r Orleans theatre, in ISiti, and died in that city the 
next year. 

The Ravel Family introduced a most charming jiantomirae j)erform- 
ance into New York in LS32, and the same year Charles Kemble * and 
his charming daughter of twenty appeared at the Park Theatre, fii-st in 
Hamlet and then in The Merchant of Venice, he as Shylock and she as 
Portui. They produced a great sensation in the theatrical and fash- 
ionable world. She was immediately the ackno^vledged Queen of 
Tragedy. 

The cholera raged in New York in 1S32, and was injurious to the 
business of the theatres as well as other pursuits. The aggregate 
receipts of all the theatres in the city of New York iluring the 
" cholera sea.son" was only $5o,000. 

The Eavels were favorites for a long series of years, and are yet 
remembered with pleasm-e, not only by the older residents of New York, 
but by the visitors to the city forty or fifty years ago. After playing 
at the Park and Bowery they went to Niblo's, where they performed 
several successive seasons, making great profits for themselves and the 
proprietor of the theatre. They also performed at Palmo's Ojiera 
House, in Cliainbers Street. The troupe was gradually changed, but 

* Charles Kembl? was fifty-seven years of age when he first appeared in New York. 
He became an actor when he was only a lad. He married a distinguished German actress 
m 180G, who became the mother of Frances Anne and Adelaide Kemble. The former 
was born in London in 1811. She first appeared on the stage at Covent Garden m 
1829. She inherited from her mother mnch of the extraordinary talent then exhibited. 
She was a lithe and slender girl. No actress in America ever held her audience under 
absolute control like Fanny Kemble. Her hand was sought, with offers of great wealth ; 
she gave it to Pierce Butler, a wealthy slaveowner then living near Philadelphia. Their 
dispo-sitions and tastes were utterly incompatible ; their affections were alienated : a legal 
separation took place after she had borne two daughters, and she assumed her maiden 
name. The stage was distasteful to her, or rather its associations, and she soon began 
dramatic readings, to which she ever afterward adhered as a profession. 

Fanny Kemble wrote a play called Vranns First, which was introduced at Covent 
Garden before she was twenty years of age. She was imperious in manner, and offended 
the American public by her criticisms. For these she apologized. A drama from her 
pen— r/ie Duke's Wager—was performed at the Astor Place Opera House. Her " Letters" 
to Miss Sedgwick, at the breaking out of our Civil War, produced a sensalion, as they 
revealed the iniquities of the slave system as she saw it on her husband's plantation. 



nUST l)Kf.M>l-: 183lt-lf<40 



423 



ev.-r k.M.l up tlu.r ,v,..Ual,..n. In Is^T-i.S tlu-y played an engagement 
of tluve l.undred n.ghU at N.hL.'s, giving a perfonnance four t.mes a 
w.-ek. Portions of ti.e old trouiK> won triun.i.lis at Niblo s so late as 

^'^Tvrone Power, the great Irish comedian, fi.-st ai-peared in New York 
■,t the Park Theatre in 1833, in tiie character of the Insh lutor. Ih-. 
uas then thirtv-six vea.-s of age, and ha<l been engaged in dramafe 
,.erforinances since IM:.- He was unrivalled in h.s p.Msona ion of 
Irish character. He was also an accomplished writer. His • Imi.ivs- 
sions of America" had a ready an.l large «de. Power was about hve 
feet eight inches in height, compa.tly built, with light hair and co.n- 
plexion°and in spirits was overllowing with geniality an<l good- 
hmnor He was also a fine musician an.l dancer. Power Wiis lost in 
the lU-fated steamship P;r.;<^>;,^ which f.mndered at sea while on a 
voyage from New York to Liverpool. She was never heard .)f. 

Mi^ and .Mi-s. AVood, eminent singei-s, appeared at the Park in ls3.^ 
in oi^era ^^Irs. \Vo<h1 was an extraordinary vocalist. She amg and 
plaved the piano and other instruments convctly when she was four 
years of age. She fii-st appeared on the stage in London at twenty. 
iirWood was a Scotch girl. Won by a title, she married poor Lonl 
Snox, who was i«or in pu,.e and spirit, and they were soon 
dnwced, when she immediately married Joseph Wo.kI, of the Covent 
Garden Theatre troupe. She died in England in l^•.... 

The apparent public intei-est in the Italian opera caused the forma- 
tion c^ a tock company in New York for the purpose of establishing i 
pemanentlv in thi citv. They built an elegant opera-house on the 
c™of Church and Leonard streets. The enterprise was a tota fail- 
ure In the fall of is3r. the house was opened for dramatic per.orm- 
ances and it was called the National Theatre. It alterward passed 
mto the hands of Mr. Ilackett, and at length into those ot Janies 
Wallack During its management by the latter the budding was de- 
stroyed by fire (September, 1830), but was soon rebuilt. It w;is leased 
fi^t" to Alexander Wilson, and then to William E. P.urt<.n. During tiie 
management of the latter it was again (May, 18-tl) consumed by fire. 

Th^ above mentioned New York Opera Company was formed 
through the exertions of Signor Rivafinoli, and the house was h,-st 
openal to the public in November, 1833. On that -casion Sigm.^^^^ 
cLientine Fanti, a large and beautiful woman, was '''^ l-^. ^'J^^/ 
James Sheridan Knowles, author of Th. IIunM^, ^^ dha'>' Tdl 
and other plays, fiist appeared <m the stage in ^^^^^ ^'fy' , ! I'' ^ "''; 
,„ the snrii. .r of 1S31. lie ha.l ben perfonn.ng m Phila.lelph.a. At 



424: HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

the close of the season lie returned to Europe and entered the ]iul]iit as 
a Baptist minister, in which profession he was very jiopular. 

During this decade several famous singei-s and dancers appeared in the 
Kew York tlieatres. Mademoiselle Celeste took the town b\' storm, as it 
Avere, by her dancing, when she appeared in 1834. She had been 
married in 1828, at the age of fifteen years, to an American gentleman, 
and became the mother of an only daughter. She afterward nuide a 
successful jjrofessional tour m Eurojie, when she returned to New 
York, and made a more successful tour in the United States durino- 
three years, gaining by her jn'ofession the net sum of S2(.iO,C>00. She 
returned to England. She came back in 1838, and played a farewell 
engagement at the Park in 1840. She came again in 18.51, and ]ier- 
formed at the Broadway Theatre. She came agam m 18(!5, and, as 
ever, excited great interest. She was then fifty-one yeai's of age. 

Mme. Yestris, who was noted for the elegance and symmetry of her 
figure, l)eauty of face, and as a most perfect actress in pantomime, de- 
lighted Xew York from 183G to 1838. She was a daughter of Bartolozzi, 
the eminent engraver ; married Armaud Yestris when sjlie was sixteeii 
years of age, and became the most popular dancer of the time. She did 
not aspire to the stage, but at her husband's request and for his benefit 
she ap])eared at the King's Theatre, in London, in the summer of islf). 
From that time for many years she was the leading vocalist and dancer 
of the London stage. In 1830 she became connected with Charles 
Mathews, Jr., professionally and otherwise, and in the same year, hav- 
ing long I)een separated from her husband, she became legally married 
to Matiiews, just before they embarked for America, and bore his name 
while they were here. Her American engagement ended late in 1838, 
when they returned to England, and she became the lessee of a tlieati-e 
in London. She died there in 1856, at the age of sixty years, in com- 
jiarative povertj', having squandered her immense earnings as fast as 
they were received. 

Mathews, the husband of Madame Yestris, was the son of the more 
celebrated comedian of that name. lie revisited New York in 1857, 
married Mrs. A. II. Davenport, and brought her out at P.urton's 
Theatre as Mi-s. Mathews. His last appearance in New York was in 
May, 1858, when he returned to England with his new wife. 

Miss Charlotte Watson, a beautiful English girl of seventeen 
summei-s, bewitched New York theatre-goers by her marvellous sing- 
ing. She appeared at the Park in 1835. She was of a celebrated 
musical family, and had recently accompanied the gi-eat viohnist 
Paganini on a musical tour in Great Britain and on the continent. 



KIUST UKCAUK. 18:J0-1H40 425 

She SO cliarmi'd tlio Italian that lit' ofriTcd licr liis liaiul id rnaiTia<^o. 
Tlioro weiv impciliments. He iiulufod her to elope from Enj^land and 
|oin hini at liouloijne. with a view to their iiiaiTia<,n> at that place. His 
intentions were honorable. Her lather, inloiiiied of the alTair. went 
in pursuit, and reached Houlojjne before her ai-rival. He brought her 
to Aiueriea. In February. is.JT, she married Thomas Hailey, of \ew 
York City. ^frs. Bailey continued to ai)pear in public occasionally. 
She made her last appearance at the Parle m tlie fall of 1S.57 as .second 
to ^ladanie Anna Hishop. She had sun^r a ballad lor Mr. Brough's 
coniplinientarv benefit at Niblo's in January, IS.jI. 

One of the best Amei-ican actresses, and one of the best of women, 
was Mi.ss Charlotte Saundei-s Cushman, a lineal descendant of the Rev. 
Robert Cushman, who preached the lii-st sermon in New England. 
She tii-st ai)peared on the stage at the Bciwery Theatre in Septemiter, 
1S35. She was then twenty yeai-s of age. Her father, a Bo.ston mer- 
chant, had left her mother at his death in indigent circumstances, with 
five chilihen. Charlotte was the eldest. She had an excellent voice, 
and sjing at a conceit when she was fifteen yeai-s old. Her fine con 
tralto voice on that occasion attracted great attention. She sjing at 
one of the concerts given by Mr. and Mis. AVood, who encouraged her 
to cultivate her voice. After receiving instruction she ajipeared at the 
Tremont Theatre as the Countess m the Murrnuji' of Fitinro. That 
Avas in 1835. She was immediately engaged as a prima donna for the 
New Orleans theatre. The change in climate caused the loss of the 
firmness of her voice, and she was compelled to aliandon vocahsm and 
become an actress, in which profession she was finally very successful. 

.Miss Cushman came north, unsuccessfully sought employment at the 
Park, and accepted an engajgenient at the Bowery Theatre with a hope 
of giving su]iport to her mother and family. But she was ])rostrated 
by illness, and her acting was lomr delayed. Slie recovered, ])layed a 
few nights, was airain taken ill. and l)cforc she had regained her health 
the Bowery Theatre was burned, with all her theatrical wardrobe, ^fr. 
Hackett. of the National Theatre, engaj.rwl her, and she fii"st appeared 
there in is;-!l in J!„iiiio mid Jnliit. That fall she became the leading 
stt)ck actress at the Park. After directing the AValnut Street Theatre 
in Philadelphia for a while, she went to New York m 1844 to play 
with Macready. Success attended her. She played at the Princess's 
Theatre. London, in ls4."). eighty-four nights in succession. She alter- 
nated lier residence and professional duties betwe(>n America and Eng- 
land for several years. She finally left the stiige in 18<il, but after- 
ward gave dramatic readings on occasion. Miss Cushman was tall and 



426 HISTORY OF NEW Yv)l{K CITY. 

commanding in appearance, witii liglit liair and complexion and refine- 
ment of manner. Miss Cusiiman died in her native city, Boston, on 
February IS, IS TO. 

Miss Ellen Tree, a cliarming English actress, first a])peared in 
America at the Park at the close of 1S3B. She lollowed and rivalled 
f annv Keml)le in j^opidarity. Her acting always attractetl the " cream 
of society." The bloom of youth had departed from her cheek when 
she came to JS'ew York, but being a most consmnmate actor and 
channing woman, her slight personal defects were unnoticed. At the 
end of two yeai-s Miss Tree returned to England, and in 1842 she mar- 
ried Charles Ivean. 

In l.S3() Matlemoiselle Augusta appeared at the Park as a famous 
ballet-dancer, and won immense popularity. Lovely in form and 
feature, and endowed with maidenly reserve of manner, she attracted 
crowds nightly, and won every heart. She was called, professionally, 
mademoiselle, but she was the wife of a venerable French nobleman, 
the Count Fitz-James, and said to have been a scion of the royal house 
of Stuart. He died in 1851. Augusta's last appearance on the stage 
was at the Metropolitan Theatre in New York m 18.55, when she be- 
came a teacher of dancing in that city. 

In the spring of 1839 two famous dancers. Monsieur and ^ladame 
Taglioni, made their first ap])earivnce at the Park in the ballet of 
La Sijlphidf. They were brilliant performere. INIadame Taglioni was 
not pretty in feature, but was \avacious and faultless in form and 
motion. The popularity of the Park was then waning, and the Tagli- 
onis, after performing one season, returned to Europe. 

We have observed that the popidarity of the Park was waning. It 
was too .severely strict in its adherence to the pure drama and the 
highest performances in the histi'ionic art. Public taste about 1837 
and 1838 was evidently (.'hanging. The Bowery Theatre had intro- 
duced "sensational" acting, and was attracting the multitude of 
theatre-goers. A vulgar taste was evidently usurjjing the seat of 
refined taste. The pure drama no longer satisfied the cravings of the 
■vitiated ai)petite newly created, and the better actors at the Park 
played to comparatively emjrty seats. 

Clara Fisher (then Mrs. ilaeder), who a short time before com- 
manded overflowing houses at the Park, was now struggling in vain to 
attract paying audiences at the little Olympic and Yauxhall; Cooper 
was suing for an engagement ; Junius P>rutus Booth was playing at 
the Franklin ; Mi-s. Duff and ^li-s. Brown wore unappreciated at the 
Richmond Hill ; and Forrest, James Wallack, and Placide were 



KIliST DKCADK, lS:!n-lS40. 127 

starring at tlic Cliatliain, afterward known as Purdy's National 
Tlieatre. 

"AVliat IS tiio fansc of tliis imlilTcrcnci- to tlic If-ritiuiate drama *" 
asked Clark, of the Knichi-hork.r M<i<i,i-lit<\ " What do the public 
want ? Novelty, excitement, dash, show, parade. Spectacle has be- 
come the (jrder of the day. Impos.sible circumstances drawn up in bi<?, 
windy woitls, glowinj,' sc-enery, pompous ])rocessious, discordant noises, 
roaring lions, and men and women who can outi'oar tliem — these, with 
novelty for the sceue-shilter, are the aliment for which the jmlilic ap))e- 
tite is set." 

The last and most famous of the dancers who visited America at 
this period was :Mademoiselle Fanny Elssler, a German woman, who 
tii-st apj)eared in i)ul)lic at the Park Theatre m New York in ;May, 
1841. She came with a high profes.sional name, lor she had charmed 
crowds of delighted jieople at the theatres in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and 
Ixindon. She was tall, and of exquisite womanly )iro]iortions. Her 
complexion was of delicate whiteness, which contrasted linely with her 
rich, glossy, and jiiofuse chestnut hair. She is described as being 
exceedingly fascinating in person and manner. ]\[ademoiselle Elssler 
won immense popularity at once by her execution of the dainty Pm 
Craeoi'ienne. 

Mademoiselle Elssler was a native of Vienna, and was about thirty 
ve.ai-s of age when she came to New York. She and her sister Theresa 
had been educated for the ballet at Na]iles, and they first appeared on 
the stage at Berlin in ls3n. Fanny left the stage in 1^.51. Theresa 
maiTied Prince Ailall)eit of Prussia, and was ennobled liy the king. 

There were several meritorious actors and stage managei-s who fii"st 
appeared at the New York theatres during this decade, and ro.se to 
eminence in their ]>rofession. 7\mong the most notable of these were 
Hackett,* Danforth Marble,t and Hill, in the jiei-sonitication of the 

* Mr. Hackett, whose wife was an actress, had been a merchant, but faiUn^ in business 
took to the stage as a profession. He Brst appeared on the boards in 182G as an imper- 
sonator of " Yankee character" and exponent of " Yankee liunior." In this line he was 
for years nnrivaUed, was very popiilar. amassed a fortune, and paid every mercantile 
creditor his just dues. In private life Hackett was mnch esteemed. 

\ Danforth llarble " Dun Marble," as he was familiarly termed— was another success- 
ful impersonator of character. He was a native of Danbnry. Connecticut, learned the 
trade of a silversmith in Xew York, became a member of a Thespian association, was 
introduced behind the scenes at the Chatham Tlieatre. and resolved to become an actor. 
In April. l«:n, he paid the manager of the Richmond Hill Theatre $20 for the privilege 
of performinK the part of Robin Ronglihead. Again he paid him $10 for a similar privilege. 
Then he took a position among the lowest grade of actors, performing chiefly in 
" Yankee" and " Kentuckj'" characters. He made a decided " hit" in the play of Sam 



4-28 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

traditional " Yankee" and of other nationalities. Mr. Hill * was known 
as " Yankee Ilill." There were also namblin,t Mitchell, Burton, and 
Flynn — " Poor Tom Flynn," as he was spoken of in his later years. 

Edward Simpson was, of course, chief among managers at that 
period, and was a veteran at the beginning of tins decade, for he and 
Stephen Price hail been lessees of tlie Park many years. 

"W^illiam Xiblo, whose place of amusement was very popular for many 
years, even down to the beginning of the present decade (1870-80), 
began business life as the keeper of the famous Bank Coffee-IIouse, 
corner of Pine and "William streets, which he ojjened in 181-t. He luid 
married the excellent daugiiter of Daniel King, a famous innkeeper, 
fii-st in Wall Street, and then on the site of " JN'iblo's Garden," near 
Spring Street. There King died about 1S28, and in his house Niblo 
opened a branch of his coffee-house in 1820. To his sui'prise and de- 
light, he soon found it filled with the families of eminent merchants, 
who preferred boarding for a while to housekeeping. The then great 
merchant, Archibald Grade, and his family were boarders ^vitlun a 
week after it was opened. The omnibuses, just introduced, maile a 
residence that distance from business quite feasil:)le. Niblo's was the 
only building on the block where the Metropolitan Hotel now stands, 
and there were no houses on Broadway o]iposite. 

At the suggestion of friends Xiblo opened a " garden" for the jileas 
ure of the higher class of citizens, where ice-cream, cake, lemonade, 
and other refreshments were served in the open air. It was very suc- 

Palch, and became immensely popular in the West and South-West. Within seven years 
from the time he paid .^20 for the privilege of trying his powers, he was one of the most 
attractive star actors at the Park. He went to London in 1844, where he was very popu- 
lar in a play entitled The i'ermoni Wool-Dealer, and his welcome on his return was an 
ovation. His last performance was at St. Louis in May, 1849. X few days afterward he 
died there of Asiatic cholera. In 1836 Marble married a daughter of Mr. Warren, of 
Philadelphia, a celebrated comedian. 

* " Y'^ankee Hill " (George H.) was a native of Boston. He was a jeweller's apprentice, 
working near the theatre. He fir.st recited " Yankee stories' and sang '• Yankee songs" 
at the 'Warren Street Theatre in that city. He was always a favorite at the Park, and 
was very popular at the Adelphi, in London, m 1838. Hill played with great success at 
other theatres in Great Britain and the United States. He died at Saratoga Springs, in 
September, 1849. 

f Thomas S. Hamblin was an Englishman, and made his first appearance on an 
American stage as Hamlet, when he was about twenty-four years of age. He had first 
appeared as a ballet-dancer at the Adelphi, in London, with a salary of $1.50 a week. 
In 1830 he became lessee of the Bowery Theatre with Hackett. As an actor he was rather 
a failure, but was an energetic manager. In that capacity ho served until his death, 
from brain fever, in 1853. During his administration of the Bowery, that theatre was 
twice burned, the first time in 1836, and the second time in 1845. 



riusr i>Ki ADK. ih;:o iwio •*-'•' 

ccssful from tlu> l)(■gmIliIl^'. N'auxliall (ianion, that .■xtnid.-.l Inmi the 
Bowery nearly to 15roa(hvay al)ovf Koiiith Street, was then too far up 
town. ' In 11 short time Nihlo altered an old huildin-,' on the juemises 
into an ojien-air theatie for suiunier dramatic anil musical peiformances, 
and It became very famous, and remained so until our day. The thea- 
tre really forms a' part of the Metropolitan Hotel, and a small court- 
yard \vi\h a fountain is still called a garden. Upon this the sujierb 
lol)bies of the theatre open. 

This theatre was the scene f.f the Blark Crooh, the first grand ballet 
spectacle ever seen in this country. It was presented in ISf,:,, and i-an 
for several years. It was followed by similar spectacles. The interior 
of the theatre was burned in 1sTl\ but was soon restored. Its audito- 
rium will scat nearly two thou.sand pi-i-sons. It is still known as Xiblo's 
Garden Theatre. The founder lived until he was nearly eighty ycai-s 
of age, and his face and complexion at seventy-live were as fair as that 
of a middle-aged woman. 

Wilham ilitchcll was an Englishman, and first apjieared at the Na- 
tional Theatre in lS;'.t). He was not a marked favorite until he o|)ened 
the Olympic, on Broadway, late in ls:W, with anuLsing travesties and 
bnrles<iues, which became very piimlar. He hit the humor of the 
tune. Burton finally rivalled him, and Mitchell retired m 18.0(1 with a 
competence, but finally became poor. While arrangements were in 
progress to give him a benefit, he died. May 12, 18.50. 

"We have observed that William E. Burton rivalled Mitchell as an 
actor and manager. He, too, was an Englishman, was tiioioughly 
educated, and was designed by his father, the eminent sciiolar and 
author of ' ' Bililical Ke-searches, ' ' for one of the h l)eral jirofessions. On 
the death of his father he became connected with the newspaper i)ress, 
and an intimacy with actore led him to adopt the profession of a player. 
He played in the provinces for seven yeai-s in an extensive range of 
characters, and made his first apiwarance on the London stage in 1831, 
where he was very successful. lie came to America in 18;}4, and tii-st 
aii|}eared at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia, principally in 
comedy. He played his first engagement in New York as a star at 
the National Theatre in 1S30. He was afterward manager of theatres 
in rhiladt-lplua and Baltimore, and finally of the National Theatre in 
New York in April, IS-il. It wasliurncd in May. In 1848 he opened 
Burton's Theatre, in Pahno's Opera House, in Chambers Street. 
There he was very successful, drawing crowded houses by his acting in 
comedies. His impereonations of some of Dickens's cliaractei-s, and 
esiiecially Toodles, were constant delights to theatre-goeis. and for years 



430 HISTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Burton's Theatre was the favorite resort of the most intelhgent class of 
pleasure-seckei's. \vhere fashionable people were not .trammelled by 
etiquette as at the stately Park. 

Comuierce needed Chamijei's Street, and with a hope of conquering 
his rivals, Wallack and Laura Keene, Burton opened Burton's New 
Theatre in 1SM>, far up Broadway. He was unsuccessful, and aban- 
doned the field. Burton was an unrivalled comedian, and an accom- 
plished writer, lie died in New York February 9, 1860 

" Poor Tom Flynn" made his fii'st ajDpearance on the stage at the 
Chatham Theatre. He was stage manager of the Bowery m 1833-84, 
and afterward of the Richmond Hill Theatre. In 183(5 he oiiened the 
National Theatre, where he brought out William Mitchell. With 
others he built the New Chatham Theatre, first opened m 1839. He 
had now become intemperate : the " social glass" had ruined him. He 
made an attempt at reform, and became a zealous public advocate of 
the temperance cause. This was a ho]5efitl pause in his hfe career. It 
was only a pause: he soon relapsed, and he died, in poverty and shame, 
of cholera in 18-49. Flynn married Miss Matilda Twibell, the " belle of 
the stage," in 1828. 



CIlAI'TKIi XXIV. 

IN tlie closing ypiii-s of tins decade the social features of Xew Voilc 
had lost many of those of the Knickerhoeker period ; indeed. Imt 
lew of the features of the latter-named period weic distinctly traceable 
in their purity. Art, literature, science, and education had assumed 
new habits, new asi)irations, and a more vigoiijus life. The ])iire 
drama was struggling almost hopelessly for existence ag;iinst the inva- 
sion of a vitiated taste. The sensational drama had greatly iiici-eased 
the number of theatre-goei's. There were then four or live theatres in 
the city. Between 183.") and 184.J four new theatrical edilices were 
projected. " The age itself is dr,iinatic," siiid the leading liteiury 
pajier in New York City. " Tliedraniatic spirit now. more tlian ever, 
characterizes the people." 

Literature was cultiv;itcd as an art more than ever l>efore, and the 
number of its devotees in New York was surprising— poets and pi-ose 
writei-s. 

During this decade three famous clubs were formed in the city of 
New York— namely, the Hone Club and the I'nioii Club in 183«>, and 
the Kent Club in IS.'.S. 

The Hone Clult was projected by the accomplished merchant an<l e.x- 
mayor of the city, Philip Hone. Its membei'slii]) was designedly few, 
not exceeding generally twenty m number, and re|tresented the wealth 
and intellect of the city. One of its active and honored membei-s, the 
late Dr. John W. Francis, wrote of this club : * 

" It abjnretl (1isrnH.sions on theological dogmas, on piirty politics, and individnal per- 
sonalitips. Its themes were the .\merican Revohition and its heroes ; the framers of the 
Constitution ; the Vnited States judiciary . New York and its improvements ; Clinton 
ami the canal ; the niprcantilo advancement of the city ; hanks ; Wa.shington, Hamilton, 
Hancock, nnd .\daiiis, and the ITnion and itsjjowers. It justly boasted of its strong disci- 
ples, and gathered at its festivals the leading men of the Hepublic. Webster was cher- 
ished n.s a divinity among them, and in this circle of unalloyeil friendship and devotion 
his absorbed mind often expressed relief in cheering views of business life imparted by 
his us.sociatcs, and <m the estimates formed of national measures. ... 1 never heard a 
breath in this club of .South or North ; it had broader views and more congenial topics.f 

* '• Old New York,' p. 204. 

t This was written in IS.iT, four years before the gic^t Civil War began. 



432 HISTORY OF x\EW YORK CITY. 

Webster talked of the whole country— its seas, its lakes, its rivers, its native products. 
and its forests, from the buffalo of the prairie to the fire-fly in the garden. 1 have seldom 
encountered a mituralist who had so perfect a knowledge of the kingdom of nature. 

" The gatherings of the Hone Club were cordial communions of a most attractive 
character ; they were held at intervals of a fortnight, and they ceased only upon the 
demise of its benevolent founder. Their festivals were of the highest order of gustatory 
enjoyment— the appetite could ask no more— and a Devonshire duke might have been 
astounded at the iimplitude of the repast, and the richness and style of the entertain- 
ment. When I have conned over the unadorned simplicity of our ancestors, and had au- 
thentic records for the facts that at their more sumptuous demonstrations of hospitality, 
corned beef might have been decorating the board at both ends, constituting what the 
host called tautology, and that old Schiedam impoi'ted by Anthony Deyer made up the 
popular exhilarating beverage, and compared what I now witnessed in these, my own 
days, the canvasbacks and grouse hardly invoking appetite; that 'Nabob' would stand 
without reproach, and Binghem alone receive the attention due its merit, I am irresisti 
bly led to the conclusion arrived at on a different occasion, by m^' friend Pintard, that 
there is a great deal of good picking to be found iq this wicked world, but the chances of 
possession are somewhat rare. 

" Philip Hone was a thorough American in feeling, and a genuine Knickerbocker 
in local attachment and in public spirit. He watched with mo.st intelligent zeal 
over the fortunes of this growing metropolis, identified himself with every project 
for its advancement, and labored with filial devotion in her behalf. Our most useful 
as well as most ornamental changes won his attention and enlisted his aid. From the 
laying of a Kuss pavement to the elaboration of a church portico, from the widening of a 
street or avenue to the magnificent enterprise which resulted in the Croton Aqueduct, Mr. 
Hone was the efficient coadjutor of his fellow-citizens. Several of our most important 
and useful institutions are largely indebted to him for their successful establishment. 
With the late John Pintard, William Bayard, and Theodore Dwight, he devoted bis best 
energies in rearing the savings bank ; and the Clinton Hall Association, w-ith its impor 
tant branch, the Mercantile Library, are indebted to him as its founder and benefactor. 
He also, with others of the Hone family, gave support to the canal policy of his per- 
secuted friend, De Witt Clinton I believe it is admitted, without a dissentient voice, 
that, as mayor of New I'ork, he is to be classed among the most competent and able 
chief magistrates our city ever possessed. He largely contributed to works of benefi- 
cence and knowledge which have marked the career of our metropolis."* 

•"Old New Y'ork," p. 297. John Wakefield Francis, the author of this interesting 
volume, was a conspicuous figure in the social life of New York for fully fifty years, as 
an eminent physician, a man of letters, and one of the most genial and fascinating of 
men, in whatever sphere he might be met. He was a native of New Y^ork City, where lie 
was born on November 17, 1789. His father was a German grocer from Nuremberg. 
and when John, his eldest son. was nearly six years of age, he died of yellow fever, leav- 
ing four children to the care of their mother, a native of Philadelphia, of Swiss descent 
She was a woman of extraordinary force of character, of decided literary tastes, and 
being left with a competence, she indulged and fostered in her son an innate love for 
books. At a suitable age John, from choice, was apprenticed to a printer and bookseller. 
Both master and apprentice soon discovered that the boy had mistaken his vocation. 
The lad's intense thir.st for knowledge made him a voracious devourer of books. His 
indentures were cancelled, he was prepared for a seat in a high seminary of learning by 
the Uev. Dr. Conroy. and entered Columbia College so well advanced that he was 
admitted to the junior class. 

The amount of literary labor performed by young Francis at this period was marvel- 



KlUSr DKCAUK. IWtO 181) 43:3 

Olio nf tlRM.riginiil iiifiiibcrs aiui tlioicL' spirits of flu- IloneCluli. tln^ 
veteran jouniilist mid siKcessful tli]»li)iiiiitist, General James Watson 
"Webb, survived until tlie sumnier of 1884. 

Ions. Wbile lie wns nn anclergrndimUi he pnrsned the study of luodioine in the office of 
Dr. Hos.ii'k. nttencli'd meilicul lectiircK. mnde elaborate iibstructK of them, conducted, in 
conuectiDn with his pruceptnr, a medical periodical, TV/e Meilinil unit Pliilonofyhinil Journal. 
and compiisod his celebrated medical theses on - The fse of Mercury." To his ceaseless 
and untiring industry at that period, and at idl tinic-i afterward, may be accredited his 
vast achievements in his profession nnd in the field of literature. 

Dr. Francis received the baccalaureate from Columbia CoUegc in 1800. He was the 
first graduate of the College of Physicians and Sun^eons in 1811 When, in 1813, the 
medical department of Columbia College was united with that of the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons, he was appointed professor of materia niedica and botany in the 
new institution, as the saccessorof Dr. Hosack, who was promoted to the chair of theory 
and practice. 

Soon after Francis had entered upon the practice of nis profession. Dr. Hosack pro- 
posed to him a business copartnership. It was accepted, and this connection continued 
until 1820. Hosack was then at the zenith of his fame, and to him the vounger partner 
was largely indebted for his manner of literary composition and power of expression. 

Soon after taking his professional chair. Dr. Francis went to England. He carried to 
Dr. Abemethy the first copies of that gentleman's works published in America. He was 
cordially received by that eccentric physician, nnd so satisfied was Abemethy of the 
ability of the young .\merican physician, that he cordially invited Franci.s to come and 
settle in London. In London, in Edinburgh, and in Paris. Francis became acquainted 
with the leading scientists and literary men of that period, and won the friend.ship of 
them all. While he was abroad he ooDtribnted to "Rees's Cyclopsedia" the articles 
"Dr. Rush" and "New York." 

On his return from Europe. Francis entered with vigor upon his duties as a professor 
nnd as a practising physician During thirteen years he continued his medical lectures, 
and found time to write and publish several essays, and to assist Dre. Heck and Dyckman 
in editing the New York Medirnt and Physical Jntirnnl. In 1826 he. with others, formed the 
Incalty of a new institution called " Rutgers Medical College" (already noticed* 
chartered b.v Now Jersey, but located in New York. Its career was short, and with it 
ended the course of Dr. Francis as o public medical educator. He never afterword 
held a professorship in any of the colleges, but devoted his time to his profession and to 
literature. In these departments of human activity his career was brilliant, useful, and 
every way snccessfnl. As a lecturer he was an impressive, animated, and often 
eloquent speaker. His personal appearance was prepossessing. In stature he was about 
five feet ten inches. His frame wns strongly built, his head and features were massive, 
there was a play of humor about his face, nnd his head was adorned with a profusion of 
locks which, during the latter years of his lite, were of snowy whiteness. His ner^-ous 
system was predominant, and hence he was always enthusiastic in manner He was the 
life of every social gathering, whether in a family, at a club, or a public festival, or cele- 
bration of any event. He was intimate with nil the theatrical and musical celebrities of 
his time, and his society was courted by cidtivated people, whether citizens or foreigners. 

Dr. Francis lived n bachelor until he wns forty yeors of age. when (1829» he married 
Miss Maria Eliza Cutler a niece of General Francis Marion. .She was a lady of refine- 
ment, high social position, and was in every respect a helpmate for him in his labors or in 
dispensing with grace the hospitalities of his house. His home on Bond Street became 



434 HISTORY OF ^E^^■ vcrk city. 

The rnion Club \v;is also organized in the year lS/5fi. On the 30th 
of June a circular letter was sent out to a number of gentlemen of 
social distinction, inviting them to become members of the then in- 
clioate club. It was signed by the following eminent citizens, active ■ 
in the various concerns of life at that day : Samuel Jones, Thomas 
J. Oakley, Philip Hone, Beverley Robinson, William lieach Lawrence, 
Charles King, Enos T. Throoi), B. E. Brenner, G. M. Wilkms, B. C. 
Williams, F. Sheldon, J. Depeyster Ogden, and Ogden Hoffman. It 
was signeil by John II. JlcCracken, secretary. 

I From its inception this club was the representative organization of 
membei-s of old families, such as the Livingstons, Clasons, Van Cort- 
landts, Dv) Peysters, Van der Yoorts, Dunhams, Van Rensselaers, 
Paines, Stuyvesants, Irelands, Griswolds, Centers, Suydams, whose 
names filled the list of membership. These were the remnants of the 
Ivnickerljocker race, who clung with tenacity to the idea and the tradi- 
tions of family aristocracy they had so long enjoyed. " Their names 
appeared in the list of membership," says Fairfield, "with a sort of 

the centre of a literary as -n-ell as a scientific circle. There might be seen statesmen. 
poets, novelists, clergymen, actors, and philosophers. 

In 1847 Dr. Francis was elected president of the Academy of .Medicine, and he gave 
several addresses before that body. He also addressed the New York Typographical 
Society on the character of Franklin, in 1850, and the same year he received the 
honorary degree of LL.D. from Trinity College, Hartford. In 1854 he was smitten a 
dreadful blow from which he never recovered, in the death of his eldest son, a most 
promising young physician, bearing his name, and destined, as he hoped, to perpetuate 
his own professional and literary fame. It was the first severe trial of Dr. Francis's life. 
"As I led him away from the death-bed when all was over," said Dr. Valentine Mott. m 
a wai-m eulogj' of Dr. Francis, delivered before the Academy of Medicine, " he uttered n 
passionate exclamation of grief, that he who had saved the lives of so many less worthy. 
should lose his own son. ... He was never afterward quite the same man." 

Two or three years later Dr. Francis read a paper on Old New York before the New 
Y'ork Historical Society, which he elaborated into a most interesting volume. His final 
literary achievement was a sketch of the life of Gouverneur Morris. During the summer 
of 1860, in conjunction with Edward Everett, he laid the corner-stone of the Inebriate 
Asylum at Binghamton. He was always actively engaged in some good work-in public 
and private charities of every kind. He was, m an eminent degree, the physician of the 
poor. He might be seen walking alone by the side of a poor father carrying his child to 
the grave, whose coffin was probably paid for by the good doctor himself. 

Dr. Francis died at his home in Sixteenth Street on Febniaiy 8, 1861. The writer 
well remembers the impressive scene at his funeral in St. Thomas's Church. There both 
extremes of society met. The poor, who had enjoyed his bounty and his care, crowded 
the aisles in coarse attire to take a last sad look at the face of their benefactor and 
friend. It was a more touching eulogy than could be offered in the pulpit or on the 
rostrum. His widow followed him a few years afterward. He left two sons, Samuel W. 
Francis and Valentine Mott Francis, who ara medical practitioners at Newport, R. I., 
" worthy sons of a noble sire." 



FIRST DKCATip:, lft:tO-1840. 435 

iinstooratic monotony, of lliat KnickeilHx-korisrn wliicli cariic ' for 
tlieni the ciMtliet of tlie ]5ourl)ons of New York. Hence spran;,' up 
that contest of tlie old nia<,'nates of New York society with the new 
NajKjIeons of wealtii and trade, which for years agitated tlie cluh. and 
occasionally threatened to rend it asunder." * 

At tlie Hi'st orf,'anization nf the Tnioii C'liil. its home was at the 
house of the secretar\s Mr. Mct'i-.icken, whose widow became the wife 
of Charles O'Conor. It was not permanently organized until IS.-^T. 
In that year ajiartments were securetl in a huilding on the west side of 
Broadway, near Leonard Street. There it lemained three yeai-s. when 
it occupied a l)uildin-,'on the east siileof P.roadway, near AVliite Street, 
owned l>y John Jacob Astor. Seven yeai-s later it migrated to a build- 
ing on r.roadway, above lileecker Street. Tliere the club grew .strong 
and wealthy. The new element of active life which had interpene- 
trated New York society was thoroughly diffu.se<I through its member- 
ship. The ari.stoeracy of family was no longer one of its doctrines, 
but worth, in its broadest sense, was recognized as the highest dignity. 

In 1S.-.2 the Union Club was worth half a million dolhirs, and it was 
resolved to provide for it a permanent home. In 1855 a beautiful 
structure of brown stone was completed for it on the comer of Twenty- 
first Street and Fifth Avenue, at a cost of S-25(>,(Mmi. It ihen contained 
about five hunilred memliei-s. The membei-ship has rajiidly increased 
since. 

It is sjiid the Union Club appro.xiinates more ne^irly in organiz;Uion 
to the European club than any other in this country. It has more 
social coherence than any other. Literature is but little rejjresented in 
it, and journalism seems not to have been pressingly invited to its 
six-iety in pa.st times. Some yeai-s ago Mr. :^Iarble. tlie editoi- of the 
War/>/ newspaper, wjis a candidate for membei-ship, and was ]iidiiiptly 
blackballed. This incident excited the indignation of one of the lead- 
ing membei-s of the club. One blackball was sufficient to reject a can- 
didate. The member alluded to declared that no candidate should ever 
thereafter be admitted so long as he could be present and jiut in a 
blackball, until the act of rejection of :Mr. Marble should be rescinded. 
Mr. Marble was admitted, and so the daily press first obtained a repre- 
sentation in the oldest existing club in the city of New York. Itsmera- 
bei-ship now represents nearly all the professions an<l dignities which 
mark society, and the fashionable Union Clul) has become (]uite cosmo- 
politan in Its features. The anny ami navy are represented by mem- 

• " The Clnlvs of Xew York," hy Francis Gerrv Fairfield. 



436 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

bei-s who are not required to pay annual dues. The initiation fee for 
a paying member is S^UU, and the annual dues $75. Its membership 
consists of re]jresentatives of vast wealth, enterprise, and professional 
wisdom ; also of real noble lineage, a boon for which any man may 
])i'operlv be grateful, but not a boon to be relied upon almost wholly as 
a passport into " good society" — the society of gootl men. The wise 
couplet has it : 

' ' What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards ? 
Alas ! not all the blood of all the Howards." 

The Kent Club, so called in honor of the Hon. James Kent, the 
eminent chancellor and commentator, was organized in 1838, and was 
comj)osed of the leading men of the legal profession in the city like 
Samuel Jones, Thomas J. Oakley,* John Duer, John Anthon, Francis 
B. Cutting, Ogden Hoffman, Peter A. Jay, Charles O'Conor, and 
other lights of the New York bar at that day. That club long since 
passed into the realm of history. 

There were rare men who belonged to the Kent Club — men of great 
legal abilit}^ profound wisdom, and (]uick wit. The annals of the New 
York bar at that time, if faithfully recorded, would furnish a vast 
repertory of genuine humor. 

At this time there was a club or association of choice spirits in the 
city of New York, modest and exclusive. It still exists, but scarcely 
anyljody but its own members is aware of the fact. It is called the 
Colunm,t and was founded in 1825 by a class or portions of a class that 
grailuated at Columbia College that year. 

* Thomas Jackson Oakley was a native of Duchess County, New Y'ork, where he was 
born in 1783 ; studied and practised law in Poughkeepsie. He had graduated at Y'ale 
College in ISOl. In 1810 he was appointed surrogate of Duchess County, was a member 
of Congress in 181.3-15, was a member of .Assembly in 1815. and again a member of 
Congress in 1827-28. He succeeded Van Buren as Attorney-General of the State m 1819, 
and served again in the Assembly in 1820. "SSTien the supreme court in New York City 
was organized in 1828, he was appointed an associate judge, and upon its reorganization 
in 184fi he was made chief justice. Judge Oakley died in the citv of New York in May, 
1857. 

t This name was derived from the circumstance that in its early days, before the club 
had a name, the members were permitted by Dr. Lyell, rector of Christ Church, in 
Anthony (now Worth) Street, to assemble in a room at the back of his church. In the 
centre of the room was a column that supported the roof. Dr. Lyell suggested that they 
name their club " The Column," which was done. " There were, I think," wrote one of 
the club to the author, " twenty or twenty-five members. They were young men who 
desired to perpetuate the friendship they had formed. They met weekly for the pur- 
pose of literary intercourse and cultivation. There were many bright fellows among 
them. As the original number of members began to diminish by death or otherwise, 
new men were introduced into the society. I was elect.ed in 1830, and as we held our 



llliST DKCADK. ISIO-IHIO. 4:J7 

In the eai'liiT pi-i'lod of tlu' liistory of tlic Coluiiin, a niontlily iciijlt 
was rcail, and weekly discussions were lield on to|)ics wliicli were 
engaging tlie attention of the Senate of the L'inted States. Many of 
the |)ulihc iiuestioiis of the day were discussed with as much acumen 
and sounti logic as in the upper house of tlic national legislature. 
On such occasions the mendjei-s assumed the gravity of representa- 
tives of a repuhlican government. The presiding otilcer was styled 
the archon, in imitation of the Greek chief magistrate. There was 
a premier, secretaries of departments, a chief justice, etc. Many of 
these dehaters have tilled high positions in the State, the professions, 
and in business circles. ' The following is believed to be a correct li.st of 
the members of the Column at the time of the last annivei-siiry dinner 
at Pinard's : Augustus Schell, archon ; AVilliani yi. Evarts,* premier ; 
George E. lIolTman, Charles (J. Havens, John II. (Touilie, George I'. 
Butler, John l>igelo\v, Hamilton Fish, William M. I'ritchard, Charles 
E. Butler, Edward S. Van Winkle, Parke Godwin. William F. Whitte- 
more, and Dr. Alon/.o Clark. 

fifty-eighth nnnivcrsnrj- in Fcbrniiry, 1S8.3. j'ou will see hovf olil wo nre. Time has made 
great changes among it.s members. I think onr membership is now about a dozen. 
George E. Hoffman, a son of .Imlge Hoffman, and a brother of the late Hon. Josiah 
Ov;den Hoflfiiiau, is the senior meml)er." 

The lucmbiTB actively engaged in the affairs of life abandoned the weekly meetings at 
about tlie beginning of the hite Civil War, and agreed to have an annmil reunion only, 
and a banquet. This fe.stival has been hehl eveiy year since. 

* William M. Evarts is a native of Boston, where he was born on Feliruary fi, 1818. 
He was gnulnated at Yale College in 1837. and finished his legal education at the Har- 
vard Law School. Mr. Evarts chose the city of New York as th? most i)romising field 
for the practice of the legal ])rofe«3ion, and there he entered upon it, there he bos 
won his most important professional triumphs, and there, for a generation, he has occa- 
pied a foremost rank among the members of the American bar. In 1H.">1 Mr. Evarts was 
appointed United States attorney for the .Southern District of New Y'ork, from which 
office he retired two years later. He was appointed one of the almshouse commissioners 
(now known as Commissioners of Charities and Correction). He had formed a law 
partnership in 18.53 under the firm name of Butler. Evarts & Southmayil . subsequently 
it became Evarts, .Southniayd & Choate. In 18fil Mr. Evarts s name was prominent 
before the Repuhlican legislative caucus for United States Senator, and in 1870 he was 
prominently advocated for the TtepuWican nomination for governor of New Y'ork. On 
both occasions a " compromise' candidate was nominated. 

In 18(18 Mr. Evarls was the legal cliamjiion of President Johnson in his impeachment 
case, and that functionary called the great lawyer to the seat of the attorney-gencmlship 
in his cabiuil. He was also the legal champion of President-elect Hayes before the elec- 
toral tribunal, and was called to President Hayes's cabinet in March, 1877, as the chief 
minister of state. This position he held, and exercised the functions with great dignity, 
ability, and success during the administration of Mr. Hayes. 

In the realm of his profession Mr. Evarts has won more honor and distinction than 
any public office conld bestow. Among the many great cases m which he has snccess- 



438 HISTORV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

The society possesses a silver column, about three feet six inches in 
height, including its base and pedestal. It is left in the custody of 
Messrs. Tiffany it Co., and is brought out only on the occasion of the 
annual baiujuet. At that time it is surmounted by a lightetl Etruscan 
lamp while they are dining, as an emblem of the inextinguishable life of 
the society. This colmnn is to be the property of the latest survivor of 
the association. 

At the close of this decade the features of JS'ew York society pre- 
sented conspicuous transfonuations. Many exotic customs prevailed, 
both pul)lic and private, and the expensive pleasures of the Eastern 
Hemisphere had been transplanted and taken firm I'oot. Among other 
imported anmsements was the masked ball, the fii-st of whicli occurred 
in the city of Ne^v York in 1840, and produced a profound sensation, 
not only j')*'/' se, but because of an attending circumstance which stirred 
" society" to its foundation. 

The masked ball was given by Mrs. Henry Brevoort in the spacious 
mansion on the corner of Xinth Street and Fifth Avenue, now (1883) 
occupied by Charles de Rham. It was then on the northern border of 
the city. All the residences of fashionable people at that time were 
south of Tenth Street. 

This ball was regarded as the most notable affair in fashionable 
society at that time. It was attended by the eliie of the city, in fancy 
dresses, dominos, and masks. Among the most attractive young 
women of the city who were present was Miss Matilda Barclay, the 
beautiful daughter of Anthony Barclay, the British consul, who lived 
in College Place, and who Avas dismissed for raising recruits in this 
country for the Crimean war. There was also in attendance a gay 
young South Carolinian named Burgwyne, who had won the affections 
of Miss Barclay, but was distasteful to her parents. At the ball Miss 

fully engaged may be meutioued the proceedings connected with the famous Cleopatra 
expedition against Cuba in 1851 ; the celebrated Lemmon slave case in 1853, in which he 
represented the State of New York ; the Parrish and the Gardiner will cases, and the 
Beecher-Tilton case. 0£ Jlr. Evarts's personal and intellectual characteristics, a late 
writer observes : 

" In person he is tall and slender; he is fragile almost to attenuation, and so lor from suggesting the 
idea of a vehement orator, he improsen one as a man of retired, scliolarl; lastes Tall, tliin. anu'uiar. long- 
headed, with a equarennd promineni forehead, darli-huired and dark-skinned, with a face perfectly smooth 
bnt thin, cadaverous, shrunken. deep-6«i gmy eyia. a prciminent nose, and a square, decisive, fineiy chiselled 
chin. Ue has a clear, sharp, ringing voice, though it is noi powerful or musicai In making his points he is 
lucid, precise, and cogent, seldom rhetorical or ornamental. . . . His sentences are long and faultless, and 
freighted wilh words which show that profoind ilioiigiit is selecting filicitons vocabulary as it goes 
along. lie has a line humor, but it is the humor of cultivation not the coarse fun of the vulgar. His ap- 
peals to the intelligence of juries are the highest in their tone, the liroadest in their scope, and the deepest 
in their power of any made in modem times. Webster was not more logical, Story was not a more 
thorough lawyer, Choate not a more brilliant verbalist, nor Sumner a firmer believer in moral power " 





^./^ '^^¥ri/z> 



FIRST DlXAUt:. 1S3<M840 439 

Biircliiy appoiirtMl as l.iilla Unnkli, ami lliii-fj;\vyiK' as Feraiiiorz. Tiic\- 
left tluj festive scene togetlier at four o'clock in tiie iiioiiiiiig, and, 
witliout clianj^ing tiieii' costumes, were nuirried before bieaivfast. This 
elopement was a topic for town talk for a nu)ntli, and it cast sucli odium 
upon masketl balls that no other was attempted l»y reputable families 
for many years afterward.* 

Several existing social arnl benevolent histitutions were established 
during this decade or were endued with renewed vitality. Among these 
was Tnic Ni;w E.s(.l.\.m> Sociltv of tuk Crrv of Xi:\v Vokk, established 
nearly foui-score yeai-s ago. It had languished for several years, l)Ut 
when New Englandcrs flocked into the city of New York after the 
completion of the Erie Canal, and infused the .spirit of enterprise, 
business energy, and thrift of their section into the social and commer- 
cial life of the city, the society felt the thrill of rejuvenescence and be- 
came wide awake. For nearly lifty yeai-s it has been a flourishing and 
popular social institution. 

The New England Society f)f the City of New York was organized 
on May (5, 1S05, with James Watson as its president, Jonathan Burrell 
as its treasurer, and Samuel Hopkins secretary. It was organized as a 
charitable and literary association. It was specially designed to com- 
memorate the lan(ling of the " Pilgrim Fathers,"' the lii-st English 
emigrants who made a permanent home in New England. It was also 
designed to jjromote friendship, charity, and mutual assistance among its 
members, for the creation of a library, and for other literary purposes. 

* At one o£ the cinbs recently, an elderly fjentleman, ■who hiiJ lived iibout forty years in 
Europe, revived, in conversation, some interesting recollections of New York abont 1840. 
He recalled the fancy ball (and its stirring episode) given by Mrs. Brevoort, and spoke 
of tho simplicity of .social life, even at th.it late day, compared with that of the present 
timo. He .said : 

" \Vp Uioa:;ht (here wn9 n goodly display of wealth ftnd dininonda in tho«e d:ty3, bin, Goil bless my soul, 
when 1 ht^irof Ihe millions amn!'!«ed by the Viindcrbilis. Ooiilds. Mtllses. Villnrds. and others ol thai cort. I 
realiiee wlint it poor little doughnut of a place New Y^irk was at th:it early period. The dinner hour was 
three o'clock, and on the Decision of a dinner parly it was postponed till (our I.ivcrled servants were un- 
known, although a nian.sen'ant ('.;en.^raily of the coloretl rarei was a matter of curse in every gcotle- 
man'se'tahlisliment. Pretty waller i.nrls. with jaunty caps and inibriidcred aprons, had noi been discovered. 
The first private carria^'c, with coachman and fcioiiiiaii in ilvery. was almost inolilied when ii drove 
down Broadway. It belonifcd to .\ndrew Rord ui H iniersley, wi o died the other day. and would oc iookid 
upon in these days as an exceptionally i|uiel lumoit hut it ma lea scn'>ation anl caused many ominous 
shakeiof the head and much tiirnine np of the eyes amonst'ie older people Mr' Jacob Little afterward 
appeared In a very showy carriage lined with rosccolor. and a .larky coachman in blue livery on the box 
bni nobody looked at the coachman when madam was inside, for Mrs Little was yoiinsjnnd extremely 
pretty when she tnirried old .lacoh. . . Vounit ladies walked out on summer aficrnmins in iiincham 
drcs-os. with straw bonnets, white «tocklnf;s. and inw ties or slippers Co.educ illon had not been 
thoui;hl of then, but co-recreaiion was indnlced in to any extent, nod iioye and Rlrl- played lag toL'ether 
on Columbia Colleae creenandon ihe wood sidewalks of Park Place ivithout injury lo their morals or man- 
nrr». They were real hoys ami cirls in those days they worked hard and they played hard. I don't ace 
auy like them in the strecla or parka just now ' 



440 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Tlie meinhei-sliij) consists of any descendant of a New Englander of 
good moral character, of the age of eighteen years and upward. 

The hv-hiws of the society recjuire the annual festival to be held on 
the 22(1 day of December each year — the anniversary of the landing of 
the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts in 1020 from the ilanflowcr 
— unless that day should be Sunday, wlien the festival must be held tiie 
nextdav. That occasion is always most attractive, and is noted for the 
sumptuousness of the material banquet and the ex(|uisite viands of tiie 
intellectual feast. 

The society has a committee on charity, to distribute and ex])end all 
moneys ap])ro])riated by the board of officers for charitable purposes. 
The beneficiaries of the society are the widows and children of deceased 
members who may need assistance. These are entitleti, foi- live suc- 
cessive years, to an annuity from the funds of the society to the full 
auaount the deceased member has actually jiaid ; but the annuity is in 
no case paid to a widow who shall marry again or to childi'en able to 
support themselves.* 

The Saint Nicholas Society of the (!"itv of New Yoke, composed 
of old residents of New York City and their descendants, was 
formed early in 1835. Several gentlemen, residents and natives of the 
city, held a meeting at AVashington Hall, corner of Broadway and 
Chambers Street, on the evening of February 14th, when Abraham 
Bloodg'ood, an old currier and leather merchant, then over seventy 
yeai-s of age — a remarkable man — was called to the chair, and Wash- 
ington Irving was appointed secretary'. Judge Irving briefly stated 
the object of the meeting to be the consideration of the expediency of 
forming an association for the purpose above mentioned. Dr. Manley 
offered a resolution that it was expeilient to do so. It was adoj)ted, 
and a committee, consisting of Peter Schermerhorn, John T. Irving, 
A. li. WyckolT, Hamilton Fish, Dr. Manley, and Washington Irving, 
was ap])ointed to prei)are a constitution and by-laws. 

An adjourned meeting of citizens was held on the evening of Feb- 
ruary 21st, at the same jjlace, when a draft of the constitution was pi-e- 
sented by Mr. Schermerhorn, and it was determineil that the title of 
the association should be The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of 

* The officers o£ the New England Society of the city of New York, 1882-8.3, were : 
Marvelle W. Cooper, president ; Stewart L. Woodford, vice-president ; Horace Kussell, 
second vice-president ; J. Pierpont Morgan, treasurer, and L. P. Hubbard, secretary. 
The directors are Ch.irles II. Isham. Cornelius N. Bliss. Daniel G. Rollins. .Julius 
Caflin, .Jr., Ijocke W. Winchester, Brayton Ives. Charles B. Stockwell, Daniel Robinson, 
Noah Davis, Noah Brooks, .iuj^ustus G. Paine, L. G. Woodhouse. Levi M. Bates, George 
"W. Smith, James H. Dauhaiu, Chandler Robbins. 



I'IKST DhX'ADK. 1H:;() ISJO. 441 

Xcw York. Il was :it tin- s^iiiic tiiiif rcsnlvr.l tliat tlio society slmuld 
bo " atniposcd of tliosc poisons prosont at tlio adoption of tlic constitu- 
tion will) sliall sign tiie sinio and i)ay tlio sums tlKTciiy io(|uiivd, and 
of sucii other poi-sons as siiall Ijo adinittfd nionilioi-s acrordin;.' to tiie 
provisions of tlio constitution." t^ualilications for nienil)oi-slii|) were 
deiined as follows in tiie constitution : 

" Any piTson of full line, in respectable Htnnding in society, of ROOil uioriil cliaructur, 
wlio wns II nulive or resilient ol tbe eity or State of New York prior to tlio year 17»5, or 
■Bho is tUe ilescendant of any snoh native or resident, or who is a dcseendant of a mem- 
ber of this society, shall be elit:ible as a member. Bnt whenever, and as lon;^ as there 
shall l)e, five hundred members of the society, no one shall bo elected to membei-ship 
unless he be the descendant in tho oldest male lino of a member or former member." 

It was determined that tlie annivei-sjiiy meetinj,' of tlic society should 
i)e on the mil day of Decemix-r. unless it shouhl fall on Sunday, wiien 
the nieotinif should he held on Monday. 

On the 2Sth of February, at a full ineetin;,' at Washington Hall, the 
constitution was adopted, and the society was organized by tiie ciioice 
of the following gentlemen as officers of the society : I'eter (J. 
Stuyvesjint, jiresident ; Abniham Uloodgood, fii-st vice-president ; 
Wa.shington Irving, second vice-president ; (iulian ('. Verplanck. third 
vice-iiresidenl ; Peter Schermerhorn, fouitli vice-president ; .lohn 
Oothout, treasurer ; Hamilton Fish, secretary ; William A. Lawi-ence, 
assistant secretary ; the lU. Rev. I5(^njamin T. Onderdonk and the 
Rev. RolK>rt McCartee, chaplains ; AVilliam II. Ilobart and Edward (t. 
Ludlow, physicians ; Hugh McLean anil John W. Francis, consulting 
physicians. Tlieir were twelve managers. The society was incorjM)- 
ratcd April 17, IS+l. 

The lirst anniversjiry dinner of the society was at the City Hotel, on 
P>roadway, December <>, ISSC,. The first Paas festival was held on 
Thuisday in Easter week (April 11) in 1S44. That year the society 
adopteil the custom of liaving annual addresses. It had adoiited a flag 
in ls:!'.», which wa.s tho original tricolor witii the arms of the city of 
Xew York in tiie centre.* 

The objects of the Siiint Nicholas Society arc to afford pecuniary 
relief to indigent or reduced members and their widows and children ; 
to collect and preserve in fimnat ion res|)ccting the history, settlement, 

» The officers of the society in 1883 were : .VbrahamR. Lawrence, president ; Nathaniel 
Bailey, first, Carlisle Norwood, Jr., second. Cornelius Vanderbilt, third, and John C. 
Mills, fonrth vice-president : Edward Schull, treasnrcr : Charles A. .Schermerhorn, 
seerelary : Hcnr>- F.rskine .Smith, assistant scrretary ; Rev. Thomas E. Vermilye, D.D., 
and Rev. Noah H. Schen ik, PJ)., chaplains : Prs. Dnbois and Cheesman, physicians, and 
Prs. Andcraon and Bogert, consnltinK iihysicians. 



44<J HISTOHV UK NEW VOliK CITY. 

juannei's, and such otlier iiiatt(us as may relate thereto, of the city of 
New York, and to promote social intercoui-se among its native citizens. 

The Saint Nicuolas Club ok the Cnv of Xew 1 ukk is an association 
formed for the purpose of collecting and preserving information i-espect- 
mg the early history anil settlement of the city and State of New 
York, and to ])roraote social intercourse among its membei-s. It was 
organized in 1875. It adopted a constitution in June of that year, and 
appointed the following named gentlemen its officers : James W. 
Beekman, president ; James M. McLean, vice-pi'esident ; Edwai'd 
Schell, treasurer ; John G. Mills, secretary, and a board of trustees. 
The society Avas incorporated May 12, 1875, with the title of The 
Saint >.'icholas Club of the City of Xew Y'ork. The eligibility of a 
candidate for membei-ship is determined by the conditions prescribed 
by the Saint Nicholas Society, and its members are mostly members of 
the last-nametl society. This is one of the most agreeable and flourish- 
ing social institutions in "Sew Y'ork.* 

The 1\js'ickeebockee Clltj is a social organization composed of a 
class of citizens similar to that of the St. Xicholas Society and 
St. Nicholas Club. Many of its members are members of these asso- 
ciations. Its club-house is at 249 Fifth Avenue. Its organization 
includes the usual executive officers, an executive conunittee, and a 
board of tweiity-one govei-noi-s. The officers for 1883 were Alexander 
Hamilton, president ; Alonzo C. Monson, vice-president ; William D. 
Morgan, treasurer ; and Frederic Broiison, secretary. 

Among the notable seminaries of learning in the city of JS'ew York is 
the Rutgers Female College, fii-st estabhshed in 1838 as the Rutgei-s 
Female Institute. It owes its existence largely to the exertions of the 
late Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, who had been for several years at the 
head of a similar institution in the city of Albany, and the Rev. Isaac 
Ferris, D.D. Removing to the city of New York, Mr. Thompson per- 
ceived the neeil of such a seminary in that city, and earnestly advo- 
cated the erection of one. Generous men heeded his recommendations. 
A paper, dated Fel)naary 9, 1838, was circulated for subscriptions of 
money to accomphsh the object. It wtxs obtained, and in April follow- 
ing the Legislature granted an act of incorporation constituting the 
Rutgers Female Institui;e. That name was given beciiuse ^Yilliam B. 
Crosby, Esq., the adopted son and heir of Colonel Henry Rutgers,t 

* The officers of the club chosen for 1882-83 are : Frederic Depeyster (since deceased), 
president ; James M. lIcLean, vice-president ; Edward Schell, treasurer ; Charles .\. 
Schermerhorn, secretary, and twenty-one trustees. 

f Henry Rutgers was of Dutch extraction. His grandfather came from Holland, and 



I'llisi' DKiADK. l8:iO-lH.|n. 443 

^'■c'lUTDUslv iXiivo tlif land nii Mailison Street for the site of (Ik- fxiildiiig. 
At tliat time there were only two institutions of learning in the city of 
New York ineor|M)rate(l — namely, <'tjluinl>ia College and the Univei-- 
sity of the City of New York. 

The corner-stone of the edifice for the liutgei-s I'emale Institute was 
laid on the 2'.H\\ of August, ls:$!t, on which occasion th(« mayor of the 
city, Aaron Clark, delivered an addresw. This hudding was dedicated 
on April 27, is:','.t, in the jiresence of a crowded assend>ly. Thei-e weie 
devotional exercises and a deihcatory address by the Ilev. Dr. Ferris, 
the president of the l)f)ard, who was placed at the head of the institu- 
tion. On Afonday morning, May •!, IS:}'.), the dooi-s were o]>ened foi- 
the reception of students. 

'* Never shall I forget,"' siiid Profes.sor Charles E. West, LL. D., in 
an address, " the excitement of tliat day. Pupils accompanied by 
their parents came in crowds. Tiiere was the little girl of four yeare, 
to take her first lesson in the alphaU^t ; and the young lady f>f sixteen, 
who had completed her education accortUng to the standard of the 
schools. . . . It is hardly possible to describe the enthusiasm of 
the people in favor of the institute. The Institute I the Institute I was 
on everybody's lips. N'isitors came in cmwds to attend its Friday 
afternoon exeix:ises in the chapel." 

The questi<m to be solved was how to make this popularity |)erma- 
nent. It was wisely resolved to make its teachings broail, thorough, 
and jiractical. The lii-st genns of chemical and philosophical illustra- 
tion were gathered there and expanded into one of the best ai)p(jinted 
laboratories in the country. Clas.ses went into the fields to gather and 
study Howers and minerals ; manufactories were visiteil by the pupils ; 
the daguerrian process, then just introduced into the country, was 
taught by appropriate apparatus ; Moi-se's telegraph was soon set up 
anil worked in the lal)oratory, and chemical experiments of the most 
inteicsting kind were made. Music, drawing, and |)ainting received 
special care. Under such auspices was this school for the higher edu- 
cation of women established aiiout forty-four y(>ars airo, and in 184<> 

occupied ft fiimi on the East Kiver .shore of the island of ^[n^battnn. There Henry was 
bom, in 174'). He was gmdnated at King's (now Cnlnmbia) CuUese in 17(i6 : entered the 
continental aniiy in 1776, was in the battle nt White Plains, served throngh the war, and 
rose to the rank of colonel. In person he was specially attmctive, his piety was con- 
spinnous, and his benevolence was widely illustrated. Colonel Rntgers never married, 
but adopted us his son and heir the late William B. Crosby, the fntlier of Dr. Howard 
Crosby, of New York, and Professor Villiaiii H. Crosby, of Poiighkeepsie. Colonel 
Rutgers died on " the Rutf<ers estate" in 18110, aged eighty-live years. Eight years after 
his death his adopted sun honored his memory by giviug his name to the now institution. 



444 UlSTUUY OF NEW YOllK fllV. 

there wore five graduates. The president of the institute was the Ilev. 
Isaac Ferris, D.D. ; the treasurei-, William 11. Falls; secretary, J. K. 
Ilerrick. The princijml of the department of instruction was Professor 
Charles E. West, LL.D., which responsible situation he held until 
1851. Dr. Ferris iield the presidency of the institute for seventeen 
years, until called to the chancellorship of the University of the City 
of New York. 

Nineteen yeai-s after the passage of the charter of Rutgers Female 
Institute, the Legislature gave it a new charter (April 11, 1867) chang- 
ing its name to liutgers Female College. It gave the institution 
authority to confer degrees and exercise all the functions of colleges 
and universities, excepting the granting of diplomas, which would 
entitle graduates to enter any of the professions. Professional training 
is neither sought nor intended as a part of its work. 

The residence of the college was transferred, in ISOo, to more ample 
quarters and a more desirable location, on Fifth Avenue, oj)posite the 
Croton distributing reservoir, between Forty-first and Forty-second 
streets, where in 18(57 this " college for women" was inaugurated. It 
had been stimulated to this loftier aspiration by the example of the 
College for Women opened two years before Ijy ilatthew Vassar at 
Poughke(;psie. At the inauguration alluiled to the first president. 
Chancellor Ferris, and the first princii)al, Di-. West, wei'e present, and 
stirring addresses were pronounced by Dr. Howard Crosby iuid others. 

The college secured an advisory board of thirty -three distinguished 
persons in various parts- of the country, and the institution in its new 
character was carefully organized. Its first degree was conferred in 
1870.* 

The institution was again removed in 1882, and is now at No. 58 
West Fifty fifth Street, where it has, in addition to its collegiate course 
in English, modern languages, classics, science, and mathematics, an 
academic department for younger pupils, and a kindergarten for 
children. 

* The officers of the board of trusstees for 1882 were ; the Kev. Samuel Burchard, D.D.. 
president ; Charles H. Smith, secretary ; Jacob B. Tallman, treasurer. The faculty con- 
sisted of S. D. Burchard, D.D., president and professor of mental and moral philosophy , 
Miss E. P. Clarke, principal and professor of mathematics and the Latin language and 
Daniel G. Martin, Ph.D., professor of geolog>- and natural history. The duties of pro- 
fessor of chemistry and physics were temporarily in charge of the professor of geology. 



\ 





w/Hi/4^^l. ,t^ 



// 



CHAPTER XXV. 

''P 11 ERE iiro two I'rotcstiint theological seminurics in tlu- city of 
-L New York— iiimicly. The (ientTul Theolo<jiciil Soiiiinary of the 
Protestant Episcopal ("liurcli, and The ['nion Theological Seminary in 
the City of New York, of the Presbyterian Church. 

The General TnKoi.o(;i( al Skminaky is a creation of the General 
Convention of the Protestant E|)iscoi)al Church in America. So early as 
ISl-t a joint c<jmmittee of l)oth houses of the convention was ai)pointed 
to report a plan for the establishment of such an institution. An able 
re|K)it on the subject was made to the convention assembled in Trinity 
Church, Xew York, in May, 1S17. It was ado])ted, and a series of 
resolutions, drawn by Bishop Dehon, of South Carolina, declared it 
expedient to establish a general theological seminary, to be under the 
supervision and control of the Genend Convention. It was tiecided 
that it should be locat(>d in the city of Xew Yoik, and a committee 
was ai)i)ointetl for the purpose of carrying out the mea.sure involved in 
the project. " It was in the city of New York, in Trinity Church, on 
Tuesday, the 27th day of May, 1817, in the morning, that the General 
Theological Seminary was i)orn.'" 

A plan foreshadowing the character of the institution and its profes- 
sorshijjs was presented by Bishops White, of Pennsylvania, and Holjart, 
of Xew York, in 1S18. Very soon afterward Dr. Clement C. ^Sloore,* 
son of Bishop Moore, made the munificent donation of a whole sijuare 
of lantl on which the seminary now stands, on the con<lition that the 
buildings should be erectetl thereon. The Rev. Di-s. Turner and .larvis 

• Clement Clnrke Moore, LL.D.. was born in the city of New York in July, 1779, and 
died at Newport, R. I., in July, 18C3. He was a son of Bishop Moore, and graduated at 
Colniut)ia Cnllcup m 1708 He became a professor of Hebrew and Greek hteratiire in the 
Protestant Episcopal Seuiinarj- in New York in 1821. In 1850 he received the title of 
cmeritns professor. Dr. Moore was the pioneer, in this conntrj-, of the department of 
Hebrew and Greek lexicography. ha\ins published a Hebrew and Greek lexicon in 1809. 
He was the anthor of the famous ballod bei^inning, 

" "Twan the niglit before Christmas." 
In 1844 he published a volume of poems. He also published a volume of his father's 



446 HISTORY OF .NEW YORK CITY. 

were appointed ]irofess()i-s. and tlie seminary was opened in ^h\y, 1810. 
witli a class of six students. Among these were the late Bishoi>s 
Doane ami Eastburn, anil Dr. Dorr. The stuilents met the professors 
fii-st in a room in St. Paul's Chapel, afterward in the vestry-room of 
St. John's Chapel, and then in a building on the noith-west corner of 
LJroadway and Cedar Street. 

Failing to secure sufficient funds for the support of the seunnaiy in 
Xew York, it ^vas removed to New Haven in September, 1820. Bishop 
Hobart and leading men in the diocese of New York consented to this 
measure only f)n the understanding that stejJS would be immediately 
taken for the establishment of a diocesan school in \ew York. With 
characteristic energy, Bishop Hobart opened his diocesan school in less 
than six months. The next year (1821) Jacob Sherrod, of New York, 
dying, left a legacy of S()(),OCi() for a seminary in New York. This 
enabled the General Convention to remove the institution back to New 
York. 

In the ])ermanent establishment of the seminary in the city of New 
York the chief credit is due to Bishop Hobart, who had as associates 
and advisers in the work, and as personal friends and admirers, the best 
legal talent and social influence of the city. The seminary was 
reopened in New York in February, 1822, with twenty-three students. 
It was incorjxjrated in A])ril following. Funds came in slowly, }'et 
the trustees, with hope and faith, had the corner-stone of the east 
building laid by Bishop White in July, 1825. It was first occupied in 
18^7. The west building was ordered in 1834, and was first occupied 
in 1830. The site was then, and is now, one of the most healthful in 
the city of New York. At that time it was in a rural district, far 
removed from the inisy mart, with a pleasant outlook westward over 
the bright watei-s of the Hudson, which flowed up to the borders of the 
present Tenth Avenue. 

Pecuniary embarrassments harassed the trustees from the beginning. 
The })urses of churchmen did not readily open, and when it became 
known that Frederick Khone, of Philadelphia, had left a large legacy 
to the seminary, those purse-strings were drawn tighter, with the belief 
that it would be immediately available. That legacy was sul)ject to a 
life interest, and the seminary was compelled to wait twenty-four veal's* 
for the funds. Tin; city rapidly grew toward the seminary grounds, 
and it was burdeneil with constantly increasing and heavy assessments 
and taxes. Then came the unfortunate " tractarian schism" in the 
church, and the seminary was often made a battle-ground of the parti- 
sans. It seemed at one time as if the <>nt(>ri)risc must be abandoned 



KIKST DK( AUK. ISIO IStO 



447 



for want of susteiuinco, but it was upli.-lil, and today, in its |)l.;a.siint 
grouiuls, its iioWle buiklings of stone, Us valuable library of about 
t'ifrliteen tbousiintl volmues ami ten tliousan.l pamphlets, its corps of 
learned and devoted professors, and its earnest work, togellier witli its 
distin;;uislied alumni, it presents an institution of tlieologital learning' of 
whieirtlie I'lotestaiit Kpiscopal Cliuicli in America may be Justly jiroud. 
The alumni of the (ieneral Theological Seminary include twenty-one 
bishops and a host of the leading clergy of our land. One third <)f 
all the candidate's for holy ordei-s are receiving instruction there. The 
class-rooms are full, and the institution requires only adecpiate pecun- 
iary sujjport to enable it to go forward with etticiency and success in 
the work in whidi it is engjigcd. It needs moiv emlowmeiits to make 
its funds adwjuate and permanent.* With these it woul<l make a 
grand and steady advance. Its income at the present is not suHicient 
to pay the pn.f'essoi-s fair siilaries. These average only about $1800 

eacli.t 

The L'nion TiiKoi-iHiRu. Skmixakv in the City of New York was 
founded in 18:3<i. In the autumn of 1835 a benevolent bookseller ex- 
pressed to a friend a desire to appropriate a certain amount of money 
for some laudable purpose. He was recommended to ilevote it to the 
establishment of a theological seminary in the city for the preparation 
of young men for the ministry in the rre.sbyterian Cliuich, of which 
he was a member. 

There were then si.K theological seminaries within the bounds of the 
Tresbyterian Church, but they were not liarmoni<ius in their theologi- 
cal views, nor on the anti-slavery and colonization (piestions. and conse 
quently no one of them was sitisfactory to the entire body of that de- 
nomination. The great inHux of young men from New Knglaml into 
the city of Xew York, full of energy and enterprise, after tlie comple- 
tion of the Erie Canal, greatly stimulated the growth of the Presbyte- 

* The seminiiry now hns trust funds, in the shape of endonmenls an.l other funds. 
amonntiuK to thJ Hum of ^84,400, in the hands of o special oomiuittee. composed of lay- 
men of acknowledged financial abiUty an.l probity, who report aU their acts to the sUind- 
ing committee every two months. 

f All the bishops of the Church in the I'nitcd States are ex-nffli-in trustees of the seiui- 
narj-. with numerous other persons. The faculty consist of the Rev. Ennene A. HoflFiuan. 
D.D., dean ; Bev. W. E. Eigenbrodt. D.D . professor of pastoral tbeoloi-y ; Rev. Samuel 
Buel, D.D., professor of systematic divinity and dogmatic theologj- : Rev. R. C. Hall. 
D.D., professor of the Hebrew and Greek lanRunRes . Rev. Andrew Oliver D D. , profes- 
sor of biblical leamint; and the interpretation of Scripture ; Rev W. .1 Seaburj-. T>. D., 
professor of ecclesiasticiU history and law . Kev. Thomas Ritchie. D.D. professor ol 
ecclesiastical histon.- 



448 HISTORY OF XEW YOKK CITY. 

riaii cliui'ches in that city, for the new-comers -were lai-gel}' from Pi-es- 
byterian fainiHes. 

Ah-eaih' there was so mueh dissatisfaction with the seminaries that 
the denomination in Xew Yoriv had seriously contemplated the estab- 
lishment of a theological institution in that city or vicinity. When the 
hint given to the bookseller became known, much interest was excited. 
After consultation with him, ministers, benevolent merchants, and 
others held conferences on the subject, and finally, at a meeting of eight 
persons at the house of Knowles Taylor, in Bond Street, in October, 
1835, it was resolved, " that it is expedient, depending on the blessing 
of God, to attempt to establish a theological seminary in this city." 

It was estimated that $65,000 would be required to carry out the 
project. Five sixths of this amount was subscribed before the awful 
fire in December of that year, which jiroduced great financial eml)af- 
rassment for a while. 

At a meeting in January, 1836, it Avas found tliat the subscriptions 
to the seminary fund amounted to $61,000. How mucii of this amount 
might be collected from suffering subscribers could not be known ; but 
Avith hope in the future a constitution Avas presented, and at a subse- 
quent meeting (January 18th), at the rooms of the American Tract 
Society, it Avas adopted, and the New York Theological Seminary was 
organized by the choice of officers for the year. 

A lot of ground belonging to the Sailoi's' Snug Harbor estate, two 
hundred feet square, AA'as bought. It was on the east side of Wooster 
Sti'eet, then recently extended to Fourteenth Street, and Avhich, having 
been Avidened above the university, had been named Jackson Avenue. 
It was soon afterward changed to University Place. On that plot of 
ground a home for the seminary Avas finally erected, and there it still 
stands. 

In due time a corps of instructors Avas secured, and tiie Rev. Tlujmas 
McAulev, D.D.. was appointed president. The professors were tlie 
Rev. Thomas 11. Sknmer, D.D., and the Revs. Ichabod A. Spencer, 
Ei-skine Mason, and Ilenr}'^ White. On December 5, 1S36, the semi- 
nary was " opened " by the enrollment of thirteen students at the 
house of the president, in Leonard Street. For a wiiile the institution 
Avas a Avanderer, the students appeai'ing alternately at the houses of tlie 
president and the professoi-s. 

The erection of the seminary building was begun in March, 1S37. 
It Avas a period of great financial distress. Many of tlie subscriptions 
could not be paid, and in April work upon the building was susjiended. 
A l)itter controversy in the Fresl)vterian (ieneral Assemblv at Piiiia- 



KiHsr kkcahk. 18;;o-is40. 4^49 

(lL'li>liia, in .M;i\ IV.lluwing, wliitli n-sulU-cl in siiiulcriii',' tlic cliurcli in 
twain, adilfil to tin- cnibarmssnients, ami at one tinif it appeared as if 
tiie project must l>e abandoned. Tmt i)artiai relief came. The Imild- 
ing was linislie«l, and in Dccembei, 1S;3S, it was dedicated, wlicn the 
nauR's of nearly one liundreil students appeared on its rolls. The insti- 
tution was incorpoi-ated in March, ls:V.t, under the title of the Union 
Theological Seminary in the City of New York. 

For yeais the institution struggled for existence, but h( ip came from 
time t(") time, and at the end of forty yean; it stood among the honored 
and nourishing seminaries of learning in the land, with liberal endow- 
ments to secure its pei-manent jjrosiK'rity. In 1S74 the late James 
Brown (Brown Brotheis, bankers) gave the seminary $.^<'(i,(mi(i to en- 
dow all the i)rofess<)rshii)s, ami tiie late (iovernor E. D. Morgiin was a 
muniticent benefactor of the instituti(jn. Other generous men have 
contributed liberally to its financial interests, and the seminary 
to-tlav is enai)led to carry on its noi)l(? work without ]wcuniary embar- 
rassment.* 

The seminarv has three endowed lectureships— namely, the Moi-sc, 
the Elv. and the Parker. The fii-st, on " The Relations of the Bible 
t<j Science," was founiled by Professor S. F. B. Moi-se, in memory of 
his father ; the second, on " The Evidences of Christianity," was 
founded by Z. Stiles Ely. in memory of his brother, the Rev. Elias P. 
Elv ; and the third was founded by Willard Parker, ^M.D., LL.D., 
de'sio'ned to furnish theological students with such insti-uction on health 
as may be specially useful to them pei-sonally and as pa.stors. The semi- 
nary is open to stmleiits of all evangelical denominations. 

The seminary has a library of about 4ii,(ioo volumes, 30,5()() pam- 
phlets, and l'>:i manuscripts. The basis of this libraiy was a collection 
of books, about i:5,<»in in number, made by Leander Van Ess, of Ger- 
many, formerly a monk, ami afterward a convert to Protestantism. 
He became a translator of the P.il>le, and in that labor he gathered very 

« The sominnry is nmnnged by a board of directors, of which Charles Bnllcr. LL.D.. is 
now (1H8H) president, oliosen in 1870 : William E. Dodge (since deceased), vice-president, 
and Ezra M. Kingsley. troasnrer, recorder, and general secretary, chosen in 187J. The 
facnity is composed of the Rev. Uoswell D. Hitchcock. D.D., LL.D.. president and 
Washburn profes-sor of chnrch history; Rev. William G. Sbedd, D.D.. LL.D.. Roosevelt 
professor of systematic theology ; Rev. Philip Schaff. D.D.. LL.D., Baldwin professor of 
sacred literatnre ; Rev. George L. Prentiss. D.D., Skinner and .Mc.\lpino professor of 
pastoral theologj-, chnrch polity, and mission work; Rev. Charles A. Briggs. D.D., 
Davenport professor of Hebrew and the cognate langnages. secretary- and librarian , 
Rev. Thomas Hastings, D.D.. Brown professor of sacred rhetoric ; Rev. Francis M. 
Brown, associate professor in the department of biblical philology. 



450 HISTOHV (IF -NKW VdHIv (-ITY. 

rai-e books, among them issues ot the early years of printing. This 
collection was purchased for the seminary for about $50(M) in 1839. 
The late ex-Governor E. D. Morgan, appreciating the value of the 
library, gave the institution $100, OOU for the purpose of erecting a fire- 
proof libraiy building, and for increasing its collections. 

The seminary also possesses a museum of biblical and Cliristian 
antiquities, and objects illustrating missionary life and work. The cor- 
poration have jmrchased a site lor a new home on Park Avenue and 
Sixty-ninth Street. 

Among the prominent iu.stitutioiis in Is'ew York founded during this 
decade, the Univkrsity of thic Cn\ of New York, an undenomina- 
tional school, holds a high rank. It was projected by a number of en- 
lightened and enterprising citizens in 1S30, for the purpose of ))roviding 
more varied and am]>le means of education for the youth of the city 
and of the countiy at large than the regular college course afforded. 

Until that period college education m the United States was mostly 
of a single type, and very few facilities for higher studies were tui- 
nished outside of a regular and prescribed course. A system more 
flexible and comprehensive was felt to be a necessity. After consulta- 
tions between ]3rofessional men of every kind, merchants, and others, a 
])lan of a university, largely laid upon that of similar European institu- 
tions of learning, was drawn up and ])resented to the Legislature, witii 
a ])etition for a charter. The prayer was heeded, and in the spring of 
1831 a charter was granted establishing the University of the City of 
New Y'ork. It was opened for the reception of students in Clinton 
Hall in October, 1832, and the first class, of three students, graduated 
in 1833. 

Not a chair in tlie institution was originally endowed, nor were any 
superior facilities afforded for independent scientific investigation. 
The institution was long burdened with heavy debts, but one after 
another of these embarrassments was removed by the generosity of 
citizens. To organize a great and advanced institution of learning was 
not an easy task', yet the Avork was almost immediately begun. It was 
the misfortune of the managers to attempt such a work without the 
ample means which the (exigencies of the case required, and the con- 
secjuence Avas the university suffered the pecuniary eml)arrassm(>nts al- 
luded to. 

The medical depiutment of the university was organized in 1842, and 
true to the early promises of the university, it signalized its early in- 
struction by the adoption of improved methods. The introduction of 
clinical lectures was carried out by some of the most lumored practition- 



FIUST DIXADK, IWJO 1M4(I. 451 

ei-s of medical and sur;^ncal scionco, and soi-uivd a liigli jjlair for the 
dcpaitniont m the minds of tlic> piufession goiR-r.dly. 

The Sch(X)l uf Civd Engineering was organized in l.si8, and tiie next 
year a law deiiartinenl was estal)hshed, winch has iiad the services of 
eminent legal and judicial pei-sons. It also has a School of Analytical 
and Practical Chemistry, and another of Painting and the Arts. 

The corner-stone of the university hiiilding was laid in 18:J8, on the 
east side of Washington Square (the Washington Parade-( i round i, and 
the ediHce was completed and occupied in is:!"). It is a (iotliic struct- 
ure, one hundretl and eigiity feet long l>y one hundred feet wide, and 
budt of white freestone. 

Tiie fii'st t-hancellor of tiie univei-sity was tiie Rev. James M. 
Mathews, D.D., the leavned and genial ])a.stor of the (iaiden Street 
(now Exchange Place) Keformed Dutch Church. He was a gentleman 
of high culture, of noble and commandinir presence, elegant in mannei-s, 
•witty in conversation, an att/act-ve story-teller, and a very popular 
preacher and instructor. His eluirch edifice was consumed hy the 
great fire in 183r>, and was rebuilt next to the univei-sity, where he and 
the Rev. JIancius S. Ilutton became associate jiastors. 

Dr. :\Iatliews. installed chanrellor in 1S31, was succeeded in ls:!l» by 
Thewlore Frelinghuysen, LL.D.. who held that ]wsition until 1^50, 
when he was succeeded Ijy the Rev. I.siiac Ferris. D.D., in 1S.">2. Dr. 
Ferris was chancellor until ISTO, when he was succeeded l)y the Rev. 
Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., who was at the head of tlu; institution 
until 1881, wiien he resigned.* The institution has had only four 
chancelloi-s in more than fifty years. Dr. Frelinghuysen held the posi- 

* Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D,, is n native of New York City, the child of an adopted 
son of Colonel Henrj- Rutgers. He is a preat-Rmndson of William Floyd, one of tho 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a great-great-grandson of Governor 
Belcher, of Massaclnisetts. He was born on the S'th of February, 18'2G. and was gradu- 
ated at the University of the City of Xew York in 1844. In 1851 he was appointed pro- 
fessor of CJrcek in that institution, and filled that chair until 1859, when he resigned it 
to accept a similar chair in Rutgers College, at New ISrunswick, N. 3. In that year he 
received the honorarj" degree of D.D. from Harvard University, and in 1872 that of LL.D. 
from Columbia College. 

Energetic, earnest, strong in his convictions of right and duty, and with courage to act 
accordingly. Dr. Crosby has always been a power in any community of which he has 
formed a part. At the formation of the Young Men's Christian .Association in New York, 
he was one of the earliest, most earnest, and efficient promoters of that institution ; and 
in the city of his birth he ha.s always been the fearless advocate of virtue and justice 
against crime and oppression. 

In 1801 Dr. Crosby was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian denomination. In 
addition to his duties as professor, ho filled the office of jiastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church in Now Brunswick. In 1863 he left New Brunswick to assume the pastorate o£ 



452 HISTORY OF NEW YuIlK CITV. 

tion eleven yeai"s ; Dr. Crosby was the last clianeellor. His ])lace has 
not yet (1883) been filled. The Rev. John llall, D.D., exercises the 
functions of chancellor ad interim.'^' 

The Univei"sity of the City of New York was the scene of tiie de 
velopment of two of the most remarkable discoveries of the age, by two 
of its professoi-s — the electro-magnetic telegraph, by Professor S. F. B 
Morse, and tlie daguerreotype, by Professor John W. Draper. It was 
in a room in the university that Professor Morse perfected his tele 
graph, and it was on the roof of the university tiiat the first daguerreo- 
type from the human face was taken. 

Among the more notable benevolent and charitable institutions in 
the city of New York founded between the years 1830 and IS-ti) were 
the New York Magdalen Benevolent Society, the Leake and Watts 
Orphan Asylum, the Eastern Dispensary, the New York Institution 
for the Instruction of the Blind, the American Baptist Home Mission 
Societ}', the American Female Guardian Society anil Home for the 
Friendless, the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans, the 
Colored Home and Hospital, and the City Mission of the I'rotestant 
Episcopal Church. 

The New Y'okk M.\cin.vLKN' Benevolent Society was founded in 
the year 1832. So early as 1828, benevolent ladies belonging to vari- 
ous religious denominations, perceiving the necessity for earnest re- 

the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, in which field he has labored 
acceptably for twenty years. 

lu 1870 Dr. Crosby was appointed chancellor of the University of the City of New 
York. He held that position eleven years, when he resigned, and directed his labors 
almost e.tclusively to his pastorate. In 1857 he founded the Greek Club in New Y'ork, 
now twenty-six years of age. He was moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbj- 
terian Church in 1873, and of the first great synod of New Y'ork in 1882. He was the 
founder in 1877 (and is the president) of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, and 
was a member of the First Presbyterian Council at Edinburgh the same year. He is one 
of the members of the .American Committee of Kevision of the Bible, and is vice-presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of Wellesley College. Chancellor Crosby delivered the 
Lyman Beecher course of lectures in the Y'ale Divinity School in 1879. 

In addition to many sermons and pamphlets. Dr. Crosby has written and published the 
following works : " Lands of the Jloslem," " CEdipus Tyrannus," with notes ; " Scholia 
on the New Testament," " Social Hints," " Thoughts on the Decalogue," Commentaries 
on Nehemiah, Joshua, and the New Testament : '• The Healthy Christian," " The Chris, 
tian Preacher," "The Life of Jesus," " Bible Manual," and "The Humanity of Christ." 

* The first officers of the university were : Albert Gallatin, president of the council ; 
General Morgan Lewis, vice-president ; John Delafield, secretary, and Samuel Ward, Jr., 
treasurer. .Tohn Taylor Johnston is now president, .Charles Butler vice-president, Will- 
iam K. Martin secretary, and William A. Wheelock treasiuer. The members of the coun- 
cil are : Howard Crosby, John W. C. Lcveridge, Smith E. Lane, and twenty nine others. 





,^^^^?re-^^ C 



KIUST l)Kl'.\l>E. 1830 1H4(I 453 

fDniiatorv ftfnrts tm bclialf of womfii of tli<- i-rmiinul class, estiiblislied 
a Salil)iitli-stlioul in the Ifinalc iU'|»artiiieiit of llic Penitentiary at 
Bollevue. So brief, liowever, were most of tiie terms of commitment 
tiiat tliere was not siitlicient time to maice any sensible im|)ressioii on 
the prisonei-s, wlio usually returned to tiieir old ass(x;iations. 

The ladies wiio undertook this W(^rk, not disheartened, resolved to 
form a permanent society for the oi)ject of rescuinij fallen women, and 
provide a suitable retreat for them. For this purpose the Xew Vork 
Magdalen Societv was organized in January, 1S:3(J. This society was 
disbanded in ls:!2. ami the next year the siime ladies, with a numlier 
of others, reorganized uiuler the name of the Xew York Female 
Benevolent Society. Several yeai-s afterward its name was again 
changed, when it assumed the ])resent title. It was incorporated in 
1851. 

The a.ssociation bought lots at Kigiity-eighth Street (then known as 
Yorkvillei, on which was a fnime building which had been used ior 
manufacturing pur]H)ses. The society began operations bearing the 
burden of a heavy ilebt, but these brave women never lost courage and 
faith, but persevered against ajipalling discouragements for a whUe. 
At length they were relieved by an une.K|HH;ted gift from a stranger, 
Dr. Bortiiop, of Kinderhook, X. Y., who by will left the society the 
exact amount of money to liquidate its indebtedness. For nearly 
twenty yeai-s the old frame buiUling wa.s used, when it was replaced by 
a larger one of Ijrick, and through the generosity of benevolent people 
it was soon clear of debt. 

This j)eculiar and most trying labor of love in efforts to reclaim the 
degraded luis been successful. The number of those who have availed 
themselves of this home ha.s steadily increased, and there is abundant 
evidence of the s;dvation of many souls and bodies. Late in iSd? an- 
other enlargement of the building was found to be necessiiry, and the 
home is now fitted with good dormitories, working-rooms, batli-rooms, 
and a chapel. 

The sfjciety has done its good work unostentatiously and modestly. 
It cannot be called a )>opular charity, for its work is, in a measure, 
" done in a comer." Its self-Siicrificing membei"s — lirave women — \nsit 
police courts, prisons, and hospitals in quest of erring sistei-s, and they 
seldom return empty-handed. Many a jioor creature, tired of a de- 
graded life, has found in this home a means for restitution to a respect- 
able, virtuous, ami useful life. The task of the society is twofold — 
namely, to reclaim girls from a life of infamy, and to guard them 
against a return to it. Thev are instructed in various em|)loyments 



454 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

\vherel)V tliev may gain an lionest lixing, and the influences of 
regular religious services and moral example are brought to bear 
upon them. 

During the year ending ^lay, 1SS2, there were admitted to the 
home 1 78 gii-ls and women, of whom 43 went to employment, 20 to 
hospital, (i3 left by re(|uest, 5 were expelled, and 2 escaped.* 

The House of !Mf,rcy, in Eighty-sixth Street, west of Broadway, 
founded by Mrs. S. A. Richmond (wife of the late AVilliam B. Rich- 
mond) in 1S54 for the tem])oral and spiritual salvation of fallen women, 
is still engaged in the same holy cause for which the New Turk Mag. 
dalen Society is laboring. 

The Le.vke axd "W.vrrs Okimian Asvi.um was f omul ed in 1831. It 
is designed as a lunne for children bereaved of father and mother, and 
left in infancy without means for maintenance. 

The building of this asylum is in the district of the city known as 
Rloomingdale, about seven miles from the City Hall. The house is on 
a jilot of ground hounded by One Hundred and Tenth and One Hun- 
dred and Tliirteenth streets and jS'inth and Tenth avenues. It is 
two liundred feet in length, sixty feet in depth, and three stories in 
height, and contains a chapel and hosintal. It stands on a ridge over- 
looking the Hudson and New Jersey beyond, and is in a very healthful 
situation. AVlien it was built it was in a picturesque rural region of 
the island, which few persons living can now remember. Its grounds 
are sjiacious for every purpose of the institution. 

John G. Leake inherited a large estate from his father, who died in 
tlie cit}'' of 'New York. Having no lineal descendants of his own, he 
l)equeathed his entire jjrojierty to Robert Watts, the second son of his 
most intimate and cherished friend, John Watts, and his heii-s, on the 
express condition that Robert Watts and liis heirs should take the name 
of Leake, and by that name be forever knoAvn. It was provided that 
if Mr. AVatts should die under age or without issue, or refuse to accept 
the property on the conditions, the estate should be used for the estab- 

* The names of tlie managers of the society the first year were : Mary Hastings, Eliza 
F. Clebbom, Sarah Edwards, Elizabeth C. Hoadley, Mary A. C. Tracy, Elizabeth Leeds, 
Pluma Pond, Ellen V. Combs, Sarah Van Antwerp, Sarah W. Anthony, Amelia Nicholson, 
Catharine Xash, Mary B. Whittemore, Graco Burrill, Ann Petric, Hannah Maria Wilson, 
Ann Gillett, Sarah Doniinicli, Elizabeth W. Hamilton, Julia S. Huntington, Elizabeth E. 
Webb, and Sar.ih M. G. Slerrill. The officers of the society for 1882-83 are : Miss A. M. 
Fellows, first directress ; Mrs. A. G. Allen, second directress ; 3Irs. Charles Fanning, 
a.ssistant treasurer ; Jlrs. A. A. P.edfield, secretary. There are nineteen managers, all 
married ladies. Mrs. R. P. Hudson and Sliss M. E. Watkins are matrons of the asylum, 
and Dr. Uobcrt Ferriss, house jihysician. 



riHST DKCAHK. 1WJ0-1H40. 455 

lishmont of an oriihans' liome, for wl.icli lio left dosi-ns, aii.l appointt-d 
seven ..i-offirlo trustees to receive anil hold tiie same iipun tmst. 

The i)n.i.ertv was never accepted i.y Mr. Watts on the c.-nditions 
named, and the estate, amounting to about half a million d..llars, was 
used for estahlishin- an institution which was incorp..rate<l ui Jlarcii, 
ls:Jl, under the title t.f The Leake anti Watts Orphan Asylum ..f the 
City of New York. The ,v-.,///,v» trustees who aec.-pt.'d tlu> trust 
wei-e Walter T.owne, mavor of the city of New York ; liichard IJda-r, 
rec..rd..r ; the llev. W. U.-rrian, D.D., rector of Trinity Churcii. and 
Nehemiah Kogeis and Charles McKvei-s, wardens of the s:ime church ; 
the Kev. <i. A. Knvpeis, ol.lest nnnister of the Dutch c.mfri-efrations m 
the city, and the Kev. William I'hillips. oldest minister of the Presby- 
terian "congregat ions in the sjime city. On the lii-st meeting of these 
trustees, m ^[arch, IS.Jl, th.y a<l<.pted a seal having the device of a 
kneehng chdd su|)ported by a pedestal, on which are the words, 
" J. G. Leake and John "Watts, roundel's." 

The corner-stone of the Orphan Home was laid on A])ril :i8, 1838. 
It wiLS finished and opened for the reception <.f orphans on November 
1.5, 184:'.. The discijiline of the institution is parental in its nature ; 
its' religious instruction is non -sectarian, and its secular instructiim em- 
braces'tiic essential elements of an English education.* 

The Eastkkn Disi'kxsakv was incoi-])oiated A\m\ 2.">. 183l>, and wa.s 
or^ranized in June, 18.34. The fii-st ofticei-s were : Nicholas Dean, 
pi^ident : Dr. Samuel Akerly.t vice-president ; Dr. P. C. ililledoler. 
secretary, and Zebedee Ring, treasurer. The disix-nsjiry was established 
on the northern verge of the city to meet a pressing want of th(> inhab- 
itants in that regi(jn. The district for which it provided medical and 
surgical relief is bounded by the Eiist River, East Fourteenth Street, 
Fii-st Avenue, Allen Street, and Pike Street. 

During the existence of the Eastern Dispensary (1834-82) it has 

• -The tnistccs of tho institntion in 1882-83 were : Fmnklin Edson. rnnyor ; Frederick 
Smvth, recorder ; tlie Rev. XIorRan Dix. D.D.. rector of Trinity Chnr.h ; John .1. Cisco 
and" Gonvemeur >I. ORden, wardens of Trinity ChiircU : the Kev. Thomas E. Veriuilye, 
senior minister of the Collettiate Dijtoli Reformed Chnrch ; the Rev. William M. raxton. 
D.D.. minister of tho First Presbyterian Chnrch. Tho officers were : the Rev. Morgan 
Dix. president ; John M. Knox, "treasurer ; John M. Knox, Jr., clerk ; Richard M. Ilay- 
den, sniierintendent. 

f Sjininel Akerly, M.D., was born in 178.5, and died on Staten Island in Jnly, 184.5. 
He stndi. d medicine with his brother-in-law, Dr. Samnel L. Mitchill. Dr. .Uerly was 
a most b.ii.voUnt man, and was a founder and liberal supporter of the Asylum for the 
Deaf and Dumb and the Blind in tho city of New York. He was a constant contributor 
to medical and scientific journals, and was the author of an " Essay on tho Geology of 
tho Hudson River" (1821) and " Observations on Deafness" (1821). 



456 mSTOHY OF NEW YORK riTY. 

furnislied medical aiul surgical treatment to 1,054,099 patients, vac- 
cinated 16S,-to7 persons, dispensed 1,654,697 prescriptions, and ex- 
pended $17", 770, on an average of about sixteen cents to each patient. 
The dispensary is in the Essex Market building, on the north-east 
corner of (irand and Essex streets.* 

The Nkw Yoek Institltion foe the Blixd owes its existence chiefly 
to Dr. Samuel Akerly and Samuel Wood. Through the influence of 
these gentlemen a society was organized in 183 1 for the purpose of 
founding an institution for the instruction of the blind— not a 
'■ home," nor an asylum, nor a hospital, but a school, in which those 
unfortunates might receive the advantages of education enjoyed by 
those who have clear vision, and with a special regard to their future 
usefulness in life, and consequently of their welfare. 

This was the second institution for the bhnd estabhshed in the 
United States, yet it was the first that went into operation. It was 
opened for the reception of pupils on March 15, 1832. It was incorpo- 
rated by the Legislature of New York April 21, 1831. The first board 
of managers consisted of Gideon Lee, William B. Crosby, Hiram 
Ketcham, John P. Stagg, Henry Thomas, CJeorge Spring, John E. 
Stuyvesant, Morris Ketcham, Mathew C. Patterson, Thomas W. 
Jeidvins, John W. Walker, Jonathan D. Steel, Silas Brown, Thompson 
Price, Curtis Bolton, Samuel Wood, Theodore Dwight, Franklin Miller, 
and John D. Puss. 

The instruction given in this institution is threefold — namely, intel- 
lectual, nmsical, and industrial. In the first department the pupils 
are taught reading (by means of raised letters), writing, spelling, 
grammar, arithmetic, geography, algebra, geometry, histoiy, and the 
mental and ))hysical sciences. The course of instruction is graded and 
regular. 

In the musical department instruction is given, to those who have a 
taste for it and (|ualified to study it, in tiie rudiments, chorus-singing, 
vocal, piano, organ, and harmony. 

In the mechanical dejjartment three i)ranches of handicraft are 
taught — namely, mat, broom, cane-seat and mattress making ; also 
knitting and sewing. 

The fruit of this noble institution may be seen in many persons occu- 
pying useful positions in society — merchants, manufacturers, insurance 
agents, piano-tuners, oi-ganists, teachers, clergymen, lawyers, and Jihy- 

* The officers of the dispensary for 1882 were : John H. Waydell, president ; Edward 
C. Sampson, vice-president ; A. W. Weismann, secrctarj- ; Robert H. Crosby, treasurer ; 
Dr. S. S. Bogert, house physician. 



KIIJST KKCADK, 1H30-1840. 457 

siciiiiis. This ami kiiida-d institutions iiavf icIirv.Ml liumln-tls li-«in tlio 
terrible condition feelingly described by Milton : 

■" Exjiosed 
To daily fi-auil contemiit, aljiise, iind wrong, 
Scarce half I scein to livo ; ctoftfl more than half. 
O, (lurk ! ilark ! Jark '. niiiiil the blaze of noon, 
Irrevoonbly dark ; toUil eclipse, 
Without all hope of day !" 

The promise, of Scripture l)orne on tlie tille-imge of tlie reports of 
the institution indicates the scope of its work : " And I will bring the 
blind by a way that they know not ; I will lead them in i)aths that 
they iiave not known ; I will make <larkness light before them " * 

The Nkw Vokk iNsinniox kok tmi: Ixstkk iiox oi- ini; Hlim» is 
situated upon high ground and healthful jM.sition in Nintii Avenue, 
between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets.t 

Thk Ni;w Vouk Pkotestaxt Ei-iscoi-al City ^Mission Socikty Wius 
orgjinized in September, IS.'Jl, for the purpose of supplying, as far as 
po'ssible, the spiritual wants of the poorer classes in the city. Its 
chart.>r, granted in April. ls:$:',, gave it the right to establish free 
churches in the citv of New York. The s<iciety at once organi/.ed two 
of these churches— namely, the Holy Evangelist and the Church of the 
Epi])hany. Tlu; former "was jnit under the charge of the Rev. Mr. 
Cutler, and the latter under the Kev. Lot Jones, D.D. Mr Cutler, 
the fii-st nussionary emi)loyed by the society, was called to the rector- 
ship of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, in 1833. 

As the work of the society expanded, free mission chai)cls connected 
with larger Episcopal churches in the city were established. For sev- 
eral years this society was associated in Christian work with another 
institution of the Church— the ilission to Pubhc Institutions. Finallv. 
through the efforts of the Rev. Dr. Petei-s, rector of St. Michael s 
Churc'h, who had long been the mainstay of the latter mission, aided 
by clerical and lay mcmbei-s of it, the functions of the Mission to Public 
Institutions were transferred to the City Mission Society, and its mis- 
sionaries became the missionaries apiM)inted and sui>ported by the 
Board of Citv Missions. 

And now began a new era in ilie liistory of the society. In is»!5 it 

* iHainU xiii. Ifi. 

+ The officers of the institntion for the year endinR Septemb. r ."'. i>^-. %v, r. A.r.^'"'- 
ttiH Schell president ; Robert S. Hone, vice-president : T. Bailey Mvers, recording secre- 
tary- ; W. f. SchermerUorn, corresponding secretary : William Wlnte«rigl.t. treasurer ; 
William n. Wait, snperintendent : William A, Hiuiie. M.D.. attending physician. 



458 IIISTORV OF XKW VOliK CITY. 

foumleil the .St. Barnabas Home and Chapel, as a temporary <hvelling 
for wofnen and chililren. The house No. 3U4 Mulberry Street, for- 
merly occui)ied by a most benevolent lady,Mre. William Eichnaond, tor 
a similar purpose, was hired. Mrs. Richmond, during many years of 
self-sacriticing labor in behalf of wandering and homeless ones, had 
there established such a home, and at the time the building was hired, 
over its entrance was the sign, " Temporakv Home pok "Womk.x .\ni) 
Cnii.DKKX. ■" The City Mission Society was simplv the follower of 
Mi"s. liichmond. This Christian lady, had estabhsheil tiie House of 
Mercy on Eight\'-sixth Street and a House of Reception in Broome 
Street, which she afterward transfen-ed to Ts'o. SOi Mulberry Street. 
She had just entered upon a new field of duty in connection with the 
Home for Foundlings, when her strength gave way and siie went to 
her reward. 

The St. Barnabas Home and Cha])el was formally ojiened on the 
evenmg of St. Barnabas day (June 11), 1865, with the Rev. S. H. 
Hilliard as chaplain of the institution, which was intended as a tem- 
porary home for wanderers and a free place for public worship. The 
sisterhood of St. Mary, laboring in the House of ]Me!'cy in Eighty-sixth 
Street and the Sheltering Arms on Broadway, offered their assistance 
m the newly undertaken work, for the support of which the help of 
the benevolent was needed. Nor was it withheld. The noble enter- 
prise was cherished from the beginning. From June 25, 1805, until 
December 31st following, 3!>6 women and children were received into 
the Home, and 10,()(!-t: meals and lodgings were afforded, at a cost of 
$1132. The Home was open for all — Protestants, Romanists, and 
Jews. During the year 1866 there were admitted 814 Protestants, • 
482 Romanists, and 2 Jews. Of these, 463 were sent to situations, 350 
to other institutions, 299 to friends, 146 left of their own accord, and 
52 were dismissed. There were given during that year 51,515 meals, 
at an average cost of 7^ cents. Such was the benevolent work of the 
first full year of this institution. 

In connection with St. Barnalms Home an industrial school was 
established, and a free reading-room for J'^oung men was ojiened by the 
St. Barnabas Free Reading-Room Association, at a house hii-ed as a 
residence for the clergy of the missions. 

The year 18S2 found the New York Protestant Episcojial City ilis- 
sion Society engaged in faith full}^ carrying out the principles of action 
laid down at the beginning, in 1831, " to take up work before un- 
thought-of or neglected, and outside of all churches and chapels and 
other Christian intiuences, and carry it on till some church or special 



KlUST l>KiAI>K, lM;tO-l.SlO. 4M 

orj^aiiiaitii)ii iLssuiiud llic rcspoiisiliility tlierouf. " Its work to-day is 
tlio sjiiiio ius it l>c;,^.m to i\o lit'ty vein's ago. Its field of oiier.itioiis lias 
wonderfully expaiuled, ami its j)o\ver for usefulness lias (n-ojiortionaljly 
increased. The result is that the Episcopal Cliureli in the city of New 
York, through this society, is the onli/ L'/tn'ufiiiii bmlij, as such (exeept- 
inj^ the Uonian Catholic Church, which j)rofessedly cares only for its 
own i)eople), that is responsible for the niainteniince of regular and 
systematic religious services and bedside ministrations for " all sorts 
and conditions of men" in the jnibhc instiluli(jns of every kind in the 
city anil on the atljacent islands. 

The society has thive missionaries on Dlackweirs Island, where they 
labor res])ectively in the Charity Ilosjiital, with its thousand sick and 
suf!ei-ing inmates ; the Penitentiary and Workhouse, and the Alms- 
house and Lunatic Asylum. On Ward's Island are four missionaries of 
the society ministering to the foreign inmates of tiie IIoma?opatliic and 
Emigrant hospitals, and one labors at Uellevue Hospital. The City 
Pi'ison and other institutions also receive the regular ministrations of 
servants of the City ^Mission. To one minister is assigned ten insti- 
tutions, and he does what he can umler the circumstances. 

At the St. Baniabas Home ;ind Chai)el, at the Midnight Mission in 
Greene Street, and the New York Infant Asylum in Sixty-fii-st Stix^et, 
the missicmary work of the society goes steadily forward. The custody 
of the free reading-roim has been transferred to tln^ society, and the 
Industrial School of the City ^lission is nourishing. The assets of the 
swiety amount to aimut |;t!S,(MMt, besides the Mary Kos;die Puggles 
Kund of $l(ii»t, and the Henry Keep I-'lower Fund of §."1000, the income 
of which is applied to the su])port of St. Bariiiibas Home. 

The following items of the good work done by the City Mission 
Society during the year ending Se])tembpr 1, lss2, will give an idea of 
the value of its laboi-s : At St. Parnabas Home there were ltl,;i!»2 lodg- 
ings and '.U.-'iOO ineals furnished, 2412 destitute and homeless women 
and chililivn temporarily careil for, and 114 children admitted into the 
day nui-sery. Tlie whole number of persons who found shelter and 
comfort there during the year was 2r>42. During the year, isoti fami- 
lies in want and distress were visited, and 51,931 individuals were 
visited for relief and religious convei-sation. Besides the Industrial 
School for Girls, the society has a day nui-sery for chililren, and an 
emi)loyment society for women.* 

* Tho officera of the societj- in 1SS2 were : Rt. Rev. Ilomti" I'oltcr, D.D., LL.D., 
P.r.L.. presiilcnt •'x-offifiu ; Rev. Thoiiins M. PeterR. PI)., Kpv. Willinm F. Morgnn, 



4ii(l HISTORY 01" NEW YORK CITY. 

The Baptist Home Mission Society was organized in tlie city of 
New York on April 27, 1832. In response to an invitation given 
to inenibei"s of the Baptist communion througiiout tlie country, a 
convention was assembled on the day above named, in the Mulberry 
Street Meeting- House, Kew York. The convention by unanimous 
vote resolved that it was ' ' exj)edient to form an American Baptist 
Home Mission Society. ' ' A constitution was adopted, and the society 
was organized by the choice of the Hon. Hemau Lincoln, of Massachu- 
setts, president of the society, and the appointment of twenty-seven 
vice-presidents Uving in various States, and a large board of directors. 
At an adjourned meeting on May 1st, WiUiam Colgate was elected 
treasurer, Gari'et X. Bleecker auditor, the Rev. Jonathan Going cor- 
responding secretary, and the Eev. William R. Williams recording 
secretary. 

At the fii-st formal meeting of the society, at the Oliver Street 
Church in Now York, where the General Baptist Convention for For- 
eign Missions was holding its sessions, tlie machinery of the society was 
finally completed by appointing the following-named ])ersons an execu- 
tive committee : The Revs. Ai-chibald Maclay, Spencer H. Cone, 
Duncan Dunbar, Charles G. Sommers, and C. P. C. Crosby ; and 
Messi-s. Ciiarles L. Roberts, George W. Houghton, Timothy R. (ireene, 
Nathan Caswell, and WiUiam Winterten. The previous choice of 
officers of the society was ratified, and the headquartei"s of the associa- 
tion were fixed at Xew York City. 

This movement was the result of long and prayerful delibei-ation by 
many thoughtful minds for years, and gave great joy to many hearts. 
The real founder of the society was the Rev. Jonathan Going, of Mas- 
sachusetts, wh(jm Dr. Hayne characterized as a " Scotch Yankee — a 
combination which makes the prince of strategists." 

Dr. (Toing opened the campaign of the society with tremendous 
energy. He set about its establishment on a sure foundation. With 
his usual zeal, he sought men and money for the work. During the 
summer of 1832 he travelled a thousand miles in pursuing this labor of 
love. He gained control of tiie Bajitist Repository, and made it an 
efficient organ of the society for aliout five years, when, seeing the 
enterprise firmly estaljlished in the affections of his denomination, and 
haA-ing fuU faith in its being liberally su]iported, he accepted the jiresi- 

D.D., Frederick S. Winston, Thomas Egleston, vice-presidents ; R. B. Tunstall, secre- 
tary ; John H. Boynton, treasurer ; Rev. C. T. Woodruff, superintendent, andKev. N. F. 
Ludlnin, financial agent. There is an executive committee of twenty-five, of which the 
bishop of the diocese is chairman. 



FIRST DKCADE, 1h:«I-184(). -tCl 

(loiipy of tlnWiranvillp Litomry and Tlioological Institution, in Oliio, 
in [s'M, and ivtircd from tlic t-xi-cutivo coniniittce. 

At fust an impression went al)road tliat tlie Foreign and Homo Mis- 
sion societii's wore rivals. At a mooting of tiie lattor in ls:^t; it was 
formally rosolvod tliat tlioy woi'O •' twin sistors, and auxiliary to oach 
othor." 

Tlio fii-st niissionai-y appointod who wont to tho Hold wius tho Rov. 
Thomas W. ilorrdl, who wius sent to Michigan Torritory and did hrave 
and etiiciont service there. Other ap]H)intments spee(Uly followed, 
and in tho second year of the hfo of the society there were eighty 
missionaries engaged in the service. 

The lahoi-s of the scK-ioty were extended as exigencies arose. The 
groat emigration fnim Europe during its existence greatly and ra|)idly 
enlarged the demands upon it. Tho settlement in tho Western States 
and Territories of an industrious and intelligent population from North- 
ern Euro])e presented a fruitful licld for missionary labor, and it has 
been untiringly cultivated by this Home :\[issionary Society. During 
and after tho groat Civil AVar, missionary work anicjng the frcednien 
was demanded and largely given by tic; society in the way of spiritual 
instniction and secular education. This work began as early as IHti'S. 
From that time until 1883 the society expended, in ])romoting mission- 
ary work among the freedmen, more than -^l,OiJ<,t,n(i(i. 

The avowed chief object of the society at tho beginning was to pro- 
mote the ]ii-eaching of the gospel. Its laborei-s preach wherever they 
can, organize churches, visit homes and individuals, establish jtrayer- 
mootings, organize Sunday - schools, distribute religious literature, 
build meeting-houses, and thus in every form "preach the gospel." 
The chief field of its lal)or is in tho newer settlements in the West and 
among the Indians. In Kansixs, Nebraska, Dakota, ^[innesota, Iowa, 
and AVisconsin there is a large foreign population, and among them the 
great bulk of its mission stations are selected. These, in its whole field 
of opcr.itions in lss2, numbered over four hundred stations, includuig 
twenty general stations and fourtoon froodmen's scliools. 

Since its work beg-an, in 1882, the Baptist Home ^Mission Society had 
spent 5530 years of labor, organized ■J7'i5 churches, jiroached 745,- 
436 sernums, lield 3!>'.>,728 prayor-mootings, made 1,735,5.50 religious 
visits, i)ai)tized s5,3Sl pei-sons, and in 1SS2 had 29, ("Mi children in its 
Sabl)ath-schools. Tho work is now prosecuted in forty-throe States 
and Territories. 

Such have been the ceaseless, untiring, and useful labois of a society 
formed in the city of New York about fifty yeiii-s ago, an«l still having 



4(J2 HISTOKV OF NEW YORK t'lTV. 

the aistributing centre of its energies in the great commercial luetrop- 
ohs of our Ilepubhc* 

* Tlie officers of the society for 1882-83 were : James L. Howard, president ; J. H. 
Walker and John D. Kockefeller, vice-presidents ; Joseph B. Hoyt, treasurer ; William 
Phelps and Joseph Brokaw, auditors ; the Kev. Henry L. Morehouse, D.D., correspond- 
ing secretary, and the Eev. D. B. Jutten, recording secretary. The chairman of the 
executive board is S. S. Constant. 

The materials for the above brief sketch of the origin and growth of the society were 
drawn from an historical account by the corresponding secretary, the Rev. H. L. More- 
house, contained in a "Jubilee Volume" of over six hundred pages, prepared by him 
and published by the society in 1883. 



niArTEK XXVI. 

ri'^IIE American Fkmalk Giakpian SocitnY am> Homk for the 
i- Fkik.ndi.kss luul its origin in the city of Xew Yorl< in the s])ring 
of 1S84. At that time there appean-d an altun(hince i>l' /.cal in benevo- 
lent work. Tlie puhlie mind and conscience iiad lieen powerfully stirred 
by revelations of great need in such work. Tliere liad been cieated a 
strong conviction tliat social evils were rapidly corru|)ting pul)iic morals 
and endangering tiie purity of society, and also a wise conviction tiiat 
an " an ounce of prevention is better than a i>ound of cure." 

Earnest f 'iiristian women, like those eng-aged in the ]\[agdalen Society, 
lierceiving tlie danger, resolved to extend arms of prnhrthm to the 
tempted and unfortunate, while their sisters placed M- //• arms under- 
neath tlic fallen and wretciied to Uft them vp. Tlie ultimate object 
was tiie siime— sidvation. The a.sswiation was called The American 
Female floral Reform and Guardian Society. 

Tlie Female Guanlian Society, as s<xm a.s fonned, began the puiilica- 
tion of a newspaper (continue*! until now) called the A>fr»rfife <in,l 
Favinij OuanHitn, which has ever been the oigan and helper of the 
association. It was the successor in scope and influence .)f MrDoii-eirs 
Joxnitif, which had done so much to bring into the sunlight the hiilden 
ini(|uities of the city of Xew York. 

The prime object of the Guardian Society was to promote the cause 
of virtue and humanity by protecting the young, the destitute, and the 
fri.>ndless of the gentler sex from the exixisure to vice and sutfering in- 
cident to their condition ; also to secure for homeless children, as far 
as practicable, the training of the Christian family. In this work the 
labors of the society partook more of the character of private elfort. 
and was necessarily quite circumscribed. 

After the Guardian Society had labored earnestly and elKciently 
about a dozen veaiN in its chosen field, it undertook a wider range of 
duties and usefulness. It took measures to establish a House of Indus 
trv and Home for the Friendless on a broad scale. Leading clergymen 
and Invmen in the citv were invite.l to act as an advisorv committee. 



4G4 HIsroKY 0I-" NEW YORK CITY. 

and they wai'mly espoused tlie cause.* Tliis committee met in Jan- 
uary, 1S47, Dr. S. H. Tyng in the chair, and arranged a plan of a 
home. A house was liired on Second Street and Fii-st A\'enue, and 
tliere tlie new enterprise was inaugurated. That was in July, iS-t". 
Young girls of good moral character, destitute of money, friends, and 
horse, were received, and girls under the age of fourteen and over three 
years, and boys under ten and over three years of age, either orphans 
or abandoned by their parents, were (and are) received and ])rovided 
for until jjermanent homes in Christian families could be secured for 
them by adoptioii or otherwise. 

A site for a building for the use of the society was purchased on East 
Thirteenth Street, between Fourth and ]Madison Avenues, and there, on 
May 5, 1848, the corner-stone of the building the association now occu- 
pies was laid. The building was comjileted, and in December following 
was occupied. 

In the spring of 1849 the Legislatui'e ga-anted the association a 
charter. Its name was changed from American Female Moral Keform 
Society to American Female Guardian Society, and the privilege of 
establishing a Home for the Friendless was extended to it. The op- 
erations of the society were greatly extended, and in 1857 a Home 
Chapel was erected on Twenty-ninth Street. The building comprises 
a chapel, office of publication of the Advocate, school-room, Dorcas- 
room, antl work-room. It was dedicated on June 3, 1857. Auxiliary 
societies, great and small, were formeil all over the country from Maine 
to Cahfornia, and from every point came donations of clothing, pro- 
visions, and other necessary articles as offerings of benevolent persons 
to this gi-eat charity. These amount, on an average, to over seven 
hundred packages a year. The society has established schools. In 1 882, 
in addition to its home school, it had eleven industrial schools in various 
parts of the city, all well equipjied with teachers and implements. 

A "shelter" for unfortunate and destitute women is pi'ovided, and 
idso nursei'ies for children. There is a branch home at Oceanport, 
New Jersey, known as the Wright Memorial, and also a cha])el for the 
children, called the Roswell Inness Chapel, built largely by Roswell 
Smith, Esq., in memory of his only grandson. 

* The follo\ving-n:imecl jiersons composed the advisory committee : the Rev. Drs. 
Stephen H. Tyng, Nathan Bangs, G. T. Bedell, John Dowling, William Patten, George 
Votts, George B. Cheever, W. W, Everts, J. M. Krebs, and Thomas H. Skinner . Dr. John 
H. Griscom, and Messrs. Moses G. Leonard, James Harper, E. W. Chester. Lewis 
Tappan, S. W. Benedict, Joseph B. Collins, Lewis Hallock, J. B. Graham, Francis B. 
Sholes, J. S. Taylor, E. E. Miles, and E. Ludlum. 



riliST DKiADE, lS<;tO 1S4II. 405 

Acconiin^' to tin- annual n-poit of tiio socit-ty lor the year cndin;,' 
May 1, ISS-J, tlit'iv luul Ix't'n admitted into the institution as teni- 
]K.r.uy residents tiiere, :i-Hi women, of wliom -JW were dismissed to 
situations ; and the. numher of children cared lor during the year 
in various ways was r..j:5. The whole number of children caret! for 
since the opening of the institution was about 2S,0(i(i. Much aid is 
given to out-door i>«M.r. The avei-.ige attendance at the scliools was 
over iiHHi.* 

The Female (Juardian Society and Home lor the Friendless is one of 
the most important and useful of the magnificent chaiities of the city 
of Kew York. It owes much to its late corresiwnding secretary, Mi-s. 
S. R. I. Bennett, for. its existence, pi-osperity, and abounding useful- 
ness. She was tiody the "home mother," living and laboring for it 
continually. She died in ISSl, in the very room where she had done 
so nmch of her noI)le work.f The Adrocah-, issued semi-monthly at SI 
a vear, is edited by Mi-s. Helen E. Brown. 

Fifty yeai-s ago the colored ]Toi)ulation of the city of New York were 
quite numerous, the remnant of the slave system. Though nominaUy 
free, they were more degraded and o])pressed than when they were in 
bondage. Thev were herded together in the lowest localities, and be- 
cause thev were of an enslaved race they seemed to be almost beyond 
human sympathy. They were mostly excluded from benevolent insti- 
tutions and the public schools, and were overlooked by philanthropists. 
And when at length benevolent pei-sons, chiefly among the Society of 
Friends or Quakers, touched by the miseries of the colored jTOpulation 
of the city, listened to their cries and jn-oposed to do something for 
their elevation and comfort, there were few who would join them, so 
uniK)pular was the idea. 

There were two brave young women, daughteis of Quaker parents, 
who courageously defied ]X)])ular prejudice, and proceeded to the grxxl 
work of establi.shing a Home for Oqihan Colored Children. It was 
a wise measure to e.vtend charity and benevolence fii-st to the children. 
These two young womt>n were ^Miss Anna Shotwell and Miss Mary 

• Tho offloere of the societj- for 18«2-8:l were : Mrs. Charles C. North, presi.lont ; six- 
teen vice-presidents, residing in New York nnd other States ; Mrs. H. M. Hnrris. corre- 
syonding secreUirj- ; Mrs. Harris WUson, recordinR secretary ; Mrs. A. H. Anibler, visit- 
ins seorotar)- ; Mrs. tl. A. Stone, treasurer, and Miss Sarah C. Wilcox, matron of the 
Home. There are also anditors, a board of counsellors, an executive committee, and a 
board of managers consisting of forty-five ladies. 

f Mrs. Bennett was the author of "Walks of Csefnlness." -Wrought Gold," and 
" Women's Work Among the Lowly," a meraoriiU volume of the first forty years of the 
American Female Onardian Society and Home for the Friendless. 



466 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY 

Murray. Tliey j)riictically asserted tlie eijuality of all men in the 
sight of their Maker. 

Miss Shotweil and Miss Murray resolved to gather in fi-om the haunts 
of vice and misery little colored orphans. They appealed to the public 
for contributions to that end. Patiently they told their story from 
nouse to house, amid mucu coldness and ridicule, and finally gathered, 
by small contributions, about ^20U0 and a band oi twenty ladies who 
were willing to undertake the work with tiiem. 

These women organized a society in 1836, entitled The Association for 
the Benefit of Colored Orphans. The board of officers consisted of 
Martha Codwise, first directress ; Sarah C. Ilawxhurst, second direct 
less ; Anna H. Shotweil, secretary, and Mary Murray, treasurer. 
These were all members of the Society of Friends. There were 
twenty- lour managers ; also an advisory committee, composed of WiD- 
lam T. Mott, Kobert 1. Murray, Charles King, Robert C. Cornell, and 
Dr. Proudfit. They establi.shed a Colored Orphans' Home. 

At the very outset these good women encountered deep prejudice. 
They sought a building to hire in which to begin their work, but pro]i- 
ei'ty owners would not have their buildings used for such a purjiose, 
though tenements for I'ent were in abundance After a vain seaich of 
three months for a building, the pursuit was rehnquished, and they 
managed to jiurchase a small wooden building for §9000, mortgaging 
it for §f)UO0. 

The Home was opened in 1S87, but so dreadful was the financial 
pressure that at times it seemed as if they must relinquish the enter- 
prise. The utmost economy in management was practised, and at the 
close of seven months' experience, with a family of twenty-two chil- 
dren, they had expended only $254. The house had been furnished 
with tiie discarded property of their friends, and the table was largelv 
supplied from the same source. The managers, on visiting the alms 
house at Belle\aie, had found the colored children m charge of an in- 
temperate and sometimes crazy man. At other times they wei'e 
crowded in with degraded adults in unhealthful buildings. Some of 
these children were taken to the happy Home, l)iit most of thein were 
incurably diseased. 

The association was incorporated in 183S. In 1S42 the common 
council granted the association twenty-two lots on Fifth Avenue, be- 
tween Forty-third and Forty-fourth streets. Thereon a suitable build- 
ing was erected, and for many years the institution struggled against 
prejudice and indifference, yet continually gaining friends and more 
liberal support. 



KlKSr DKCAUK. lS:tO 1H40. ^^'^ 



Tn Julv lsr,:i, wlu-n tl,.' Civil \V;ir was at lis hoiglit, a .l.ca.ltul M..t 
occunvif in the city of New York, wl.iel. will l.e imt.ee.l lu-r. ■alter. 
The rubers were lai-elv lureign-hoin pei^ons. ehielly Insii ..t the Imver 
elass. wh..se ,..eju.lRWa-ainsl the eolore.l i.e..].!.- ha.l i.eeu stiimilat.Ml 
ami then- iiiia^nnatU.ns iiiHained i.y desifriiin- lU-iiiaj^o-u.^s. In tins iiut 
they (lireete.1 their l.hnd fury a-ainst the colored peoi.l.-, and saeked 
the" colored Home, where such nohle work was in progress. J hough it 
will anticipate hislorv somewhat, it seems to be aj.iiroiiriato here to 
introduce, in a lootm.te, a brief narmtive of that event, for it is an 
uiiportaiU part (.f the history of the institution we are ccmsidenng.* 

* U (our oclock in tUo .illernoon ot .July 13. 18G3, wh.lo tbe 233 inmates of tho asylnra 
wore nn.etlv seuted ... the sehool-roora, playing ... Ibe n.irsery, or lying on Me>U .n 
the hosniuil « rnari..g mob. compnsea of several thnnsaud men won.en. and children, 
armed W.IU cl,.l.s br.cks, and other misniles suddenly .Utaeked the inst.t-.t.on. The 
Home xvns store,! w.th pood lurniture. dry-goods, bedding, clothing. «..d ,.rov.s.ons. and 
the parlor bad ]..st been ..ewly carpeted. The institution w,is out of debt, and rejo.e.ng 
in prosperity nml usefulness. , , ,, .. „.;,!, 

Dr. B.^nett. the phys.ca,. of the asylum had ^v«tched tho movements of ^"'^ ■""»'; ''J 
great anxiety for the safely of the institution. He gave the first .dan., Th- n.atron 
Lnt to every room and notified each occupant """^^^l^/'" «7" '""^'^;_r;„^'';^^ 
children «-ere re-iuesled to engage in silent prayer to God lor proteet.o... Then ^ h 
streaming eyes, they «ere led down sUirs, and very soon the.r ears were greeted w.th 
the yells of the approaching rioters. , „„ i,„t ,i,„ 

The managers had goner.dly left the city (or summer residences, and ""^^ but the 
superintende..l and h.s usual assist^u.ts were there. About five hundred of the mob 
•nter d the bu.ld.ng. after break.ng down the front door with an axe. At tb.s .noment 
brave obn Decker chief engineer of tbe fire departmenl. appeared, w.th ten or fifteen 
men He was a man of powerful fnune ..nd .ron will. His principal force was at a largo 

'"perceS'the situation, Decker said to his ...en. " Will you stick by meV To a man 
they promptly sa.d. " We will." Already tbe building bad been set on fire .n a dozen 
places. Thefiremen attempted to extingu.sb tbe flau.es. when tbey were threatened w.th 

death .f tbey diil not desist. ,. :, t^ i i .1 .>;,. «v^r 

•• Then vou will have to pass over onr dead bodies,' repl.ed Decker, and 'h^.r exer. 
t.ons were" renewed, but in Tain. After the sacking and piUage were aceompl.shed, he 
infuriated rioters strewed combustible materials over tbe floors, piled straw beds .n tbe 
garret and set them on fire, and very soon the whole bu.lding was ,n fl:i...es. 

During these proceedings tbe superintendent and matron and other employes had 
ciuietly collected the children. Tbe boys were b.dden nnder the back piazza, the g.r s 
were gathered .n the d.n.ng-room. Tbe .^ight of these poor children as they left the 
building in j.rocession subdued for a moment tbe savage feelings of the mob. An insn- 
man standing in tbe street as the children passed along shouted with a loud voice . 

"H there is a man among ye with a heart in his bosom, come and help these poor 
children." A voung Irishman named Paddy Mcraffrey, with four stage-drivers n..d the 
members of Engine Company No. 18, rescued some twenty ot tbe orphan cb.ldren, who 
were snrro,.nded by the mob, and in defiance of tbe threats of tbe cowardly r.oters 
escorted them to the precinct station-house. ,.„,„llv 

The wrath of the rioters was kindled by this appeal. The man was se.zed and cruelly 



468 HISTOKY OF XKW" VORK CITY. 

Provision was made for the admission of the children to shelter on 
Blackwell's Island. These were in a forlorn plight. They hatl left 
their pleasant home in ruins, without caps, bonnets, and shoes. Thej 
were accompanied in their journey by a large number of colored 
refugees, who had sought safety at the station-house. With a police 
force at their front ;ind rear, and flanked by fifty Zouaves with loaded 
muskets and ghttering bayonets, the forlorn ])rocession moved, men- 
aced on the way by the mob, who were kept harmless by a wholesome 
fear of bullets and cold steel. Arrived at their destination, the Mer- 
chants' Relief Conunittee gave them aid, and they were made comfort- 
able on the island for months. A conunodious dwelling at Carmans- 
ville was hired, altered, and repaired, and in October following these 
feeble, wearied wanderers were again in a pleasant home. 

The officers and servants of the institution lost all their clothing and 
other j3roperty, for they were so intent upon saving the children that 
they did not care for themselves. The records of the asylum, which 
were kept by the .same secretary twenty-seven years^ were also de- 
stroyed. 

The lots on Fifth Avenue were disposed of, and the present home 
Avas erected on One Hundred and Forty-thii'd Street and Tenth 
Avenue. Tt is now in a flourishing condition.- During the year 1882 
there were 402 chikh-en in the Home, of whom 29.5 were there at the 
close of 1881. During the year 10!) ^vere i-eleased from the Home. 

beaten, but the children were allowed to pass on unmolested. The superintendent and 
matron took them to the Thirty-fifth Street station-house, where the whole company 
were protected for three days and three nights. The building was near the Seventh 
Avenue Arsenal, and they were guarded by volunteer soldiers. 

At first the children were stowed comfortably in a tier of cells, but when a large num- 
ber of the rioters were brought in, some of them covered with blood, the little ones were 
turned out and compelled to stand in the passage-way, for there was not room for them 
to lie down. When the captain beheld the forlorn condition of these helpless, frightened, 
almost starving children, he burst into tears. 

At length a place was found for the little ones tr> lie down. At midnight they were 
suddenly awakened by the loud voice of the chief of police calling out the men. The 
children, supposing the order was for them to turn out and be exposed to the mob, 
rushed to a window with a simultaneous scream. They were soon quieted, and yielded 
that implicit obedience which they had been taught. Food was abundantly supplied by 
their friends living in the neighborhood. The superintendent was given the office of 
provost-marshal over the large assemblage of colored people who had fled to the station- 
house for protection. These were fed by the surplus food sent in to the children. 

* The officers of the institution for 1883 are : Mrs. Augustus Faber, first directress ; 
Mis. William H. Onderdonk, second directress ; Mrs. Sarah S. Murray, secretary, and 
Mrs. S. IS, Van Dusen, treasurer. There are twenty-nine lady managers and oloven gen- 
tlemen advisers. O. K. Hutchins is superintendent. 







/n 



FIRST DF-CADK. 1830 1840. 469 

The avorapp number of children in tlif Home during the vear was 2^2. 
The Avhole numl)er received since June !•, 1x^7, is 2<i4n. Tliere is a 
flourisliini,^ seliool in tlu^ institution. 

The two originators of tlie association, blisses Anna II. Sljotwell 
and Mary Muri-iiy, liave gone to tlieir reward. ^liss .Murr.iy married 
Lindiey Muri-.iy Kerris, and after her marriage lived many yeai-s in 
Poughiveepsie She iiad heen tlie trejusurer of tlie institution until slie 
left the city. In the midst of iier varied duties as wife and mother 
and great activities in chuixh afFaii-s in her new home, she always 
maintained the deepest interest in the a.sylum. Mre. Ferris died on 
September 26, 1881. One of the foundere of the a.s.sociation, Miss 
Sarah F. Underhill. still lives. She has been a manager fnjrn the fii-st. 

The Colokki) HoMr; asd IIosphai.. — About the year ls;',7 Miss Mary 
Shot well and ili-s. W. W. Chester, two i)enevolent ladies, obtained 
support for several colored pei-sons in a dwelling-hou.se. Afterward 
they lured a large frame house in Eleventh Street, where they sup- 
jiorted twelve to sixteen persons until they were rc^moved to Woodside. 
a home afterward ])rovided by an association of women. 

In the autunm of 1839 Mi-s. ^[aria Ranyar, ^liss Jay, Mrs. William 
W. Chester, Miss Few, Jlrs. Mott, ^Miss ;Miller, Mrs. Chrystie, Mi-s. 
Goddard, Mis. Innis, and Miss M. Shotwell met at the hoast; of Mrs. 
Banyar, No. 20 Bond Street, to take into consideration the condition 
of the colored j)opulation of the city, and to devi.se a jjlan for an alle- 
\iation of their sufferings. Miss Shotwell suggested a plan, and ^liss 
Jay made a donation of Slooo for carrying it out. 

At a sulwequent meeting of these earnest women a board of man- 
agers was apjTointed, a constitution was adopted, and a society wtis 
organized under the title of The Society for the Relief of Worthy 
Aged Colored Pei"s<jns. The officers chosen were Mi-s. Anna Mott, 
fti-st directress ; Miss Mary Shotwell, second directress ; Miss Few, 
ti-easurer ; Miss A. II. Livingston, secretary, and Mr. Pai-sons, adviser. 
There were, besides, seven managei-s appointed. 

At the fii"st meeting of the board twelve peisons were presented as 
worthy of relief, and for the fii-st four yeai"s the pensioners were 
acconnuiMlated in a building <m the .shore of the Hudson River, calle<l 
Woodside. In ls42 ^Ir. Iloi-sburgh gave the society s2ooo. This was 
the nucleus of a fund for the erection of a ]>ermancnt building. 

In 184.) the society was incorporated under the title of The Society 
for the Su])port of the Colored Home, and the Legislature appropri- 
ated :Sl(»,(HM) for the erection of a ])ermanent building. The next year 
an arrangement was inatle with tiie commissionei-s of the poor for the 



470 HISTOliV OF NEW YOKK (11 Y. 

Ilome to receivo all the colored paupers of the city at a very low rate 
of compensation. In 1847 Mrs. Maria Shatzel bequeathed to the Home 
$10,000 for the sujjiiort of a lying-in department. 

In 1848 the society purchased forty-four lots of ground on First 
Avenue, between Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fiftli streets, and began the 
erection of some of the buildings since occupied by the institution. 
The gooil woi'k has l)een carried on successfully, and its field of useful- 
ness has constantly widened. 

In view of its thoroughly organized medical department, the 
Supreuie Court of New York granted the society the privilege of hav- 
ing the word " hospital " aj^pended to its corporate title, and it has 
since been known as the Colored Home and Hospital. It being the 
only hospital for colored people in the city, its duties (as well as its 
usefulness) have greatly increased. 

The Home and Hospital consists of four distinct departments — 
namely, hospital, home for the aged and indigent, nursery, and lying- 
in department. The nursery embraces children over three 3'ears of age 
Aviio cannot be admitted into the Colored Orphan Asylum. The 
average number in that department in 1882 was about twenty. No 
special religious denomination is represented in the government of the 
institution. The greater number of the inmates being Methodists, the 
chosen chaplain is a Methodist minister. Ministers of other denomina- 
tions are invited to the performance of religious services.* 

The Society for the Relief of Half Okpiian and DESTrrcxE Chil- 
DRLX in the city of New York was organized in the year 1835. At 
that time there were two orphan asylums in the city. One was Prot- 
estant, admitting full orphans only, and the other was Roman Catho- 
lic, which was open alike to those who had lost one o}- both ])arents. 
There was not at that time any institution in the United States which 
aimed to care for that important class of children who, by the loss of 
one parent, were fre(iuently left as helpless iind destitute as if both had 
been removed hj death. 

Attention was first called to this necessity liy the story told of a de- 
voted mother — a servant-woman who became a widow. She had two 
small children depending upon her earnings for their support. They 

* The officers of the Colored Home and Hospital in 1882 were : Miss Mary W. Booth, 
first directress ; Mrs. Williiim E. Dodge, second directress ; Mrs. James B. Colgate, treas- 
urer ; Miss Monell, corresponding secretarj', and Mrs. Frederick A. Booth, recording 
secretary. It has twonty-one lady managers, an executive committee, an advisory board, 
and physician. Dr. Thomas W. Bickerton was superintendent, and Mrs. E. Hagar, 
matron. 



IMIIST DKi'AUK, ls:!0 IMIO. ^'^^ 

could n.,t 1.0 taken into the family wIut. she live.1 ami she pr.K-unMl 
boanl for thmi elsewhere. For this she was oon.peUed to pay the lull 
amount of wa-es she was eaniing, leavin- nothing wherewith to buy 
clothing for hers.'lf or ehil.lren. 80 she left her place ot service in the 
city and went with her children into the cnuntry. 

The storv of this loving mother was t..ld t.. a few benevolent ladies, 
who conceiVe.1 a plan for a I'n.testant asylum for children smularly 
situated. At an appointed <lay seven of them met to digest and arrange 
their i.lans. ' Tliev organiml a s«K^iety, appointe<l managers, opened 
a subscription, which netted ^7.^. and with that small sum began the 
enterprise. That organization took place on the evening be fo.-e^ the 
.rrcat fire of December Li, ls3.5. A basement r.K.m in White btreet 
was hi.v.l for the beginning of the benevolent work, a matron was 
en.'a-ed and she began her <luties in taking cure of four chiUlren. 
Ih" la.lv in whose familv the p..or widow lived, and who relateu the 
story to fi-iemls, was ^Mi-s. William A. T..mlinsun. 

The following la.lies f..nned the fii-st board <.f otlicei-s of the Half 
Orphan Asvhim : ^^Irs. William A. Tomlinson, fii-st directress ; ilrs. 
James Boonuan, secon.l directress ; M.^. J. W. Wheeler, secretary ; 
l^Ii-s N Littlefiel.l. treasurer. The executive committee was composed 
of AIiN Tomlinson, Mrs. Boonuan, :^[i-s. AVheeler, Airs. E. AVainwright, 
and Mi-s. Levi ("oit. A board of managers composed of twenty -six 
ladies was organi/.ed. 

Within a few months a house was hii-.-.l on Twelfth Street. an<l the 
number of ehil.lren had increased to fifty-nine. This enterpiMse soon 
foun.l g.>ner.«.s supix„te.-s-among the most munificent o th.-se was 
th.' late James Boorman. The institute was incorporate.! m April, is-. , 
un.ler the name of The Society for the Belief of Half Orphan and 
Destitute rhildren in the City of New York. In the following year 
the s.)cietv purcliase.1 a house on Tenth Street. It was soon too small, 
and finallv the present home wa.s erected at No. «!7 West Tenth Street. 
The Protestant Half Oqihan Asvlum is doing a noble work in its 
special sphere of .lutv. Its means have enlarge.l with its growth in 
asefulness. Its officei-s for 18S2 were : Mrs. (George D- Phelps, h>^t 
directress ; Mi-s. M. W. Bradley, treasurer, and Mrs. J. M. CampbeU, 
superintendent. 



SECOND DECADE, 1840-1850. 



CTIAPTEK I. 

rpTTE population of the city ..f Now York at the beginning of the 
1 Second D.rade (184(1) was 812,7t>(., an increase m ten years o 
neirly 110 »>(h. The business of the city in almost every .lepartn.ent 
had increased i.i proj^^rtion, and it was giving a sure promise of be- 
coming one of the most populous and prosperous cities of the world. 
London then contained nearly U,(.no.()nn inhabitants, incUuling its sub- 
urbs an.l Paris about {.^.MM.o. The total foreign commerce of ^ew 
York City proper had expanded in value from atout $55,000,000 in 
1830 to over ?(loo,000,000 in 1840. . , ,, ,• ^f 

Within twenty yeai-s the city had doubled in size by the erection o 
new buildings, Jnd a large proportion of the older part of the city hjul 
been rebuilt, particularly its stores and warehouses. Many of these 
were of -.-anite and marble, and brown freestone Avas beginning to 
be used in veneering the fronts of the better class of new-l.mlt resi- 
den"" Of the latter n.any elegant houses had been erected in East 
Bnriwav, St. Mark's Place, Bond Street, and on Washington Square, 
of fine bi-ick, with white marble trimmings and marble steps and por .- 
cos These localities were then contending for the honor of being th^ 
exclusively fashionable iiortion of the city in its newest part. The city 
was then partly lighted with gas and partly with oil. 

The pubUc sf.uares and promenades in the compact part of the ci > 
were vet very few. The Battery still held its pre-eminence :us a tash- 
ionabie a,s well a.s ,>opnlar resort for cool shade and fresh air in sum- 
mer-time, but it was becoming too far away from the upper bordei-s of 
the city to hold that pre-eminence long. The only other squares or 
rnllls in the city at that time were the City TTall Park, St. Johns 
Park, Wiushington and Tompkins squares. St. John s Square was 
not o,«n to the public, but was lieM for the exclusive use of propoity- 
ovvners aroun.l it. It w.us then a beautifully sha.led park, the trees 
havin- been selected for their affinities by the elder Michaud. Ihc 
noithen, boun.lary of the compa<t portion of the .-.ty had now ex- 
t.MKh'd toTw.-lfth Stivet. 

The v.-ar 1-40 was mark.'d by one of the in..st e.vcitable an.l d, - 



476 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

moralizing political campaigns ever kao^vn in tiiis conntry, not only in 
the city of Xew York but througliout the Republic. It was a canvass 
for the office of President of the United States. The rival candidates 
were Martin Van Buren, then in the Presidential chair, and Geuei-al 
"William Henry Harrison, the jjopular mihtary leader in the Xorth-West 
in the war of 1812-15. Van Buren was the candidate of the Demo- 
cratic party, and General Harrison of the "Whig party. Ex-Governor 
John Tyler, of Virginia, was the "Whig candidate for Vice-President. 

The usual trick of demagogues in formulating a " war-cry" and pro- 
N-iding a symbol of the jiarty or the candidate to catch the ear and 
enhst the sympathies of the illiterate and unthinking multitude was 
now resorted to. Han-ison having been associated with pioneer life 
in the "West, the log-cabin was chosen as his symbol. The fiction was 
industriously circulated that he was living in a log-cabin in Ohio ; that 
he was very hospitable; that the "latch-string" of his door was 
always " out," and that every guest was regaletl with flagons of hard 
cider. This fiction was coupled with the battle-cry of '• Tippec.\xoe 
AM) Tvlee too," and a log-cabin was adopted as the snnbol of Harri- 
son, and a barrel of hard cider as the symbol of his generous hospital- 
ity. Log-cabins were erected all over the country — in villages, cities, 
and in rural districts— as rallying-places for politicians and the electors, 
in each of which hard cider was dispensed to every comer, young and 
old, as freely as water. 

In the city of New York a log-cabin was erected in nearly every 
ward, wherein cider flowed in an almost perpetual stream. Horace 
Greeley, who hail been engaged in unsuccessful journalism (pecuniarily) 
in the city for about seven years, conilucting tlie JYew Yorl'er and tiie 
Jeffersonian, was engaged by Thurlow "Weed and his political friends in 
Albany to edit a campaign paper, which was called the Lo(j-Vahin, for 
special effort in the city of New York. It proved to be a miglity 
partisan power, anil with the aid of other agencies it overturned the 
Democratic party in the city. The course of Van Buren in regard to 
finances during the distressful times of 1837-38 had made him unpopu- 
lar with the commercial conununity, and a political tidal wave, hke 
that of 1882, swept over the country and carried Harrison and Tyler 
into office. Harrison lived only a month after his inauguration as 
President, and Tyler became his constitutional successor. 

Mr. Greeley's conduct of the Ijuj-Cahin fully attested liis pre-eminent 
ability as a pohtical writer, and the qualities which constitute a skilful 
journalist. He was then twenty-nine years of age. The great Whig 
party as a body a|ipveciat''il his powers. The Whig leadei-s perceived 



<t')\ 



SElOM) l>KC.\l>E, 1H4U l.t.'iO. 477 

till' nwcssity of a clieap Wliig [)a|)or in tlio city of New Vork, all 
of those then published l)eing '• blanket-sheets. " Mr. Ureeley was 
appealed to, t<j establish such a newspaper. He pondered the matter 
during the winter of lS4t»-41. A Whig President would till tiie chair 
of state ; the Whig party wjis in the luscenvlency in the Union ; the 
prospect seemed euc(juraging for such an enterprise, and he resolved to 
undertake it. With a small ca[)ital in money, but a large capital of in- 
dustry, ])atience, strong will, and faith, he established the New York 
Tribuiu immediately after the inauguration of President Harrison in 
the spring of 1841. 

Mr. Greeley needed a i)usiness manager for his news|)aper, for in that 
capacity he was deficient in ability. He soon found just tiie man for 
the i)lace in Thomas McKlrath. a young lawyci- by profession, who 
had been an active and intelligent book-|>ublislu'r. He took hold of 
the business oar of the Trihimr in July, 1S41, and to his energy, skill, 
and enterprise in the early management of the ])aper was due its finan- 
cial success. The Trihiiix' encountered lierce (j]ii)osition at tin' begin- 
ning from rival jmblications. 

From the beginning the Trihuni- was conspicuously individual in its 
course in jegai'd to men, events, and opinions. It was always ready to 
advocate any measure that seemeil to promise l>enefit t<) mankind. It 
was ever a manly champion of new ideas and projects, and when sjitis- 
tied that one of its foster-children was unworthy of further sup]iort it 
abandoned it in tiie siime manly way. In conseijuence of its advocacy 
or discussion of novel doctrines in morals, religion, politics, and social 
life, which the critics of its editor grou|>ed under the vague head of 
*' isms," it was often sulijected to severe aniniadvei"sions. 

In the year after the Trihuiw was established there were nine cheap 
cash journals and seven "sixpenny sheets" published daily in New 
York. There were also five Sunday papei-s and si.\ Saturday pa pel's 
])ublished.* The daily pajiere had an aggregate circulation of '.t:i,T'iii ; 
the weekly ]ia])ei's of 38,5<m). The >'//« (one cent) had the largest ( ■ 
culation— 2n,(iiMi ; the ILmld (two cents) the next largest— 15,(' > 



* The cheap new.spnpers in ".ew York in 184'i were the Xmi, Hernlil, Trihiinc, Aiimra, 
Morning Post, Plebeian, Chronide, Cnion, and Taller. The "sixpfmiy sheets" were the 
Courier and Enquirer. Journal of Commerce, Commercial Ailreilis.r, Eeprexs, American, Ecen- 
ing Post, and Standard. The Journal of Commerce had then a daily circulation of 7500. 
The Saturday papers were the Brolher Jonalhan, Xeie World, Spirit of the Timer, IDiip, 
Flaili, and Rake. Tlie .Veir H'oW(/, edited by Park Benjamin, had a weekly cirouiation of 
smii). The Sunday papers were the /1/M.s'. Timr.i. ^fernn•l|.a.ni\ Xew Sunday ][erald. The 
liitter had a oirculnlidii of IMIOl). 



478 HISTOUV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

and the Trihutu' (one cent) had 9,500. It was compelled soon to 
advance its price to two cents. At one time subsequently the cir- 
culation of the Weekly Tribune attained a circulation of 200,000. 

The Tr'thune still floui-ishes as a leading daily journal in the metrop- 
olis. Its founder (Horace Greelej') died from the effects of overwork 
of the brain late in 1S72, but it continues to be marked by great abihty 
in its management. It is to-day worthy of the great editor who 
founded it.* 

One of the greatest inventions in connection with the art of printing 
since Faust and (iuttenberg hved was made in New York at about the 
time of the advent of the Trihune. That invention was the " hght- 
ning press," devised by Eichard M. Hoe, eldest son of Robert Hoe, 
one of the earliest printing-press manufacturer's in the city of New 
York. 

Richard M. Hoe's father, the founder of the firm of R. M. Hoe & Co., 
was a native of Lancashire, England, where he was born in 1784. His 



* Horace fireeley was born in Amherst, N. H., in February, 1811. He was the son of a 
small farmer, was educated at a common dchool, learned the printer's trade at Poultuey, 
Vermont, and in August, 1831, found his way to New Y'ork City, where he was employed 
in his trade. He made an unsuccessfiil attempt to establish a one-cent newspaper. In 
1834, in connection with .Jonas Winchester, he established The I\cio Yorker, a literary 
weekly paper, of which he was editor. It continued seven years, but was not pecuniarily 
successful. After the political " hard cider " campaign in 181:0 he established the 
Tribune, the career of which is mentioned in the text. He was a member of Congress 
in 1848, and in 18.51 ho visited Europe the first time. His course at times during the 
Civil War was rather eccentric. He was one of Jefferson Davis's bail bondsmen before 
that person was indicted for treason, after the war. 

Mr. Greeley was a presidential elector in 1864. In 1869 he was the Republican candi- 
date for comptroller of the State of New Y'ork. In 1872, though always a Whig and 
Republican in politics, Jlr. Greeley accepted the nomination for the Presidency of the 
United States from the Democratic party, and was defeated. His intense mental and 
physical labors during that campaign, working upon a brain that had been overtaxed for 
many years, prostrated his nervous system. Added to these causes was painful watch- 
ing at tho bedside of his dying wife at the close of the campaign. He died at his homo 
at Chappaqua, in Novemlier, 1872. 

Horace Greeley Avas a great man. He was honest, conscientious, ever true to his con- 
victions, faithful in everything. His errors were of tho head, not of the heart. The 
latter was large enough to embrace sympathy for all human kind. 

Mr. Greeley was the author of several important books. The most pretentious one of 
any was " The American Conflict," a history of the Civil War in .\merica. He had for- 
merly (1856) published a "History of the Struggle for Slavei-y Extension." His death 
produced a profound impression of regret throughout tho country. Good men of all 
parties mourned his loss. His body lay in state in the City Hall, New York, for one day, 
where it was visited by a vast multitude of people, whoso emotions attested the love and 
reverence they felt for the dead editor and tho friend of man. 



SKCOXl) DECADK, IHIO 1*50. 47'.l 

father, a well-to-do fanner, aj)prentic<'il liiin to a carpenter. Koln-rl 
was a briglit, anihitioiis Imjv. Attr.ictcti liy iu-connts of tli(! far j^reater 
facilities for advancement in the husintiss of life offered in the I'liited 
States than in liis own country, and the chances for the enjoyment of 
]M)litical and social freedom here, Robert purchased the remainder (jf 
the jjcriod of his ajtprenticesiiip, and at the age of nineteen yeai-s 
landed at the city of New York. On his Hi'st ari'ival lie formed the 
acijuaintaiice of the benevolent httle Scotchman, Grant Thoiljurn, who 
kept plants and seeds for side in a building on Cedar Street, once occu- 
pied as a Friemls' meeting-house, in front of which he had a pretty 
flower garden. The lail could not got work at his trade on account of 
the yellow fever, anil he had no money. The kind seedsman offered to 
board him until he could find employment. A week after he entereil 
Thorburn's dwelling he was seized with the fever and nearly died. 
Mi-s. Thorburn nui-seil him tenderly, and he recovered. The recii)ient 
of tliis favor in the hour of his great need gratefully remembered the 
act, and the homes of his children were ever open to Grant Thorburn 
as a welcome guest until his death, at the age of ninety yejirs. 

Young Hoe soon established himself iis a master carpenter, manned 
a daughter of Matthew Smith, of "Westchester, within a little more than 
a year after his amval ; formed a business paitnership with one of her 
brothers, and continued in the business of car])enter and printer's joiner 
for many yeai-s. His brother-in-law, Peter Smith, invented a printing 
press, and Uoe and Smith engaged in the manufticture of presses. On 
the death of these two brothei-s in 1823, Mr. Hoc succeeded to the 
entire basiness, giving employment to only a few men, and in 1S25 he 
publicly announced himself as a i)rinting-press manufacturer. 

When Mr. Hoe heard of the introduction in Englanil of the flat bed 
cylinder printing press, he sent an intelligijnt mechanic thither to ex- 
amine it. Ilis report caused the alert and ingenious Hoe to make great 
improvements in the press and begin the manufacture of presses in the 
United States. They were .S(X)n in general use here. In 183-2 his 
health failed, and he relinquished thelnisinoss to his eldest son, Richard 
M. Hoe, and ^fatthew Smith, son of his ohl partner. 

Robert Hoe died the next year, at the age of forty-nine. Soon after- 
ward the new firm erected quite extensive buildings for their l)usiness 
on the comer of Bro<jme and Sheriff streets, in tlie ea.stern part of the 
city, where now (1883), in greatly extende<l accoinmodations, the most 
of their work in the manufacture of circular siiws and printing presses 
is caiTied on. They have also ijuite extensive works at tlie oM place of 
business in Gold Street. 



480 IIISTOIU OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

Mr. Smith died in 1842, when Richard M. Hoe associated in busi- 
ness with liiniself his two brothers, Robert, Jr., and Peter S., under 
tlie present firm name of R. M. Hoe & Co. 

liicliard M. Hoe is a remarkable inventor. He was bom in the city 
of Xow York in 1812. In 1837 he patented in the United States and 
in England a new method for grincUng circular saws which is now 
univereally used. In 184G appeared his most wonderfid invention, the 
"lightning jn-inting press," better known as the rotary press. The 
form of type is secm'ed upon the surface of a horizontal cylinder, and 
prints at every revolution as many papers as it has impression cyhn- 
ders. At first there were four cylindei's ; these were finally increased 
to ten, giving the press a capacity for making 20,000 uupressions in 
an hour, on one side of the sheet. This press soon superseded every 
other in the United States, in Great Britain, in cities on the continent 
of Europe, and in Austraha. 

Tt was not long before Mr. Hoe produced an evidence of his genius 
still more wonderful than his simjile rotary press. It is knoA^Ti as the 
Aveb perfecting press. It is capable of printing on a continuous web or 
roU of paper several miles in length, on both sides of the roU at the 
same time, and cutting off and folding ready for the carrier fi'om 
15,000 to 20,000 perfected newspapers an hour ! The paper is di'a^\'n 
through the press at the rate of one thousand feet a minute. The 
Tribune — the little penny sheet in 1841 — is now (1883) printed on a 
web perfecting press at the regular rate of 15,000 an horn*. 

The gro\\i;h of Hoe's estabhshment is a conspicuous example of the 
mighty expansion of business in the city of K'ew York during the last 
fifty years. In 1842 it was can'ied on in a small way in Gold Street. 
Jsow its floor room would cover several acres. Their main estab- 
lishment covers considerably more than one entu'e block, bounded by 
Grand, Broome, Sheriff, and Columbia streets. The main structure, on 
the corner of Grand and Sheriff streets, is six stories in height ; the 
remainder are four stories in height. The total surface of floor-room 
amounts to over 200,000 square feet, or over four acres ; in all the 
work-shops the floor room is equal to five acres in extent. 

The total number of persons employed in the several estabhshments 
at the beginning of the year 1S83 w;is over 1000 ; the 3'early amount 
of wages paid was 8750,000, and the number of apprentices was about 
250. For the benefit of the latter the proprietors furnish an evening 
school during the winter months, in which mechanical drawing is 
taught two evenings in a week and mathematics one evening a week 
to each boy. Every apprentice is compelled to attend this school. 



SKCO.ND DEl'AUK, 1840-IKOO. 481 

iNo cliiirgc is inadi' for tlii-ir tuition ; on tin- ccuitrarv. rath apprentice 
receives a good linuli, consisting of siindwichcs and coffee, after leav- 
ing worlv and before going into tlie class. The head teacher in this 
evening school devotes his whole time to tiiis work and in visiting the 
sick and poor among tiie workmen. 

In the estal)iislinu'nt .if li. Hoe it ( 'o. ( Kiciiard M., I'eter S.. and Koli- 
ert Hoe) is a sho]) henelit society of oversdumemljei-s, who by means of 
co-ojieration are enabled to buy neces-sjiries of life at the lowest whole- 
sale prices. In the year Issl' the imrcha.sing committee of the socirty 
bought and distrilmtcd among llie subscrilx'T-s (all niembei-s) about 4(Hi 
tons of coal, MHt liarrels of (lour, and Snoo pounds of coffee, at whole- 
sale prices, thereby saving nnich to the workmen. 

U. Iloe & Co have a branch of their establishment in C'hicagcj and 
also in London. Their sjiw business is very large, and the manufacture 
of printing ])resses of every kind, jis well as articles for the use of 
])rintei-s, is very extensive. At a recent visit of the writer to their 
establisiiment there were over 2(h) machine printing presses in course of 
construction, most of them already ordered. The tools u.sed in their 
business are valued at §!l,0(io.(Ki(i. 

Immediately associated with the invention of the jirinting press are 
the arts of type-making, .stcreotyi)ing, and electroty])ing, which are 
now carried on very extensively in the city of Xew York. During the 
second decade type-making and stereotyping had assumed large ]iropor- 
tions in that city, wherein the latter process was first introduced in the 
year 1S13 by David Bruce, brother of George Bruce, the latter the most 
eminent t_A7)e-founder in Xew York during a period of about fifty years. 

David Bruce sailed from Leith, Scotland, in the year 1703, and 
landed at Philadelphia. His brother George reached the same city 
from Scotland two years later, when he was about fourteen years of 
age. lie learned the printer's trade in Philadelphia. In 1 7t>8 the yellow 
fever drove the brothei-s from that city. They journeyed to New 
York, thence to Albany, where they both obtained employmeut in a 
l)rinling office a while ; but they returned to Xew York in the fall, 
walking the whole distance, and made that city their permanent alxxle. 
In ISoO they started a book printing office, at the comer of "Wall and 
Pearl streets, under ]>eculiar circumstances. The printing of " Lavoi- 
sier's Chemistry" was offered them. They had neither an office, 
tyi>e, nor press, yet they resolved to undertake the commission. They 
horn)wed a font of tyj)e and a printing jn-ess, and they executed the 
^vork prt>mptly. 

Desirous of doing tlicir w<irk better, thev explaim-d tlieir jn-ojects to 



483 HISTOUV OF SEW VOliK CITY. 

an acc|Uaintance in Philadelphia, Adam Uamago (inventor of a printing 
press and a standing press), anil asked him for a standing press on 
cre<]it. He sent one to them, and it was the first standing press for 
smoothing printed sheets, wliich the printers of that city considered an 
unnecessar}^ innovation. The jJi'iuting of the book greatly pleased 
their employers, and work flowed in abundantly. At the enil of three 
yeai-s tiiey had rune jwesses at work. 

David Bruce went to England in IS 12. Earl Stanhope had just 
completed the contrivance of a new method of stereotyping by immer- 
sion. Mr. Bruce bought the secret and partly learned the process. 
Keturning to New York in 1813, the brothers made arrangements for 
introducing the process into this country. Bj^ ])erseverance they over- 
came many obstacles. David invented the planing machine, which 
overcame the objection that the j)lates, as cast, were of irregular thick- 
ness. He also invented mahogany shifting blocks to bring the ])lates 
to ty])e height. Having surmomited all difficulties, they stereotypeil the 
JSTew Testament in bourgeois type in ISl-i, the first book ever printed 
from stereotype plates in America. They matle two sets of plates, one 
for themselves and one for Matthew Carey of Philadelphia. An Eng- 
lishman named Watts and Mr. Fay, father of the author and diplomat, 
Theodore S. Fay, afterward brought stereotj'ping to the highest ])er- 
fection in this country.* 

In ISIG the American Bible Society was founded, and the Brnces 
stereotyped tJieir tii-st issues. So it was that Ne\v York won the .honor 
of being the first place in America where the process of stereotyping 
was performed. 

In 1810 the brothers Bruce abandoned printing, bought a building 
on Eldridge Street, and George devoted his talent to type-making, 
while the genius of David was engaged in stereotyping. Geoi-ge had 
leai-ned from experience the necessity of being independent of others, 
as far as possible, in business, so he set about cutting his own steel 
punches for making type. With exquisite taste he soon became one of 
the most artistic of type punch-cutters. His designs for fancy type, 
combination borders, and ornaments showed I'are ai-tistic taste and 
skill. He would sit quietly in his private office for many hours engaged 
in this, to him, delightful labor. I saw him so engaged, his thin gray 
hair beautifying a placid countenance wlien cutting exquisite punches 
for great primer script, with defective vision, in the seventy-eighth year 
of his age. It was his last work. 

* See " A History of American Maniifaotures." by Dr. -T. Leander Bishop. 



SECOND DKCADK, 1S40-1850. 483 

Many of the iidvoltit's introduced into tlie trade to facilitate jji-inting 
and to elevate tlie standard of exrellenee were designed or invented by 
liini. Tlie first issue of the Tatenl < )lliee under the aet of 1842 for pro- 
teetiug designs was granted to (Teorge Bruee for one of his ineonipar- 
ahlo scripts. His life was cont(>niporary with the rise and progress of 
the tyi)ogi"a])hieal art in this country to its highest standai'd. lie 
found the art of tyjie-founding undeveloped, stereoty])ing unknown, 
printing in a wretched state, the newspai)er in its infantile condition, 
and American literature yet unborn. * 

•George Uruco was born in Eilinbnrgh, Scotliind, June 2t>, 17N1. When not quite 
fourteen years of nge he came to .\niericu, Hi-ttJcd in rhilaclelj>hiH, iiutl with an elder 
brother, as we have seen, subsciiuently engaged in the Ijusiness of book printing in New- 
York early in the present century. His Imsiness career with his brother is related in 
the text. From 181G until his death, on .July .■>, 18(5C, he was engaged in the business 
of a type-founder in New York City. Chambers Street was opened in 1S18, and in it he 
erected a house for n foundry, and this place he occupied all the remainder of his life. 
His lirolher and he remained together in business some lime longer. lu IHl.i they 
issued the first specimen-book of " The New York Type Foundrt." The health of his 
brother failing, the latter purchased a farm in New Jersey, and the firm was dissolved in 
18'i2. Then George relinquished stereotyping and engaged exclusively in undoing type. 
He introduced improveuient after improvement, until the beautiful productions of his 
foundry gained for it a wide reputation and extensive and profitalde business. 

In 1833 Peter C. Cortelyon became a business partner cf George Hrnce, and remained 
so until 1850, when he retired, and Mr. Uruce's only son, David W.. took his place, and 
mainly conducted the business during the latter part of his father's life. His name did 
not appear in the firm until after the death of his father, when it was changed to 
"George Bruce's Son A Co." Under that firm name David W. Bruce yet (18H3) con- 
tinues the business at the old place, 13 Chambers Street. 

In 1851 Xfr. Bruce secured the services of .Tames Lindsay, an ex]>ert type-founder and 
stereotyper, to superintend his foundry. That position Mr. Lindsay held until his death, 
in 1879. The elder Bruce gave him a junior partner's interest in the profits. 

Mr. Bruce was an early member of the New York Historical Society, and of the St. An- 
drew's Society, which he joined in 1804 ; was a member and liberal patron of the Tyjiogra- 
phical Society and the Printers' Librarj-, a member and for several years president of the 
Mechanics' Institute,* a member of the American Institute, an officer for many years of 
the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen and of the .Apprentices' Library, and a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. Soon after the Civil War broke out the manufact- 
urers of type organized a type-founders' association. Mr. Bruce was elected its presi- 
dent, and remained in that office until his death. In a quiet way Mr. Bruce was always 
doing good. He wa.s of slight frame, slow and deliberate of speech, and grave in man- 
ner ; and always wearing a white neckcloth, simjile attire, and of serious countenance, he 
would be taken by a stranger for a clergyman. He had all the iudustrj-, integrity, tena- 
citj', and self-will of the Scotch. Under his (ipparently cold exterior was a warm, forgiv- 
ing, and generous nature. 

* Thp Mechfloics' Institute was incorporated in \SS^. and wm for ^onie years quite a flouHstifng instita- 
tion In tlie city of New York, n liad a rcspcclablc liiirary. pliilosophir apparatiin. scicntiflc leclnrfs. and, 
for a nanihcr of year?, a flonri'<hini: day school. It also held iinnual fflirn for a few yonr.«. II* roonif were 
in tbc basement of thp Ciiy Hnll a numhor of year^, and fulmoquently on Fourth Avrnnr. At U^ df0i>olu- 
llna iLi library formed thi' niicUMis of thot of tlic Cnnpir I'ninn. 



484 HISTUUY OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

It was in the city of New York that tiie important chemical process 
known as electro-metallurgy was first appUed to the production of elcc- 
trotyjjes for i)rinting. The late Professor James J. Mapes, in the year 
1840, was publishing the Amencan Repertory of Arts, Sciences, mid 
Man-ufactures. He had seen accounts of the production of facsimiles 
of copperplate engravings by chemical j^recipitation. Desirous of so 
copying a certain engraving for his magazine, he and the late Dr. J. R. 
Chilton made successful experiments to that end. The result induced 
James Conner, an eminent type-founder in New York forty years ago, 
to attempt the jiroduction of matrices for casting ty|3e by chemical 
precipitation. He succeeded, and this finally led to the process now 
univei'sally apjilied in producing copper-faced type for printing known 
as electrotyping.* 

Besides Bruce and Conner, Wliite and Farmer were leading ty])e- 
founders in New York in this decade. Mr. Farmer is yet carrying on 
the business with vigor at the corner of Gold and Beekraan streets, 
under the firm name of Farmer, Little & Co. The estabhshraent was 
first founded at Hartford, Conn., in 1804, and in 1812 it was removed 
to Thames Street, New York. Thence it was removed to Gold Street, 
then to Cliff and BeeL-man streets, and finally to its present location, 
where it has a very extensive and tlioroughly equipi)ed type-foundry. 

The year 1842 was an eventful one in the history of the city of New 
York, for in the summer of that year the waters of the Ci'oton Eiver, 
more than forty miles away, were let into tlie city. In a pi'oceding 

* James Conner was a native of Hyde Park, Duchess County, N. Y., where he was born 
April 22, 1798. He learned the printer's trade. Before he was twenty-one years of age 
he entered the ofiice of the National Advocate, jjublished by M. M. Noah, as a half -pay 
hand, but soon became employed with a book i)rinter, where he might gain a more per. 
feet knowledge of the business. He soon became very expert, and was employed by 
Watts, an Englishman, who was a skilful stereotj^jer, and then he learned that busi- 
ness, and became a leading stereotyper. For about three years he was employed in 
Boston, when he returned to New York and established himself there as a type-founder. 
He made the first stereotype plates of afolioBiljle ever made, and sold the plates to Silas 
Andrews, of Hartford, Connecticut, for §5000. He afterward produced other stereotyped 
works of great utility, and published them himself. Among these were " llaunder's 
Treasury of Knowledge" and a Polyglot Bible. For the latter he made and intro- 
duced a new size and style of type called agate. Mr. Conner was ever alert in the 
matter of improvements in his business, and employed every useful appliance to tho 
perfection of his art. He became po.ssessed of David Bruce's patent for the machine 
casting of type. In 1844 Mr. Conner, whose personal qualities made him popular, was 
elected county clerk of New Y'ork for three years. By re-election ho was continued in 
that office six years. He died in May, 18fil. His two sons have ever since continued 
the business. They have a large establishment on the corner of Reade and Centre 
streets, and one of the best equipped in the city. 



SECOND DECAPK, IK^O-IH-IO. 



485 



rhaptor wo havo trac'd tlu- liistory of tl.o -ivat ('rot<.n A(,ii.-.Uict from 
its inception till its coinpk'tion. 

The water connnissionei-s having,' walked throu-li tlie" atjueduct, a 
distance of more than forty miles, on a tour of inspection, pronounced 
its construction i^erfect, and on the 4th of July, ls42, the water at 
C'rot(jn Lake, in Putnam ("ountv, was let into the aqueiluct and allowetl 
to flow across lli-h Brid-e and int.j the city, UHinj,' the great distrdmt- 
in^' reservoir on .Murrav Hill, the Incleberfr of Revolutionary times. 
This structure is of dark -ranite, in Egyptian stylo of architecture, and 
has a capacity of 2(t,()ou.(Mio gallons, and covers an area of two acres. 
Its walls average fortv-four feet in height aliovc the adjacent streets. 
Ui)on the top of the wall, which is reached hy massive steps, is a brotul 
promenade, from which mav he obtained very extensive views of the 
city and the surrounding country beyond the two rivci-s. The sjifety 
of "the passenger on this ,iroinenade is made secure by a battlement of 
gi-anite on the outsiile, and by an ii-on fence next the water. 

The larn-er of the distributing i)ii)es being completed in October, the 
water wallet into them on tlie Uth of that month, on which occasion 
the rrreat event, and one next in impcvtance to the completion of the 
Erie'canal. to the city of New York, was celebrated by a grand civic 
and militarv display. As such disi)lays are similar on all occasioi^, we 
will not weary the reader with details. It is said to have exceeded in 
numbei-s and" imposing appearance the great Fedend Celebration of 
1788 and the Canal Celebration in 182.5. 

The procession was nearly seven miles in length. I'ouiitams were 
opened as the line passe<l by, creating many demonstrati.^ns of joy. 
The several divisions of the procession halted at the f"ity Jlall 1 ark, 
where the president of the State board of water commissioners, Samuel 
Stevens, Jifter an able address, turned over the great work to J. L^ 
Lawrence, president of the Croton Acpieduct board. Then the Sacred 
Music Society, standing before the sparkling waters of the City Hall 
Park fountain, sang a stirring ode comi^sed at the reiiuest of the 
city authorities by George P. Morris,* the lyric poet. 

• George P Morris «-a9 born in I'hilrvdelphia in October, 1802, und died in Ne^» 
York Citv in .lulv 18G4. He went to New York in early life and engaged in literarj- pur- 
suits. pni.lishingTersos wl>en he was tiftecn years of age. With Samuel Woodworth he 
bc-an the publicnlion of the New York Mirrnr in 1823. Ho was associated m the conduct 
of that weekly periodical with Theodore S. Fay and N. P. ^Villis at different times. 
He established the Ereninn yfrror in 1841. a daily paper, assisted by Willis and Hiram 
Fuller In ISlfi ho established the n„wr J,.,mml. He was a brigndier-«.ncral of a city 
militar^• brifiade. .As a Ivric poet. General Morris acquired wide popularity 1 bo mo.st 
noted of his lyrics was " Woodmnn Spare that Tree.' The last complete edition of h>» 
pocajs was published in ISGO. 



486 HISTOUY OF NEW YOIJK CITY. 

In a hygienic and economical view, the importance of this great work 
cannot be estimated. In insui-ance alone it caused tlie reduction of 
forty cents on every $10(» on the annual rates. 

Notwithstanding the ridge line or watershed, including the Croton 
valley above tiic dam, is 101 miles in length, the stream itself 30 miles 
long, and its tributaries 136 miles in length, and the total area of the 
valley 352 square miles, with 31 natural lakes and ponds, it was soon 
doul)ted whether the supply of water provided for Ijy the magnificent 
work would be sufficient even for the wants in the near future of the 
ra])idly increasing pojndation of New York City. 

So early as the year 1857 these doubts led to a survey the next year 
of a portion of the upper Croton valley, for the purpose of construct- 
ing a storage reservoir somewhere. But here the matter rested for 
years, notwithstanding the Croton Aqueduct board urged the necessity 
of such a reservoir, for prudential considerations. At length one was 
constructed, at Boyd's Corners, in Putnam County, under authority 
given by the Legislature in 1865. It was completed in 1873, and has a 
storage capacity of 3,000,000,000 gallons. 

Since then various projects for increasing the water supply have been 
proposed. One, to bring water from the Housatonic River, by a canal 
to the Croton valley, has met with much favor ; and another, to bring 
water from the Bronx River, in Westchester County, has been adopted, 
and work upon it is now (1883) progressing. In the spring of 1883 the 
Legislature authorized the city of New York to construct a new aque- 
duct. Commissioners were appointed for the purpose. They organ- 
ized on July 5, 1883, and chose the mayor of the city, Franklin Edson, 
president of the board. 



CHAPTER 11. 

IX the voar lA-i2 the foundation of a ^rrcat financial institution was 
laid in Now York City. Tliat institution is Tuk ]\Iiti ai. Liu; Is- 
siKAXcK CoMi'AXY OF New V..KK. It be^^ui its career without a dollar 
of capital, forty years a<,'o, its .sole basis for operations hcing s.'(0(i,u(.mi 
of risks, on i)a])er, taken l)y tiie coi-poratoi-s of the company, tiiat they 
might avail themselves of a sjiecial charter passed that year. Xow 
(iss;!) that institution has neai-ly >;liMi.(Mi{i,n(io of aggretrjite assets. 
The facts concerning the history of this in.stitution down to a late 
]KM-iotl have been drawn from a little work, by Joseph Howard, Jr.. 
entitled '* Marvels in Finance." 

Tlie real foundci' of the Mutual Lif(> In?U"nnro Company of New 
Yoi-k was the late Alfred Pell. On n'turning from a tiip abroad, in 
1S42. having ol)served and studied the workings of the life-insunuice 
system in England and France, he suggested to some of his wealthy 
and inlluential friends tlie pi'opi'iety of testing the ]iurely mutual 
syst(>m in tills country. At liis suggestion the Mutual Life Insurance 
Com|)any was organized, with the following named corporatoi-s : 
"William H. Aspinwall, James Brown, Joiin W. Leavitt, Ehhu Town- 
send, James S. Wadsworth, Philip S. Van Rens.selaer, (Touverneur M. 
AVilkins. John V. L. Pruyn, Thomas W. Olcott. Charles L. Livingston, 
Josejih Blunt. Jacob P. Giraud, John C. Cruger, Alfred Pell, David 
C. Colden, Jacob Harvey, Rol)ei-t B. Jlinturn, Mortimer Livingston, 
Rufus L. Lord, Arthur P>ron.son, Henry Brevooit, Theodore Sedgwick, 
Stacy B. Collins. Robert C. Coinell, James Boorman, James Camitbell, 
William .Moore, Zeliedee Cook, Jr., Jonathan .Miller. Fitz-(in'ene 
Ilall.>ck, John A. King. T. Romeyn Beck, Richard V. De AVitt, 
Gideon Ilawley, James J. Ring. 

^fr. Pell secured a charter from the Legislature in the winter of 
1S4:'., and, in order to avail themselves of it, a certain amount of insur- 
ance was subscribed for by the corporators. So limited were tlie means 
of the institution that in the first year the sidary of the president 
■was only $1500, from which he was to ])ay the rent anil current ex- 
penses I 



488 UlSTOHV OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

The growtli of tlie institution \v;is gi-adual at first, but at the end of 
five years it had made considerable progress. Up to that time it 
had not been discovered that the company had been operating upon 
a vitally erroneous basis, which Mr. Pruyn, who drew the charter, 
had not considered. The eiTor consisted in the omission to provide for 
reserves to meet cm-rent expenses, and also to meet the losses of future 
years. The charter, as drawn, provided that at the exph-atiou of the 
first five years, and of every subsequent five yeare, a balance of the 
accounts of the comjiany should be struck, and after deducting its pay- 
ments from its receipts, all the remainder should be divided among the 
pohcy-holdei-s. 13y this scheme the company really began business 
afresh every five years. 

The charter was at once amended so as to jjrovide for the accumula- 
tion of a sufficient reserve to meet the future liabihties, and " the re- 
cuperative ]5ower of compound interest did the rest." It was a lucky 
escape from imminent peril. 

The first president of the company was ilorris Robinson. He died, 
and Joseph B. Colhns was elected to fiU his place, which he did until 
June, 1853. At that time — the close of the first ten years of its ex- 
istence — there were 6773 pohcies in force, insuring §17,917,418, with 
assets of $2,040,(>00. Dm-ing that time the company had received the 
gratuitous services, in the way of advice and active interest in its affaire, 
of Alfred Pell, Joseph Blunt, and J. Y. L. Pruyn, who may be justly 
styled the fathers of the great company. 

It was at the beginning of a new decade in the Ufe of the company 
that the tnistees became dissjitisfied with the management of the presi- 
dent. There was then in the board of trustees a clear-headed mer- 
chant, who had accepted a seat at the board on the earnest sohcitation 
of the first president (Mr. Eobinson) and Mr. Mintui-n, with the 
assurance that it need not take more than four hours of his time in a 
year. The office ^vas then in Wall Street, near Pearl Street, not 
far from this trustee's place of business. He soon perceived that if 
he should do his duty as a tnistee of a great moneyed institution, if he 
cared to know anything of the Avoi-kings of the company, he must 
spend four hours a daij, instead of four hours a year^ in order to under- 
stand the responsibihty he had voluntarily assumed. He accordingh^ 
visited the institution almost daily, spending a long time in studying 
the details of the work. The other trustees soon perceived that there 
was a dominant mind among tliera, and they elected this merchant 
president of the company in 1853. Tiiat chosen officer was Frederick 



SKCONl) DECADE, 1840-ia';0. 4S'J 

SL'Viutiur Winston, wlio still iiulds tlic anliiuii, ;niil ivsponsihli- |>usi- 
tion.* 

It Wius a fortunato day for tiic .^^ntu il ^nsuraiic:> ('mnpanv when it 
chose Mr. "Winston for its president. With ids inangnration tiie hi^dier 
life of the company l>egan. and tiie institution soiin assumed a proud 
position. It was alfeeted by the financial dilKeulties of Is.jT, yet it 
went steadily forward with ever-increiusini,' strides. Tiien came ii crisis 
whicii lequired great wi.sdom and sound ju<lgment to meet. Civil 
war hroUe out in ISOl. Immediate confusion followed in all the 
relations of life, social, mercantile, and financial, as well .ls political. 
Confidence was disturbed, and very soon there was little more than i)el- 
ligerent connnunications lietween the peo])le of tiie Xortii and .Soutii. 

The Mutual Life Insunince Company held risks at tiie Soutli. It 
was impossilile for tiie Southern ])oiicy-liolders to meet their obligations 
with the company. Tiie iioldci's were beyond tiie company, as tiie 
comjiany was inacces.sible to tiiem. Tiie question arose, not Wliat is 
eu-jiedioit * l)Ut Wliat \^j<i.4f On tiie suggestion of tiie president tiie 
company assumed tiiat each policy so held in tiie Soutii was tendered 
to the company for surrender, and tliat it would accejit tlie surrendered 
pohcies, paying tiie holders tlie value tiiereof. Tiie Supreme Court 
decided that tliis coui-se was legal and just, and there was general satis- 
faction among tiie pohcy-hoiilers. 

Then arose anotlier important question : Wliat siiall tiie company tlo 
with pohcies held iiy soidiei-s in tlic I'nion armies ? By tiio rules of 
the comjiany tlie moment a jiolicy-iioUler bore arms in any cause what- 
ever, his policy became void. The company, led by the wise and 
patriotic iinjiulses of the ])resident, did not hesitate a moment on the 
verti-e of tiie question, Imt determined to cany tiio policies upon their 
Ixioks, ciiarging an extra amount tliat migiit seem reasonable against 
the dividends, and to pay tlie face of the policy in case of deatii. They 
also t<Mik new risks njion tlie sjime teniis, and tiie losses and the extra 

• sir. Winston is a native of lialUton, N. Y., where be wns born in the year 181'2. His 
parents were Frederick anil Snsan (Seynionr) Winston. His father was of a Virginia 
family, his mother of a Connei-ticiit family. In 1833 XIr. Winston luBrried Miss Lnuy 
Cotton. Thoy have been blesscil with six chilJren, and lived to celebrate their golden 
wedding. The education of Mr. Winston was acaileniic. He passed his youth on a 
farm, but has been a resident of New York City since 182fi, where he begun his business 
life as a merchant, and pnrsned that vociitinn until elected president of the institution of 
which ho is the head. He haa been a life-lonfi and devoted member of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, and was for many years an active member of the vestry- of St. fSeorge's 
Church and leader in its Sabbath-school. 



'190 HISTOHV t>K NEW VOKK tITY. 

amount receivetl for j)olici('s lield by soldiers balanced within a few 
dollars. The following letter, written by the president to Captain T. 
Seymour, in Fort Moultrie, Charleston Harbor, on December 26, 1860, 
shows the liumaiie and patriotic spirit of the company : 

" Dear Sik : Your note of the 2'2d is before me. May God avert the insane outrage 
and the terrible calamity yon contemplate : but if it comes to you now, while doing your 
duty in Fort Moultrie, abandoned by the government that should sustain you, have 
no anxiety about your policy. So sure as there is a North on this continent, you shall 
be paid if 3'ou fall. 

" On no spot in this land is so much interest concentrated as on the fort you occupy. 
May the stars and stripes wave over it forever. 

"Very respectfully yours, F. S. Winston." 

At this di-eadtul crisis in the hfe of the Eepuljlic, the government 
needed money. Its securities had been discreilited by a traitorous 
Secretary of the Treasury, Howell Cobb. Its credit was well-nigh 
gone. Banks and ca])italists, regarding its bonds as almost worthless 
under the circumstances, tightened their purse-strings. Where was 
the money to be procured ? The wise and patriotic Mutual Insurance 
Company answered the momentous question. Through its president it 
said to the Secretary of the Treasury, " We have considered the gov- 
ermnent bonds good enough to warrant our investing fifty per cent of 
our assets in them. If they fail, we fail. If the country survives, w^e 
survive." 

From that time the Mutual continued to make large subscriptions to 
government loans. On one occasion Secretary Chase came from Wash- 
ington, called a number of capitalists together, and represented to them 
the immediate pei-ils and the wants of the government. The ilntual 
Life Insurance Company was represented at the meeting, and it showed 
its faith in the government, its true patriotism, and its loyalty to the 
flag, by subscribing $200,000, taking government bonds at 81. And in 
like manner it gave its aid to the government all through the dire, 
conflict, and profited by it in every way. 

Then came the rise in gold anjl the suspension of specie payments. 
The country Avas flooded with a depreciated currency — paper money, 
so called, not Avorth its face. The (juestions confronted the company : 
Shall we accept tliis currency, and take the chance of its future appreci- 
ation ? or shall we decline to take it, and sacrifice the business of the 
company ? Good judgment, sound discretion, and faith in the triumph 
of a righteous cause solved the (juestion immediately. The eomjiany 
decided to take the paper currency and call it cash, and this policy was 
pursued until the resumption of s]iocie pnyment and the equalization of 



SKiO.Nii DKCADK. 1840-1850. 401 

valui' l)et\veen tho groenbiicks anil fr<»l*l :in<l silver. In tliis wisi- and 
patriotic coui-se the company rcai)ed many jtiotits and won a liost of 
friends. 

In the cause of benevolence the Mutual was ever conspicuous durin;^ 
the war. President AViiislon was present at the formation of tli(> 
I'nited States Sanitary Commission in New York, and cijntiibutcd lib- 
erally, then and always, to its funds. The company wijs ever ready to 
extend a helping hand in time of need. Mr. Howard relates that after 
a severe battle the siK'iety was without funds to carry on their work 
at that ]Miint with etticiency. The Rev. Dr. Bellows. ])resident of the 
commission, called on the president of the ^^utu;d, anil said : 

" My dear friend, we don't know what to do, where to turn, where 
to go to ; how to raise money for f)ur al)Solute needs is beyond us. 
We have funds sullicient for a few days only, and UTiless something 
turns up, or something comes unexpectedly to our relief, we shall be 
obliged to disband. It will be difficult for us to continue the work 
three months longer, as seems necessjiry." 

" llow much do you want f a.sked President Winston. 

Dr. I'ellows named the sum, when the president instantly replied : 

" You shall have it. Come to me always ; we will do our propor- 
tion, ami our example will unc|uestionably lie followed by othei-s. " 

The ^futual not only helped the nation in its distress, but it hel]wd 
the city and country of its birth in patriotic o]ierations. The president 
of the company had faith in the ability and disposition of both to meet 
their obligations, and his faith inspired othei"s. 

I.«ite in the war the pul)lic confidence in the ability of the citv and 
county of Xew York to meet its liabilities was feai-fully shaken, and 
the city bonds could not be readily negotiated. It was just after the 
last call of the government for volunteei-s. There were plenty of 
reciniits at headciuartei-s, but money was lacking to enal)le the authori- 
ties to send them to the field. A committee from the comptroller's 
office called on President Winston ami asked for a loan, stating the 
cireumstances. He examined their statements, and said ])romptly. " Go 
back to headipiartei-s, arrange to send your men away, bring me the 
lx)mis, and take the money." The jiroper authorities officially thanketl 
the company for this timely help. 

The lesser benefiictions of the com])any have always been conspicu- 
ous. It sent $!ln,0(iO to the sufferei-s in Chicago after the great fire 
there. When Memphis was smitten with the yellow fever it sent 
S.5<iO(» to the authorities of the afflicted city ; and when the gal- 
lant Seventh Regiment Xational rjurird. to whom the citv is so 



493 HISTORY OF NP^W YOKK CITY. 

much indebteil for iiniminity from riots and insurrections from time to 
time, appealed for aid to build their magnificent armoiy on I'ifth 
Avenue, the Mutual was a liberal subscriber.* 

For thirty yeai-s since the elevation of Mr. Winston to the presidency 
of the ilutual Life Insurance Company of New York, a broad and lib- 
eral policy has characterized its conduct. Its success has been marvel- 
lous. It is to-day tiie foremost financial institution in the world. Mr. 
Winston is still (1883) its president and Isaac F. Lloyd is its secretary. 
To Mr. Winston's wisdoin, })erspicacity, and business ability is mainly 
duo the pre-eminent position now en joj'ed by the Mutual. Its assets 
in November, 1883, were S100,000,()00.t 

* The new armorv for the Seventh Regiment National Gnard is a magnificent building, 
occupying a whole square between Fourth (or Park) Avenue and Lexington Avenue, and 
Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh streets. It covers an area of 20U by 405 feet. It is con- 
structed of Philadelphia brick, with granite trimmings. The style of architecture is 
mixed. It has a square tower at each comer, and one at the centre of the front. At the 
main entrance there is a broad platform and steps, and the staircases are broad and 
elegant. Facing Fourth Avenue are the administration-rooms, occupying the whole front, 
and leaving the remainder of the floor (200 by 300 feet) for a drill-room. The interior 
is admirably arranged for the purpose for which it was designeil, and most sumptuously 
fitted up. There are ten company-rooms, each of which is fitted up in accordance 
with the taste of each company. No two are alike. The woodwork of one is mahogany, 
of 'another oak, of another rosewood. The ceiling of one is frescoed, another is of 
carved wood panels. Our .space will not allow a description of these rooms. Most ex- 
quisite taste is displayed in all. There is nothing meretricious. Everything means 
something. There is an air of spaciousness and substantiality about them all. Tlio 
veterans' room— the room devoted to the use of the veterans of the regiment — is magnifi- 
cent, and beautiful in details ; it is an art study. 

Besides these rooms there are a library and reading-room, rooms for the officers and 
non-commissioned oflicers, a memorial-room, six squad drill-rooms, and in the basement 
a rifle-range 300 feet iu bngth. 

f During the rule of a band of plunderers of the city treasury some years ago known 
as " The Tweed Ring," a conspiracy was formed among them to get control of the 
Mutual, by obtaining an order from a .iudge of the supreme court to place the affairs of 
the company in the hands of a j>olitician and professional receiver, under the false 
charge that it was insolvent. Information to this effect reached Mr. Winston, and he 
employed George H. Purser, an astute lawyer, to use his knowledge of the thieves and his 
influence in averting the theatened peril. Parser called on the judge, who tacitly 
admitted that he intended to issue such an order. No argument could move him to jirom- 
ise to desist from the intended crime. Purser then called on a prominent city official, 
who afterward became a fugitive from justice, and charged him with complicity in the 
conspiracy. He tried to bribe Mr. Purser. Perceiving that the conspiracy was nearly 
ripe for action, Purser again called on the judge, with a certificate of the superintendent 
of insurance to the effect that the Mutual was perfectly solvent. He told the judge 
plainly that unless he gave him a promise to desist from complicity in the villainous 
scheme, application would be made in the mnining, before the proper .authorities, 
to restrain him, as a chief of a band of conspirators, from interfering with thv business 





/^^v^. 



\ 



SECON'I) DF.cADK, into law. 493 

The proat inlliix dP loifii^nifiN iiilo tlu'city of New Vork for si •vend 
ycai-s, alreadv allii<lfil In in cdtiiu'ctiim witli the KIcctinn lliots of ls;i4, 
liati iiu'ivased tlii' uneasiness of nndtitudes t>f relleetin;: niin<ls concern- 
in;; the safety of tlie hallot-hox, tlie palladium of our iiiierlies. These 
adojited citizens had y:ro\vn so strong in nund)ei-s early in the second 
decade that tlioy held the balance of ])o\ver between the two great 
])olitical parties, the Whigs and Democrats, at the spring elections. 
The conseiiuence was that when eitlu-r party gained a victory, the 
adopted citizens claimed, it wa,s alleged, an unreasonable sliare of the 
spoils, and the amount of the patronage controlled by the mayor and 
common council of New York wius very great. At length the native 
citizens became alanned, and it was resolved to endeavor to make the 
naturalization laws more stringent. 

In the winter of lS4:V4-i a large nundjcr of citizens, including many 
of the most respectable in character, influence, and wealth, and mem- 
bers of both parties, condiined in organizing a fonnidable opposition to 
this aggressive and dangeroas element in the l<xal politics. This 
league was called the Native American party. They nominateil James 
IIar])er, the senior partner of the firm of Harper ik Brothers, publish- 
ei-s, for the office of mayor of New York, and a full nuinber of aldei-- 
men. It was a ''citizens' ticket." Mr. Harper was elected in the 
spring of 1S44 by a majority over the "Whig and Democratic candidates 
of 4:^H!.* The larger number of the Native American candidates for 

of a solvent corporation. " I give yon my wonl." suiil Mr. Tiirser, " ns yonr personal 
friend, and as counsel for this company, that unless you assure me, before I leave this 
room, that this project shall be abandoned, I will not rest until I obtain an injunction 
against you as a conspirator in this infamy." The frightened judge promised, and the 
Mutual was saved from a great peril. 

In December, 1H82, the llutnal bought the premises on Nassau, Cedar, and Liberty 
streets, occupied for many years as the city Post-Offico, and which was formerly the 
" Middle Dutch Reformed Ch\irch. " The dimensions of the lot are 184 feet 8 inches on 
Nassau Street, 115 feet 9 inches on Cedar Street, 110 feet 8 inches on Liberty .Street, and 
174 feet in the rear. On this lot the company has erected an edifice for it« use, eleven 
stories in height, and at one point it reaches Ifil feet from the ground. This building 
is in tUe style of the Italian Renaissance. The materials are of gr.inile, terra-cotta, 
and buff brick, firc-proof, and furnished with six hydraulic elevators, the cost of the 
structure being about $1.. ^00, 000. 

* .Tamo.s Harper, the senior member of the original firm of Harper .t Brothers, was the 
son of .Joseph Harper, a farmer of Newtown, Long Island. lie was born .\i>rll 13, 179.5. 
His graMilf.ither came from England to .\nierica about the year 1740, and was one of the 
earliest Methodists in this country. .J.imes and his three brothers -.Tobn, Joseph 
Wesley, and Fletcher - adopted the religious belief of their father and grandfather 

.Tames was a tall and stalwart lad of sixteen when he came to New Vork to learn the 
ait of printing. Ry his unusual industry, tidility, and thrift he gained in a few years 



494 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

alderiiu^n were also elected. From tliis auspicious beginning the Native 
American part}^ spread, and was an active element in the politics of the 
Repuljlic. But its policy became so narrow and really anti- American 
in character that after the national election in 18.")(i, when Millard 

KuflScient means to begin business as a printer on his own account. He haJ great i)hys- 
ical strength, and was considered the most expert pressman in the city. He was shortly 
after joined by bis brother John, who had also learned the printer's trade, and Aery 
soon the firm of J. & 3. Harper became known for its skill and trustworthy work. Their 
two younger brothers— Josejjh Wesley and Fletcher— became their aj^prentices, and 
about 1826 their partners in business, when the firm of Hiu-jjer ct Brothers was estab- 
lished—soon to become the leading publishing house in America. To the frequent 
question, "Which is'Hai-per' and which are the ' Brothers '? " the invariable reply 
was, " Each of us is ' Harper ' and the rest are the ' Brothers. ' " 

For forty-three years this brotherhood remained unbroken until, in the spring of 1869, 
the eldest brother and the founder of the house was suddenly removed by death. Early 
in the afternoon of the 2.5th of March, pursuant to an engagement with one of his 
nephews, he went to Rockwood's and had his photograph taken. After dinner, on his 
way to the Central Park, accompanied by one of his daughters, the horses were fright- 
ened and ran away, and Jlr. Harper and his daughter were thrown violently to the ground. 
Mr. Harper was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, where he died on Saturday evening, the 
29th (Easter even), never having recovered consciousness after the accident. The 
funeral services were held March 31st, in St. Paul's Methodist Church, attended by a 
large number of people. The pall-bearers were Peter Cooper, John Hall, Jacob Sleeper, 
.\. T. Stewart, Daniel Drew, J. M. Raymond, Edwin Mead, James M. Morrison, Wesley 
Smith, William H. Apjileton, Henry Drisler, and George William Curtis. There was 
universal mourning for the deceased, and marked resjject for his memory was paid by 
societies, cori)orations, and the business fraternity with which he was associated. The 
members of the rauuicipal government attended his funeral in a body. 

While there was this jiublic manifestation of sorrow— while the fiags above the City 
Hall and other public buildings were displayed at half-mast, and the press everywhere 
gave utterance to the general regret for the loss of an eminent citizen— there was a multi- 
tude of those who were bowed down by a private grief, because they had lost a sympa- 
thizing friend. Few knew the extent of Mr. Harper's charities ; often not even the 
recipient knew from what source relief came. One instance may be mentioned as char- 
acteristic of the man and his unostentatious benevolence. He knew the name and the 
cireumstances of nearly every one of the hundreds employed in his establishment. A 
woman was suffering frcmi an inflammation of the eyes. Her sister in the country wrote, 
urging her to visit her. She could not afford the expense of the journey. One morning 
Mr. Harper stopped at her stand and handed her a little book, saying, " There, there ! 
Don't be troubled about your eyes. Go and visit your sister, and here's a little book to 
read on the way." The woman opened the book, as he went away, and between its 
covers found money more than sufficient to meet her need. 

Mr. Harper was both an example and an advocate of the virtue of temperance. He 
was the president of the first Washingtonian Total Abstinence. Society founded in New 
York. In 1801 he w-as chosen by Mr. Matthew Vassar, of Poughkeepsie, as one of the 
incorporators of the first colle;;u ever established for women, and he remained a trustee 
of that institution until his death. Ho was without political ambition. It was only at 
the earnest solicitation of good men that he accepted the nomination for mayor of the 
city of New Y'ork. He was elected by a uiajiuity composed cf the best citizens of both 



SK«OMl DKCADK, ls|0 IHoO. 405 

Fillmore was its oiindidato for I'rcsideiit of tiie Tniti'd Statos, it was 
dissolved. 

Tiierc was a reaction the year I'dI lowing' tlio election of IIariM?r. 
The Democrats elected William !■". llavenieyer mayor, and nearly all 
the aldermen. During the remainder of this decade the Wiii-,^ and 
Democrats alternately elected their candidates for mayor. The Demo- 
crats elected Andrew II. .Mickle in [>iW, l)Ut in 1S47 the AVhi^rs "piined 
the ascendency and elected their candiilate, William V. Urady. Mr. 
Ilavemeyer was re-elected in 184S, but the next year the Whi;rs were 
again triumphant, electing Caleb S. WoodhuU mayor. It was in the 
latter year (1841t) that an amended charter Wius granted to the city, 
which changed the day of the charter election from the Hi-st Tuesday 
in April to the fii-st Tuesday in November, the day of the State 
election. 

During this decade and a part of the preceding dc'cade tlie courts, 
especially that of Common Pleas, in the city of New York underwent 
moditications. In ls:U an associate judge of the Ctmrt of Common 
Pleas was created, who was vested with all the ]K)wer.s of the lii-st 
judge. To this ]wsition Michael Ulshoetfer was first ajipointed. On 
the death of Judge John T. Irving, in ls3S, ULshoetlVr was appointed 
fii-st judge, and Daniel P. Ingiaham associate. 

parties. He accej)teil the oflico us an important trust, uiul discharged its duties in tbe 
sauie spirit. 

IJnt bis life was pre-ominently that of a business man. The industry, integrity, and 
sound jn<lgment by which he had won success were also his characteristic ijualities as 
senior member of the prosperous firm. Every morning he visited each department of 
the establishment, with a shiu-p eye to eveiy business detail, but with here and there a 
helpful word and everywhere the kindliest humor. JIuny of the most eminent authors 
and literary men of the time had beeorae associated with the house, and their reminis- 
cences of Mr. Haqier"s sage counsel and ([uaint humor would fill a volume. But espe- 
cially the young and as yet unknown author had occasion to remember the appreciation 
and encouragement received in the counting-room where he first met the oldest of the 
Harper Brothers. 

The late afternoon and evening Sir. Harper devoted to domestic duties and pleasures. 
Besides the members of his own family, he in his home frequently met and entertnincd 
others, gathered together by accident- for he seldom, if ever, gave any fonnal parties. 

Mr. Harper lived to be seventy-four years old. But in physical and mental vigor he 
seemed at least twenty years younger. He was perfectly erect, with scarcely a gray hair 
on his head. He was twice married. He left one son liy hi.s first wife— Mr. Philip .1. A. 
Haq)er, now the senior member of the house of Haq)ei A: Brothers. By his second wife 
he left two djinghters and a son. 

The portrait of Sir. Harjier given in this work is engraved from the photograi>h taken 
on the afternoon of the fatal acci<lent. The fac-simile of his signature under the portrait 
is from his autograph ajipended to a document signed l>y him just before be left his 
oSce on that day. It was the last writing from his hand. 



4!>0 HISTOUV OF NEW YOUR CITV. 

An iuklitional associate judge was created in 1839, vested with all 
the powei-s of the other jiulges, and William Inglis was appointed to 
that position. Charles P. Daly succeeded Judge Inglis in ls44. The 
court thus constituted— a first judge and two assistant judges— re- 
mained until the adojjtion of the revised State Constitution in 1846. 
By the fiat of that Constitution the Court of Common Pleas and the 
Superior Court of Js^ew York City were specially excepted from the 
general judicial reorganization of the State ; but by an act passed the 
following year it Avas provided that the terms of the judges of both 
com-ts should expire on the 17th of January thereafter (ISiS), and that 
an election of judges by the people, for each of the courts, should take 
place in Jmie preceding. It was also provided that the terms of the 
judges elected should be classified in ternis of two, four, and six yeai-s, 
to be determmed by lot, and that the election of all judges thereafter 
in either of the courts should be for six yeai-s. In June, 1817, all of 
the existing judges of the Court of Common Pleas were elected. The 
allotment was as follows : Michael Ulshoetfer, two yeai^s ; Daniel P. 
Ingraham, four yeare, and Charles P. Daly, six yeai-s. * 

* Charles P. Daly, LL.D., was bom in the city of New York October 31, 1810. He is 
a descendant of the Eomau Catholic branch of the O' Daly's of Gahvay, a family notable 
in Irish history for its many scholars, bards, and legislators. His father came from the 
north of Ireland, established a tavern, first on the spot whore the Tribune building now 
stands, and afterward near the Park Theatre. It became a place of great resort for theat- 
rical people. After his death, his son Charles, who had been educated at a private 
bchool, determined to earn his own living. He procured employment in Savannah, but 
becoming dissatisfied with his employer he went to sea, first as a cabin-boy and then as 
a sailor before the mast. In this pursuit he continued fully three years, when he 
returned to New York and apprenticed himself to a mechanic. Having an ardent thirst 
for learning and a strong desire for mental improvement, he soon joined a debating 
society, and became distinguished for great ability in debate and correctness and fluency 
in speech. 

Young Daly attracted the attention of an eminent member of the bar, who advised 
him to study law, offering to pay the expense of his tuition at Union College. The 
young mechanic was unwilling to incur such a heavy obligation. Soon after this offer 
was made his master died. He was legally released from the bonds of his indentures, 
but he felt himself morally bound by them, and he served his master's widow faithfully 
until he was twenty-one years of age. Then he began the study of law with the gentle- 
man who had advised him to make it his life profession. His extraordinary progress in 
his studies enabled him, by a relaxation of rigid rules in his case, to be admitted to the 
bar in 1839, at the age of twenty-three years. He rapidly rose in his profession, was 
elected to the Legislature in 1843, and in 1814, on the recommendation of Governor 
Marcy, he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the city of New 
York. He has held that position ever since, by appointments and successive elections. 

In 18.57 Judge Daly was raised to the head of the Court of Common Pleas. During the 
forty years of his judicial service no whisper of a siispicion of dereliction of duty on the 
part of .Judge Daly has ever been he.ird ; no charge of unfairness nor hint of con-nption 



SECOND DEtADK, l«4()-ia')0. 497 

By the act of l>i47, and by the cocle adopted in 1^48 and aiiioiulL'tl in 
1849, 1851, ami ls.">;!, tli(3 Court of Coiuiuou Picas in New York City 
exercised unhmited jurisdiction in law and e(|uity, when the defendants 
reside or are pei-sonally served with })rocess in the city of Xew Yoi-k. 

has ever boon uinilu \>y politicnl pnrtiHuns, or tliut ho wiik the willing instrnmcnt of nny 
clftss of politicians. His criniuu mantle is free from the least stain. He enjoys the con- 
fidence and respect of iiU uitizens. and he is justly regarded as a representative of the 
highest moral and inteltectual tone of the society of which he is a member. Judge Daly 
is an earnest, plodding, persistent investigator and searcher after truth, a patriot of 
broad views, and a churchman without bigotry or nncharitubleness. 

Judge Daly visited Eurojie in 1M.")1, and was received warudy by cultivated men every- 
where. In England he won the friendship of Lord Hrongham, and on the continent of 
the Chevalier Bunscn and Baron Humboldt. In a letter to Bunscn concerning Judge 
Daly, Humboldt wrote : " .\11 that you communicated to me about him I have found 
coulirnied in a much higher degree. Few men leave behind them such an imjiression of 
high intellect upon the great subjects which influence the march of civilization." 

Judge Daly had won a national reputation before his visit to Europe, by his admirable 
course in administering justice to the .\stor Place rioters. Ho was called upon to pre- 
side at the Court of Sessions. In his charge to the jury the young judge said a mob was 
n despot, and rioting was a crime against law and order. Men who stir up a popular 
tumult to advance their own selfish ends, he said, must take the consequences, as do 
other criminals. To the astonishment of the multitude who sympathized with tho 
rioters, the criminals were convicted under the clear rulings of the court, and their 
leader was sent to the penitentiary. 

When the Civil War broke out. Judge Daly stood firmly, not only in support of the 
government, but of justice toward all. In the civse of the captured " privateers" at the 
beginning of the strife, and of the " Trent affair" some months afterward, he gave the 
law to the President and his cabinet so forcibly and clearly that tho government was pre- 
vented from making most serious blunders. 

In 18G7 Judge Daly was an active member of the New York State Constitutional Con- 
vention. He was a leading member of the Judiciary Committee that reported the present 
judiciary system of the State of New York. His addresses before the convention were 
nilmirable historical reviews. He is one of the founders of the American Geographical 
Society, and one of its most worthy members. The position of its president he has held 
many years, ^\^)en he took the chair the society was in a languishing condition ; 
under his energetic administration it has become one of the most flourishing and 
iiscfnl instifutinns of the metropolis— tho object of his constant care. At the rooms of 
the society ami at his own hospitable mansion, ho receives the most distinguished 
travellers and philosophers from other lands, and his hand is ever open with generous 
gifts of work or money for the advancement of science and learning in all their aspects. 
His annual addresses before the society rank foremost among the geographical literature 
of onr time. 

Judge Daly is an enthusiastic admirer of dramatic literature, poetry, and music, ond 
liis sweet tenor voice when he sings after a quiet family dinner is genuine melody. In 
1S5G he morried Miss Maria Lydig, a lady of high social position, and prominently 
known ever since for her labors in connection with private and public charities 
Their beautiful home is the resort of cultivated people of both sexes. Tho judge's 
Interest and activity in tho various societies and institutions in the city— literary, scien- 
tific, and artistic —never flags. His industry is remarkable, his temperate and regular 



498 HISTORY OF NEW YOHIC CITY. 

It has also jurisdiction against corporations created by the laws of the 
State which transact their general business in the city ; also against 
foreign corporations upon any cause of action arising in the State. By 
an act passed in 1854 tliis court possesses juristliction in special ])roceed- 
ings for the disposition of the real estate of infants, when such property 
is in the city of I^ew York. 

By this code the Court of Common Pleas is made a court of i-eview 
for the judgments of the Marine or district justices' courts of the city, 
and its decision upon and appeal from any of these courts is final. It 
also has the exclusive power of remitting fines iraposetrby the Court of 
Sessions as j)enalties.* 

The charter of the city of Xew York, amended by act of the Legis- 
lature, passed April 7, 1830, was again amended liy the act of the 
Legislatm-e, passed April 2, 1849, to take effect on the fii-st day of June 
ensuing. The amended charter provided, as we have observed, for 
holding the charter election on the first Tuesday in November (the 
day of the State election), the terms of the respective officers chosen to 
begin on the first Monday in January next ensuing ; also that the 
mayor and aldermen should be elected annually as before, but to hold 
their office for two years instead of one, while the assistant aldermen 
should be elected every year as before. 

The charter also provided for the creation or permanent estabhsh- 
ment of nine executive departments, the heads of which should con- 
stitute a portion of the city government, to assist the magistrate in 
ruling the citj^ They were to form a sort of cabinet ministry for 
the mayor, who could at any time summon them to his assistance in 
the administration of the government of the city. These departments 
Avere to be — 

1. The Pohce Department, with the mayor at the head, and a 
bureau, the head of which was to be known iis the Chief of Police. 

habits are proverbial, and his lore of books and of research is a passion which he grati- 
fies. His is one of the choicest private libraries in the city. .\Ithough Judge Daly is 
one of the busiest of men, he is one of the most social of men. He is always ready to see 
his friends, and the deserving applicant for his bounty is always listened to patiently, 
and is never turned from his doors empty-handed. 

Judge Daly is the author of many published works, comprising addresses, essays, 
histories, and biographies. Among these is a learned " Historical Sketch of the Tribunals 
of New York from 1023 to 181G," also " The Nature, Extent, and History of the Sun-ogate 
Court of the State of New York," " A Comparison Between the Ancient and Modem 
Banking Systems," " History of the Settlement of the Jews in North America," etc. 

* See Chief-Justice Daly's erudite " History of the Court of Common Pleas for the 
City and County of New York, with an Account of the Judicial Organization of the 
State from l(i'23 to 1846." 



SEl'OXD decade, 1840-1800. 499 

2. The Dc])!irtinont of Financo, of whicli tlip cliief officer was to Ije 
(lenoimnated tlio ("oiiiptmllor of tlie City of New York. Tlie depiirt- 
iiieiit was to liave tlirei' Itureaus, the lieatls of wliicli were to ha called, 
ro-speetively, tlie Receiver of Taxes, the C'oUector <jf the City IJevciuie, 
and tiu! Chaiiiljerlaiu of the City of Xew York. 

3. The Street Department, the chief officer of wliich was to h- called 
the Street Coniinissioner ; the department to have one bureau, the 
head of which was to be called the Collector of Assessments, an<l 
another bureau, the chief of which was to be known as the 8u])erin- 
tendent of ^Vharves. 

4. The Depai'tuient of Repairs and Supplies, witli four bureaus, tiie 
heads of which sliould In- calleil, resi)ectively. Superintendents of 
Roads, Repairs to Public Buildinj^rs, and of Permits, and Chief Engineer 
of the Fire Department. The head of the department was to be 
known as the Commissioner of Repairs and Supplies. 

5. The Department of Streets and Lamps, under a Commi.ssioner of 
Streets and Lamps, with three bureaus, the chiefs of which were 
called, respectively. Superintendents of Lamps and Gas, of Streets, 
and of Markets. 

0. The Croton Aqueduct Board, the cliief of which shoulil be de- 
nominated President. Engineer, and Assistant Commissioner, with a 
bureau, the head of which was to be calh^l the AVatei" Register. 

7. The City Inspector's Department, the chief officer known as City 
InsjKjctor. 

8. The Almshouse Department, the chief officei-s known as Gov- 
ernors of the Almshouse. 

0. The Law Department, the head of which was to be called the 
CouiLsel for the Corporation, witii a buixnui known as that of the Cor- 
jioration Attorney. 

It was jirovided that the heads of these several departments, excejit- 
ing the Croton Af|ueduct Board, should be elected every three yeai-s 
by the people. They were all subject to the legislative regulation and 
direction of the common council. 

The year 1845 was marketl by several noted conflagrations in the 
city of Xew York. One of these was exceeded in destructiveness only 
by the great fire of ten years before. On the morning of Febniary 
5th, about four o'clock, during the prevalence of a terrible snow-storm, 
a fire ijroke out in the counting-room of the Tribtnu' building. It was 
discovered by the pressmen in the basement, who. like the comjwsitors 
in the upper story, had barely time to escape with their lives. ^Ir. 
Graham (one of the proi)rietoi's of the Tribune) and a clerk were sleep- 



500 HISTORY OF NEW YOHK (ITT. 

ing in the second storv, and escaped by jumping out of a window into 
snowdrifts below. So deep and drifted was the snow that it Avas 
impossible to drag fire-engines thi'ough it— indeed some of them could 
not be gotten from their houses for a long time — and the hj^drant 
nearest the Tr'ihune building was so frozen that it could onl}^ be opened 
with an axe. That building and the one adjoining, on the corner of 
Spruce and Xass;iu streets, were destiwed, with all their contents. 

On the 25th of April the Bowery Theatre was destroyed by fire for 
the fourth time, about six o'clock in the evening. The fire broke out 
in the carpenter's shop of the theatre, and before an iron safety door 
could be closed, spread rapidly to the scenery within the buikUng. In 
less than half an hour the theatre was a smoking ruin. It was sup- 
posed the fire was the work of an incendiary. The loss to the proprie- 
tor, T. S. Ilambhn, was about 8100,000. 

At midsummer, 1845, the third great fire in the city occurred. The 
other two were the conflagrations of 1776 and 1835. On the morning 
of July 19th smoke was seen issuing from the third story of an oil-store 
on New Street, a small avenue between Broadway and Broad Street, 
extending from Wall Street to Beaver Street. The time of this dis- 
covery was just before dawn. The person having charge of the fire- 
alann bell at the City Uall failed to ring it for a time, and when a 
sufficient force of the department, which if sunnnoned promptly could 
have smothered the flames, arrived at the scene of the kindling con- 
flagration, it was beyond their control. Perceiving that the oil-store 
could not be saved, the firemen directed aU their energies to save the 
buildings near it, but could not. The. flames communicated to an ad- 
joining carpenter's shop, and spread rapidly. 

At Xo. ?.8 Broad Street, opposite the starting-point of the fire, and 
connected with a building on Xew Street by a wooden platfonu, was 
the large store of Crocker & Warren, in which was a great quantity of 
saltpetre. V^^ the omission to close tightly an iron shutter of this 
store, the fire was communicated to it by means of the platform, and 
the contents of that structure became a terrible force in spreading 
destruction. An official report of this fire, made by a joint speci^d 
committee of the common council, alluding to the scenes at this buiUl- 
ing, says : 

" The assistant foreman of No. 22 engine, Mr. Waters, had not advanced more than 
three feet within the building, in which he had not before noticed fire or smoke, whtu 
there issued toward him from the first story a dense smoke, which compelled him and 
all the others present to retire from the building. ... A few minutes after this a report 
was heard in Crocker & Warren's, resembling the disehar(;e of a common horsepistoL 



I 



SECOND DECADE, 1840- 1850. 501 

nccompnniod with a ptifTing hhuuJ like thiit emitted (rmii u luennintivn when llrKt net in 
mution, and followed by tlio inniiiug from the first Ktory of n thick, hliiek Kinoke, which 
shot out as from a ^iiu, aud reached uenriy ucroHH Uroad Street in a horizontal body. 
Then immediately a brij^ht tlaiiie waM propelled in a Hiniihir manner from the Kawe place 
across ISioad Street, and struck the houses on the opposite siile. Tlun followed, at inter- 
vals of a few seconds, ten or twelve successive explosions, each louder than the other, 
and each acconipanieil with ji shoot of brighter lii^ht through the dame, which, com- 
mencing with the first explosion, poured continuously out until the buililing from which 
it emanated ivaa destroyed. 

" While these explosions wera occurring the firemen of Engine No. 22 say they heard 
stmiu one exclaim, ' Run, No. 22. for your lives ; the building is full of powder ! ' . . . 
^Vhilo most of them were in the act of running, a gnind explosion took place, with a sound 
compared by one witness to a dap of thunder. It was accompanied with an immense 
body of fiame, occupying all the space in Broad Street between Heaver and Exchange 
streets. It instantly penetrated at least seven buildings, blew in the fronts of tnc oppo- 
site honses on Broad Street, wrenched shutters and doors from buildings at some dis- 
tance from the immediate scene of the explosion, propelled bricks and other missiles 
through the air, threw down many individuals who hud gone as far as Beaver .Street, 
spread the fire far and wide, so that the whole neighborhood was at once in a Idazc, and 
most unfortunately covered up the hose through which the streams of water had been 
playing upon the fire. After this the firemen could with difficulty obtain any control 
over the conflagration. " 

The force of tlio explosion was treinendous. Within two iioui-s one 
hunched iind fifty buildings were in flames. In one direction the 
flames had crossed Biumd Street and extended ahnost to Wall Street, 
and in the other direction had reached the Bowling Green, at the 
foot of Broa<lway. The ravages of the fire extendetl from Broad 
Street below "Wall Street to Stone Street, up Whitehall Street to 
Bowling Green, and up Broadway to Exchange Place. Tlu'ee hundred 
and forty-five buildings were destioyed. Augustus L. Cowdrey, a fire- 
man, anil three other jwrsons were killed, and Engine Xo. 22, whose 
mentbers fled in time to save their lives, was iisarly destroyed by the 
force of the great ox[)losion. 

The value of the edifices consumed, with their contents, was esti- 
mated at from $6,11(10,000 to $lo,ooo,ooo. The long-del)ated question 
among scientific men, " Will saltpetre explode ?" was settled bv a 
voice of thunder uttering a vehement argument on the attirmative 
side.* 

* In this conflagration a cherished relic of the past was destroyed. It was the bell of 
the " Old Jail "-the famous Provost prison during the occupation of the British from 
1770 to 17S3. When that old lock-up was remodelled and became the present Hall of 
Records, that bell was placed on the Bridewell, at the west side of the City Hall, as a 
fire-alarm bell. On the destruction of the Bridewell the old bell was allowed to continue 
its ossociation with the fire department by being placed in the cupola of the Naiad Hose 
Compiiny, in Beaver Street. On the morning of ,Iuly 19, 1N4.5, it gave its last warning of 



503 niSTORV OF NEW YORK (Try. 

In no respect is the progi-ess of the city of Xew York more empliat- 
ically illustrated than in the contrast between 1833 and 1883 as regards 
fu-e-insurance facilities, processes, and resources. 

Fiftv years ago only about eighteen fire-insurance companies were in 
existence in Xew York City. In 1888, on July 1st, there were forty- 
eight local companies. In 1833 the total fire-insurance capital was but 
little over $6,000,000. Xow the Xew York City companies have 
§17,431,000 cash capital, mth surplus assets of $22,680,493 besides, 
making a total of $40,114,513. 

Then only a single company — the Globe (long since defunct) — could 
boast of $1,000,000 capital. Kow no less than five ^e\v York City 
companies possess $1,000,01)0 capital each, with important surplus funds 
in addition : and a single company- — the Home — with a cash capital of 
$3,000,000, can exhibit more assets than the combined capitals of all 
the Xew York companies of 1833. 

The entire premium receipts of the eighteen comjjanies of 1833 did 
not reach the sum of $1,000,000 per annum, whereas the premium 
income of the forty-eight New York companies now doing business 
was, for the year 1882, $15,027,548, of Avliich at least five companies 
could report having received over §1,000,000 ejich during the year ; 
and one (the Home) reported premium receipts to the enormous 
amount of §2,745,663, or more than one sixth of the entire premium 
receipts reported by the forty-eight city companies. 

Between 1833 and the end of 1835 seven additional companies, with 
§1,700,000 more capital, came in to make the total fire-insurance 
capital of the city nearly $8,000,000, and (as the event proved) to 
lend M'hat httle aid they coidd to moderate the ruin which followed in 
the wake of the great fire of December, 1835. By that fire from 
§15,0(10,000 to §20,000,000 worth of property was annihilated, and 
all but seven of the twenty -five local fire-insm'ance companies were 
made insolvent. The few companies that remained alive had but httle 
more than $1,000,000 capital left between them all. Under a law 
passed specially for then- encouragement, however, sevei"al companies 
were reorganized with new capital to the aggregate of $3,500,000, 
and once more the Xew York companies could claim nearly $6,000,000 
of capital, all told, as a guaranty of their promises of indemnity to 
sufferers Ijy fire. 

The fire of July, 1845, swept away over $6,000,000 worth of property, 

danger anil destruction to sleeping citizuns. The honse of the Naiad Hose Company 
was consumed in the great conflagration, and the old bell perished with it. 



SF.COXD DKiAIlK, 1840 lH.-,0 503 

ami with it many of tlio rmnpiinir's, riittiii;,' down tiic ciiiiilal f)f tho 
New York and ]!iiM)klyn coniiianies coniliiiu'd to alioiit S+,''"**/"Jf- 
For si'Vonil years tliercaftt-r tlio lire- insurance lidd seemed to dis- 
eoiini'Ti' nitlier tlian invite the investment of further capital. I5ut in 
lS4'.i tiie i>ass;ij,'e of a •rciwr.il insurance law opened a new vista to 
pi-omotei-s and investoi-s ; and fnnn tliat year on to ISTO, with scarcely 
an exception, new coin|ianies continued to Ijc annually organized (and 
witluli-awn), the largest number existiiifj in any cme year beinj^ in istlT, 
when ninety-one iS'ew York fire-insurance companies reported net 
assi'ts to tiie amount of S'JS,(!l."),5:!r». 

Between is:^,"> and \sy.', no comjjany of large capital was formi-d. 
In the last-named year two $r)0(i,0(M) ccjmpanies were organized. 
Othei-s, too, were added, especially from isri'.t tmward, until in 1883, 
as ali-eady stated, the city of New York has no less than five fire- 
insurance cfnnpanies cajiitahzed at ^l,(»(M»,iiii(i, ami one at §;:i,(Mi(),0(iO, 
all of them having large suqilus assets, over ca])ital and liabilities, 
ran"-ing from $728,0(10 to $l,7r)0,000 — the last-named amount being 
the net sni-])lus of the Home Insurance f'omijany, over its §3,000,000 
of capital and all other liabilities whatsoever. 

The fires of Portland, Albany, Troy, St. Louis, Chicago, Boston, 
etc., have, during the past twenty years, made havoc witii insurance 
capital, and either destroyed or crippled New York lire-insurance com- 
panies by scores, and almost by Jiundreds. By the Chicago fire, in 
October, 1871, no less than sixteen New York City companies were 
absolutely ruined (as well as fifty-two other companies), and six were 
com]>eUed to repair siiattercd capitals to tiie amount of §2,o(10,o00. 
By the Bcjston fire of November, 1872, five New York City companies 
were destroyed (in addition to seventeen comixmies in ilassachusetts 
and other States), and eight more were the subjects of spnpathy by 
reason of recjuisitions to supply impairments of capital to the aggregate 
amount of $76t>,»)00. 

The insurance department of tlie State of New York was estal)lished 
by an act of the Legislature pa.ssed in Ajiril, is.')!). At that time there 
were ninety-four New York and Bro(jklyn lii-e-insunmce com]ianies, 
seventy-two of which had been organized within the jireceding ten 
years, the other twenty-two being all tliat lia<l survived of all the 
companies formed I)etween the years 1787 and 18.">0. Of these ninety- 
four fire-insurance comj)anies alive in IS.")'.), no less than forty-seven (or 
exactly one half) have meanwhile disjippeared from the arena of com- 
])etition, leaving only forty-seven .survidng of those companies whose 
l)iitli .l:iti-; ]<■.!•■]< •<< |s('>o. Sniiinii'd un. lb." sliDwiiiL'- i-i tli:ir of one 



504 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

hundred and twenty-seven fire-insur-ance companies existing in 1859, 
or since organized, no less than seventy-one have gone out of sight, 
fifty -two of them during the past thirteen years. It is to be borne in 
mind tluit no account is made, in this respect, of other than Xew 
York Cit}'- and Brooldyn companies. If the failures and withdrawals 
elsewhere througliout the State were added, the necrology would, of 
course, be considerably swelled. It is noticeable that of the twenty 
companies organized during the past twelve years, only five survive, 
and instead of the ninety-nine New York and Brooklyn companies 
that had a name to five in 1860, there are in 1883 but fifty -eight to be 
credited to both cities ; and of these forty-eight are New York City 
institutions. 

Meanwhile the business of fire insui'ance has become the football of 
fierce competition between giants, who, in their stniggles, bid fair to 
trample many a weak pigmy into the dust. 



CIlArTKIi III. 

TTliiisl)ecn nbsorved tliattlu' Xi-w York Sketch Club was reoifranizpd 
ill 1S41, when it liad bwoine well known t<i tlie public. At the 
bi'o;iiinin<; it tussunied a iiiystcriou.s chanicter, and for a while it jmzzled 
tlie curious. Its real na<ne, its character, and its niendjeiNhip were 
concealed from the public, and many were the amusin;;: and wild con- 
jectures as to its real name and s(K'ial position. It advertisetl its meet- 
ings in the newspapers in this cabalistic manner : 

"Cg"S. C.-T. S. C. 

TnCBSDAY EvBSINO, 3, 10. ' ' 

This meant, " Sketch Club meets at T. S. f'ummin^'s's. Thuisday even- 
ing, March Inth." 

After the club was fii-st reorganized, in ls3(i, it was known as the 
Twenty-one, probably because its membership long consisted of that 
mnnber. Access to its ranks was quite as difficult, ]>erhaps, as to the 
Prencli Academy or elevation to the Presidency of the United States. 

On the reorganization of the club in 1841 it assumed a higher tone 
towanl art ; yet it was not until three years afterward, when it was 
again reorganized or " nuide over," that it became a more purely art 
and literary association, retaining its plejisant social features. It was 
really a new association. 

It was at a social meeting of artists — Messrs. Cha])man, Ingham, 
Cummings, Durand,* Omy, Morton, Edmonds, Agate, and two or 

• Asher Brown Duriinil, ono of the three survivors (1883) of the fonndors of the 
Nationnl .\cademy of the .\rts of Design. »ns born August 21, 1796, on the estate where 
he now lives, near the village of South Orange, in New Jersey. The use of the pencil 
was his delight even in his infantile years. His father was a repairer of watches, and in 
his shop this son made his first essays in the art of engraving. Having shown mnch 
genius for that art, he was apprenticed in 1812 to Peter Maverick, then a noted engraver 
on copper. Young Dnrand was employed chiefly in copying English book illustrations 
for publishers, and bo conspicuous was his ability that at the end of his apprenticeship 
Maverick made him his business partner. 

Durand's genins attracted the attention of Colonel Trumbull, and when the latter was 
about to make arrangements with JIaveriek to engrave his picture of the " Declaration 
of Independence," ho expressed the desire that Dnrand should do the work. This 
offended Maverick, and he broke up his partnership with his gifted pupil. Durand sot 



.506 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

three others — on the 2d of Jamuiry, 1844, that it \va.; proposed to 
organize a sketcliing club on an improved plan. The idea was warmly 
a])proved. Cumniings was at once called to the chair ; some prelimi- 
nary action was taken, and it was resolved to call the new society the 
Artists' Sketching Club. The association was fonned. The first sub- 
scribing members were the artists first named, with the adthtion of 
Cole, Mount, Casilear, Shegogue, Baker, Prud'homme, Jones, Gignoux, 
and a few others. It became one of the most charming clubs in the 
cit}', and attracted artists and hteraiy and professional men to its 
niembei-sliip and its pleasant meetings. 

I remember being a guest at a meeting of the Sketch CUib in ^larcli, 
1847, at the house of General Cummings, at which most of the inem- 
bei-s were in attendance — ]\ressrs. Bryant, Campljell, Colden, Chapman, 
Cozzens, Cummings, Durand, Edmunds, Leupp, Gray, Huntington, 
Ingham, Brown, Shegogue, Seymour, Sturges, Yerplanck, Goui-lie, 
Nielson, and Morse ; and Gorham Abbott, Elhott, West, and Tappan 
Avere guests. 

At these meetings the artists and litei-ary men were kept ignorant of 
the sul)ject that was to engage their attention and genius, until it was 
announced by the host, when pens and pencils would work vigorously 
for exactly one hour. At the end of that period every production, 
artistic or hterary, finished or unfinished, was gathered up by the host. 
These, in groups, were distributed by lot at the close of the year. 

On the evening in question the members were seated at a large, well- 
lighted table, with working materials ready for action. At precisely 
eight o'clock General Cummings touched a little bell and said, 
" Raisixg xnE WixD." This was the first intimation of the subject. 
It was amusing and amazing to see jjictures and poetical or prose 
sketches appear as if by magic from the brains and fingers of these 

tip for liimself. TninibiiU emploj-ed him, and he made an admirable picture. It was 
greatly admired for its faithfulness in drawing and technical execution. He soon pro- 
duced other engravings of great excellence. His " Ariadne Sleeping," from the painting 
by Vanderlyn, is regarded as the most perfect specimen of line engraving ever done in 
America. Critics regard it as equal to anything that Sharp, the famous English engraver, 
ever did. 

Mr. Durand was one of the most active and honored of the founders of the National 
Academy of the Arts of Design. He was chosen its president on the retirement of Pro- 
fessor Morse in 1845, and filled the chair with great dignity and efficiency for seventeen 
consecutive years. At about the middle of his official career his fellow-artists presented 
him with a valuable service of plate, as an attestation of their appreciation of him as an 
artist, a man, and his valuable services to the .Vcademy. 

Mr. Durand abandoned engraving as a profession about 18.36, and became a profes- 
sional painter, in which he excelled. He painted in u very pleasing style the portraits 



SKrOM) DEC-ADE. lS40-lSoO. ."id? 

l^ciitlemt'H. Edmonds. 1 lliink, sketclicd a mlon-d l»<iy raisin;,' tiio 
wind l)_v. vigorously lilowing a fiiv witii b(?llo\vs. Aiiotiier niadi' a 
.IiTciny Diddlor raising-- tlic wind })V stealing a liandkcM'cIiief from a 
gontlonian's ])ncket. One of tlic jioctical jiiodui'ts of the ocoasion 1 am 
able to recall to mcmuiy : 

" Kaiso tUe wimi I io-niorrow niiso iicjnt KiLshrtj, 

And Kckle March will tench yon how to ilo it. 

IIo'll smilo, then liltister, then in siuUlen dashes 

He'll enter with n liliist ; Imw you will rne it ! 

" So treat your (ellow-mortals. Kindest greetings 
Exohani^'e for rvildness now, and then caresses ; 
Then scornlul be at iileusunt social meetings ; 
You'll raise Ihe iciW that may disturb your tresses." 

At this period the Artists' Sketching Club became the foundation of 
another organization, ui)on which has been reared one of the noijlest 
superstructures of irsthetic social life in the city of New York. Late 
in 1840, John (i. Chapman (a resident of Rome, Italy, since 1S48), at 
a meeting of the clul) pri>posed the formation of an association of 
artists and men of letters, with a membersliij) restricted to one hun- 
dred. The ])roposition was ajiprovcd, and a circular letter, signed by 
John G. Chapman, Asher B. Durand, Charles C. Ingham, A. M. 
Cozzeus, F. VT. Edmonds, and Henry T. Tuckerman, was addressetl 
to alx)ut one hundred gentlemen of the city distinguished in art and 
letters, or wh<i were amateurs of letters and the line arts, inviting 
them to a meeting in the Xew York (iallery of Fine Arts in the old 
liotunda, in the Park, on January i:?. 1847. 

This meeting was lai'gely attended. David C. Cohlen was called to 
the chair. Mr. Chapman presente<l a re])ort, with a draft of a con.sti- 
tution. A society was organized, and on motion of Edward S. Van 

of many distinguished men, but landscape painting was his favorite pursuit, and in this 
he was most successful. Ho visited Europe in 1840, but did not remain long from home. 
With untiring industrj- he pursued the art of painting, and hia beautiful landscape 
jiicces adorn many a private dwelling in the city of Xew York. He left the city in 18G9, 
and took up his abode on the ancestral estate, near Maplewood station, on the Dcloware, 
l.ackawanna and Western Railroad, at the foot of Orange Mountain. It is a beautiful 
spot. His mansion is spacious and elegant. In the upper story is his studio, wherein 
hang abont one hundred of hia land.scape studies, and his exquisite copy of Vandcrlyn's 
picture of " .\riadne Sleeping." the size of his engravings. There, too, is the last pro- 
duction of his brush — a beautiful landscape painted when he was eighty-three years of 
age. Fifty ycors ago Dunlap wrote of this beloved artist : " Mr. Durund's character is 
that of the most perfect tiuth and simplicity. As a husband, a father, and a citizen, he 
is vrithout blemish from evil report. He is an honor to the arts, which delight to know 
him." This is true of his character to-dav. 



508 HISTORT OF NEW YORK CITV 

Winkle it was named The Centtrt, because of its restricted member- 
ship to one hundred persons. 

A committee of management was appointed, consisting of Gulian C. 
A^erplanck, John L. Stephens, A. B. Dm-and, J. G. Chapman, David 
C. Colden, and Charles if. Leupp. Thomas S. Cummings was ap- 
pointed treasurer, and Daniel Sejnnour secretary. 

The fu-st home of the Centurj- was in rooms at No. 405 Broadway. 
Like other associations, the club became migrator}'. From Broadway 
it went to Broome Street ; then again it was on Broadway ; at a 
fourth migration we find it in Clinton Place, and there it remained 
until it took possession of its own house, No. 109 Fifteenth Street, 
where it still remains, but contemplates another removal. 

The Ceutmy flourished from the beginning. Its meetings were well 
attended. A reading-room -was provided, and the beginning of a 
hbrary was established. Many artist members contributed works fi'om 
their studios to adorn its walls. A journal was read for two or three 
years, once a month, called the Century. The genial member of 
to-day, John H. Gourlie, was the senior editor, assisted by the pleasant 
humorist, the late F. S. Cozzens. It contained contributions from 
other members, and its contents were largely published in the Kniclcer- 
locker Magazine, edited by Lewis Gaylord Clark. Eeceptions were 
given to men eminent in statesmanship, letters, science, and art, and 
twice a year receptions were extended to the feminine friends of the 
members. For a while they kept up the old German custom of observ- 
ing Twelfth Night, and this has recently been revived. 

At the end of the second meeting new membei-s were introduced. 
The following named gentlemen were the first who were admitted by 
election : Eussell 11. Xevins, James W. Glass, Charles S. Eoe, and 
Thomas S. Olficer.* Its finances have been healthy from the begin- 
ning, f 

* The following are tbe names of the first members of the Centiuy Club in January, 
1847 : William C. Bryant, Kev. H. W. Bellows, Henrj' K. Brown, J. G. Chapman, A. 31. 
Cozzens, David C. Colden, J. D. Campbell, L. Gaylord Clark, T. S. Cummings, A. B. 
Durand, Kev. Orville Dewey, F. W. Edmonds, C. L. EUiclt, Thomas Addis Emmet, 
Dudley B. FuUer, Thomas H. Faile, George Folsom, Alban Goldsmith, John H. Gourlie. 
Henrj- Peters Gray, Daniel Huntington, Ogden Haggerty, T,". J. Hoppin, C. C. Ingham, 
GouverneurKemble, William Kemble, Shepherd Knapp, Robert Kelly, Charles M. Leupp, 
G. E. Lyon, Christian Slayer, Dr. JIacneveii, Eleazer Parmly, T. P. P.ossitcr, Daniel 
Seymour, Jonathan Sturges, John L. Stephens, Joseph Trent, H. T. Tuekerman, H. P. 
Tappan, G. C. Verplanek, Edgar S. Tan Winkle. 

Ten of the forty-two original members of the Century in 18-47 were living at the 
beginning of 1883. 

■f " See Origin and History of the Century," by John H. Gourlie. 



SKCOND DKiAIH;. IHIO InoO. 509 

Tho ("(Mitury was incorpnrated in ISoT. Tn the act (Julian C. Vcr- 
plantk, William (". P.ivant, Ciiarlcs M. LfU])]), A. B. Durand, John F. 
Kensctt, AViliiani Knnhlo, and William II. A])])leton are named as 
CKi'poiatoi-s. It was eai-ly determined to enlarge the limits of memher- 
ship, and the maximum was fixed at six hundred. That is still the 
limit, and it is about Idled. In August, Iss?,, the number of mendjei-s 
was five hundred and ninety-five. The initiation fee is $100, and tho 
annual dues '^'■W.* 

The utmost care is taken to keep the Century free fmrn even the 
smallest vices of every kind. It is one of the purest as it is (ine of the 
most elevateil in inoral and intellectual tone among the social institu- 
tions of the land. It exerts a powerful and salutary influence in the 
promotion of moral and intellectual cultivation of the highest kinil. 

" Our club," says Mr. John Durand, in his '' Prehistoric Notes of 
the Century Club," " is made up of mend)ers belonging to all guilds. 
It is an as.semblage of men from all ])arts of Europe, from all sections 
of our country, and of every ])rofessi(m — ailists, literary men, scientists, 
physicians, officers of the army and navy, mend)eis of the bench and 
bar, engineers, clergymen, i-epresentatives of the |)ress, merchants, and 
men of leisure." + 

The Century has from time tn time published for pi-jvate circulation 
memoirs of some of its distinguished, deceased mend)ei's. Its dead in 
1882 numbered 181. 

Late in the second decaile the city of Xew York sufTered the inflic- 
tion of two scoiu'ges in one year, dissimilar in character, but both 
serious. These scoiu-ges were the outbreak known as the Astor Place 
Riot, and the other the cholera. Both events occurred between May 
and Se])tember, ls40. 

The Astor Place Riot, in its origin and ])rogress, Avas a disgrace to 

• Tho olnli-linnso on Fifteenth Street has a modest exterior. On the first floor are the 
reception, wine, ilining, ami reading rooms, all furnished with hard woods, the walls 
adonied with pictures, many of them costly, and all the apartments nre lirilliantly lighted 
by gas-jets in artistic chandeliers, .\scending a liroad stairway, the visitor reaches the 
second floor, which is occupied by the art gallerj'. lilirary, writing-room, anil a large hall 
or council-room of the Century. It is believed that the art collections of the ("entnry - 
paintings, engravings, and statues— are not excelled by any club in the city of New 
York. Tho library, which contains fully .5000 volnmes, occupies three pleasant rooms, 
and is rich in reference books on art and literature. In the great hall or council-room 
the receptions and other entertainments are given. 

f The oflicers of tho Century in 1882 were : Daniel Huntington, president ; Gilbert 
M. Speir and H. W. Bellows, vice-presidents ; A. K. Macdonongh, secretary, and Henry 
\. Oakley, treasurer. 



610 HISTORY OF NEW VORK CITY. 

hiunan nature, to civilization, and the enlightened city of New York. 
It grew out of a personal quarrel between two stage-players, Edwin 
Forrest, an American, and W. C. Macready, an Englishman. Both 
were distinguished tragedians, and were rivals for popular favor in the 
United States and Crreat Britain. Macready was well known and very 
popular in the United States, especially in the city of New York, long 
before the period and the event we are now considering. After an 
absence in England of about three yeai-s he returned to New York in 
September, IS-iS, and appeared in tragedy at the Astor Place Opera- 
Ilouse. This building had been erected by subscription the year be- 
fore, with John Sefton as general manager. 

Forrest had been playing in England not long before Macready came 
to New York, in 1S4S, where he had gained great i-enown, and dis- 
puted with the English tragedian for the prize of supreme popularity. 
Much un])leasant feeling had been engendered between them, and it 
was widely reported and generally beheved that Macready, on one 
occasion, visited the theatre in London where Forrest was performing 
and pubhcly hissed him. This story created great indignation among 
the friends of Forrest in his own country, where he was veiy popular. 
It was in the face of this indignation, unknown and unsuspected by 
him, that Macready appeared at the Astor Place Opera- House in the 
spring of 1849 to fulfill a farewell engagement with the lessees, Messi*s. 
Nil)lo and llackett. Forrest was then performing at Wallack's Broad- 
way Theatre. ]Sow came the tug of war. 

On a bright morning in May, 1849, citizens and strangers in the 
streets of New Yoi-k saw on consiiicuous placards the announcements 
that ^Macready would appear as Macbeth at the Astor Place Opera 
House and Forrest as iVIacbetli at the Broadway Theatre, both on the 
same night. 

The placards seemed like mutual declarations of war between Forrest 
and Macready, for their quarrel and its cause were generally known. 
There were apprehensions of some disturbances, for this appearance of 
]\Iaercady as an open rival of Forrest on his native soil greatly increased 
the indignation of the American tragediairs friends against his English 
rival. With that indignation was mingled the sentiment of hostility 
to everything Britisii which had been engendered by past conflicts, and 
wliich still lingered in the breasts of a vast multitude of the American 
people. To some, Macready's appearance as.sumed the shape of a 
gauntlet of defiance cast by tiie British at the feet of Americans. 

Mr. Niblo, stimulated by the si)irit of rivalry, and determined to 
have a full house, unwisely gave out more tickets than the buildino- 



ft 








Ji^i^**j ■ 




SKCOM) UKCADK, ISIO 18.",(l. 511 

would linlil. mill when, l>L'fore sunset, tlicy woro all takon. lie was 
alarmod l»y a suspicion that the |)ureluisers might he largely enemies of 
^[aeieatly. He iiastencd to the oIKce of Mr. Matsell, the chief of 
police, and re(|uested tlie presence of a force in case of any distui'l)anco. 
It wa.s promised. 

More than an hour liefoi-o the time for the performance to Itegin an 
innnen.se crowd had gathered in the street before the C)[)era-IIouse, 
and when the jM)rtals were unclo.sed a rushing tide of human beings — 
" all sorts and conditions of men"— poured into the iiouse and speedily 
filled every spot in it excepting the boxes. It was the most extraordi- 
nary ci'owd ever seen in an opera-house or a theatre. Sonie were in 
their shirt-sleeves, othei-s were in tattered and dirty garments ; some 
were elegantly dressed, and nearly all were excited. There were evi- 
dences of preconcerted action, yet the motley crowd remained (piite 
orderly. 

The managers watched tiiis strange audience with great anxiety, 
especially when the crowd began to stamp impatiently for the curtain 
to rise. Louder and louder became this signilicant uproar. Xiblo, 
with an attending ])olice officer, looked a moment upon the mass of 
beings that filled the paixjuette and amphitheatre. 

" Will there be a disturbance V asked the manager. 

'" I think not a serious one," replied the ofticcr. " There will lie an 
attempt to stop the play. The boys have been sent here f<ir that ])ur- 
lK)se, but they a])pear to be patient and good-natured." 

Maci-eady, who had been dressing, now ajipeared. lie, too, looki^d 
upon the audience through an opening made by the slightly drawn 
curtain. He was agitated Ijy doubts and feai-s. So also wa.s Mrs. 
Pope. The crowd wa.s silent while the orchestra playeil, but l)egan 
stamping more furioasly than ever when tlie music ceased. This was a 
critical moment. There was a proposition to susj)end the play. 
Macrea<ly wrjuld not consent. The warning bell tinlvled. The drop- 
curtain sloAvly rose, and revealed to the astonislied eyes of the motley 
host a magnificent open-air scene, and the three witches performing 
their weird incantations, while the lightning Hashed and the thunder 
roared. The crowd was awed into silence by the wondrous scene. 

Then came in King Duncan and attendants. Mistaking him for 
Macbeth, the crowd hissed him, i)ut sotm ])erceiving their mistake they 
were again silent. "When Macbeth came he was reccMved with lond 
applause from the boxes and dress circle, but his voice was utterly 
overborne by every kind of tumultuous noise from the crowd before 
him. The foolish actor became anijrv, and tried to browbeat the wild 



512 HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

mass. He wont through with liis jiart Avitliout a word he uttered 
being heard. 

Lady Macbeth (^frs. Pojte) a])peared, Imt she was abused witii inde- 
cent vulgarity and fled from the stage. ]\Iacbeth again ap])eared, and 
was assailed with addled eggs and other missiles. With genuine Eng- 
lish pluck he stood his ground until he found his life was in danger, 
■when he too fled behind the curtain, and it fell upon the scene. The 
rouo-hs had accoinphshed the task they had been sent to perform, and 
refraining from doing any damage to property, quietly withdrew. To 
the utter dishonor of Mr. Forrest, it must be recorded that he did not 
utter a word of denunciation of this outrage. The imjaression was 
imiversal that he had countenanced if not incited the disgraceful i)ro- 
ceedings. 

Every high-minded pei'son in the community cried " Shame !" and 
all felt personally aggrieved by the outrage, which cast disgrace upon 
the city. "When it became known that Macready contemplated tkrow- 
ing up his engagement, many of the best men of New York, in everj^ 
rank of social life, feeling that the city had been dishonored, addressed 
to him a letter expressing their extreme i-egret because of the treat- 
ment he had received, promising him protection in the exercise of his 
rights, requesting him not to yield to the lawless spirit which had 
assailed him, and asking him to give the city an opjiortunity to wipe 
out the disgrace which had been inflicted upon its character. Mr. 
Macread}' yielded, and Thursday, the Wth of May, was fixed upon for 
his appearance in the same play. 

So soon as placards announced the intended reappearance of Mac- 
ready, others, i)roclaiming that Forrest would appear in the same play 
on the same nigiit at the Broadway, were put up alongside them. The 
following incendiary handbill was also posted aU over the town : 

" WORKINGMEN ! 

SHALL AMERICANS OR ENGLISH RULE EST THIS COUNTRY? 

The crew of the British steamers have threatened all Americans 
who shall dare to appear this night at the 

ENGLISH ARISTOCRATIC OPERA-HOUSE. 

WORKINGMEX ! FREEMEN ! STAND UP TO YOUR 

LAWFUL RIGHTS!" 

There was deep menace and a mob spii-it in these words. The 
friends of Macready prepared to resist the threatened danger. Most 
anxious to keep Forrest's friends from entering the house, tickets were 



SECOND DKCADK, 1H40-Isr)0. 5i;j 

si)l(l or f::iv(Mi awiiy l>y tlii" inanaf^oiN only to those wlio were known t) 
bo friends of Miu.'iva<ly. Tin- eliief of jtolice a<^ree<l to fnniisli a stronj^ 
force to preserve order, and two reyinients of soldiei-s were ordere(l to 
be under arms that eveninj; and ivatly to niaix-h at a moment's noticf. 

On tlie evening of tlie li>tli about tliree liundred well-instructed 
l)oliee were (juietly placed in charge <if the Opera-llouse, outside and 
in, and an innnense crowd had giithered in front of it. AVlien the 
dooi-s were opened the populace' nuule a rush to enter, hut were kejil 
back 1)V the ])olice. When all who liad tickets were within, the dooi-s 
were closed and barred. The windows had been barricaded also with 
heavy j)lank. These the mob ass;iiled with stones, and they tried to 
batter down one of the doors. They wore defeated by the police, and 
in their rage they demolished the street-lam|is in the neighborhood. 
.V huge stone huiled through one of the windows shattered the mag- 
nificent chandelier, and its friigments fell on the frightened occu])ants 
of the ])it. 

The i)lay began. In spite of all precautions, many of the roughs 
were inside the house, and were ])re|)ared, at a given signal of their 
leswler, to rash upon the stage and seize Macready. The j)ohce !iad 
mingled with them in disguise all day, and knew their plans. The 
chief of jiolice had made hif plans, and when the riotei"s arose to seize 
the actor the chief raised his hat as a signal, and his force soon had the 
a.stonished rowdies in their jiower. Most of them were thrust outside 
the building, but the ringlea<lers were confined inside. 

The mob furiously attacked the police force outside, and had nearlv 
oveqwwered them when the Seventh Regiment Xational Guaitl, witli 
their colonel, Duryee, at their head, appeared on the scene. They had 
been marched up from their armory in Centre ifarket, furnisheil with 
ball cartridges, precede*! by the Xational Guard Trooj). The latter 
turned into Astor Place from Broadway and charged the mob. 

Xow began a rlrea<lfid tragedy — more dreadful than the simulated 
one which had just been performed in the Opera-IIouse. In Astor 
Place the ])aving-stones had been taken up and piled in heaps while 
excavating for a sewer. These, with r.igg(>d fragments of stones from 
a marble-yard near by, furni.shed the riotei-s with fearful inLssiles, with 
which they as.siiiled the mounted men a.s they gallantly dashetl through 
the crowd, their horses terribly galled by tlie flying stones. Several 
of the men were dragged from their saddles, and many were driven 
back to Broadway. 

Colonel Duryee now jirepared his infantry for the .struggle. Mis 
men loaded their iniiski'i-;. Imt tli.. in.wd was ,so dense thev could not 



0l4 HISTOHY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

move in column. lie led his men in file close to the wall of the 
Opera-llouse in the rear, and forced his way to the front. The frantic 
mob, with yells and execrations, assailed them fiercely with missiles. 
]!iIore than thii'ty stand of arms were battered in the hands of the 
citizen soldiers. Man}' of the men fell to the ground severely wounded. 
Forbearance was no longer a virtue, and Recorder Talhnadge, who 
represented the chief magistracy of the city in the absence of Mayor 
AV^oodhull, was told that unless the troops should receive ordei-s to fire 
they would be withdrawn. 

TaUmadge addressed the roaring mob, begging them to disperse, but 
to no purpose. After a brief consultation between the recorder and 
Generals PTall and Sandford (the latter the division commander), the 
order to fire was given by Sheriff Westervelt, but to shoot over the 
heads of the multitude against the blanlc wall of a house opposite, in 
order to intimidate them. It had an opposite effect. Believing the 
troops had only blank cartridges this merely excited their contempt. 
They defied the civil and mihtary authorities, and after this ineffective 
volley they were more furious than ever. General Duryee addressed 
them, saying unless they desisted ball carti'idges would be used. 

" Fire and be damned !" shouted one of the ringleadei-s. " Fire 
if you dare — take the Ufe of a free-bom American for a bloody British 
actor ! Tou darsent fire !" and he boldly bared liis breast before the 
levelled muskets. 

" Fire, will you !" screamed another, as he hurled a stone at General 
Sandford, which almost disabled liis sword-arm. There was no alter- 
native. Dire necessity and the instinct of self-defence demanded 
prompt and effective action. The word " Fire !" was given. Only a 
single musket I'esponded, and was answered by defiant yells and more 
furious peltiugs by the mob. " Fire !" again shouted General Sand- 
ford, his voice almost smothered liy the roar of the seething multitude. 
Only two or three muskets responded, when Colonel Duryee, in ring- 
ing tones, shouted " Fire !" and a volley all along the line followed. 

The dead among the rioters now gave assurance that the authorities 
were in earnest. The mob fell back a little, but pi'oviding themselves 
with more stones they renewed the attack. A more destructive volley 
ensued, and the rioters fell back in a panic, but did not di.sperse. 
They stood sullenly on the verge of the dreadful scene hke a wild 
beast at bay, while the military took position in front of the Opera- 
llouse and guarded it in silence. 

It was now eleven o'clock at night. So savagely threatening still 
ajijieared tlie baffled mob that more trof)])s were sent for. with two 



SECOND DKCADK, 1840-1850. 515 

camions. They ctune, witli a seftioii of a six-friin hattery under Colnnel 
lliiakon. Tlie guns were diargetl with gnipesliot. They ilaslied up 
and totik position for attack, when tiic mob dispci-sed, and all danger 
was overpast. 

Upwani of two hundred persons were killed or wounded in this riot. 
Among the latter were Colonel Duryee,* (ienerals Hall an<l Sandford, 

* Abmhiim Dnrj't-u ia of Huguenot descent. He \vn.s bom in the city of New York 
April 2'.l, im'i. His cdncution was completeil nt the higU soliool in Croslij- Street. Fn 
the old wiir for independence bis greikt-griindfiitlier was a .soldier, and n prisoner in the 
old sngarhou.se in Liberty Street. His grandfather was an importing merchant in New 
York, and his father and two uncles were meritorious officers in the war of 1812-15. 
Y'oung Dnrji'o began his military career in the StJite militia. In 1838, he joined the 
Twenty-seventh (now Seventh) Regiment National Gciard as a private. Passing 
rapidly through the non-commissioned officers, ho was commissioned second lieutenant 
of the Second Comi)auy in 1840. He soon rose to the rank of captain, and in 1842 was 
advanced to the field of the Seventh Regiment, with the rank of major. Soon afterward 
he was elected lieiitenant-colonel. While holding that rank he organized and comcianded 
a six-gun battery and formeil a liowitzer corps. Early in 1X4'.I he was elected colonel of 
the regiment, and first appeared before it as its couimumler at the terrible Astor Place 
Riot in May. In that encounter he won admiration for his coolness, skill, and bravery. 
He was twice wounded in the fray. 

Colonel Dnrj-ce resigned his commission in 1859, after ten years' service as commander 
of the Seventh Regiment, during which time he had led it in qaelling several riotH. 
The regiment in a body waited upon him to persuade him to withdraw his letter of 
resignation, but in vain. The merchants of New Y'ork, in recognition of his services, 
presented him with an elegant service of plate, and his associates in arms gave him a 
more elegant present— a dinner set of ma.ssive silver and gohl which cost about $8000. 

When the Civil War broke out Colonel Durj-ee began the organization of the famous 
regiment known as Puryee's Zouaves. In the space of sixteen days he organized and 
mnstered into the UniteJ Stati-s ser\ice a regiment of 040 men, which sailed for Fortress 
Monroe late in May, IHCl, where their colonel was placed in command of Camp Hamil- 
ton, OS acting brigadier-genend, with 3000 troops. Ho was soon superseded by General 
Pearce. In the march to Big Bethel in the early part of June the Zouaves led the column, 
and in the sharp conflict that ensued they fought gallantly under their skilful leader. 

Colonel Duryee was commissioned full brigadier-general at the close of .\ngust, 18ijl. 
and placed in command of 13,000 men at Baltimore, where they constructed an exten- 
sive and formidable fort. In compliance with his request, the general was sent to the 
front in command of a brigade in Virginia. Oiir limits will not permit even the mention 
of the sevenil continuous and gallant services rendered by General VaryC-e, especially 
during Pope's campaign in Virginia, which ended with the summer of 1862. General 
Dnryee was in Ricketts's division, which on all occasions bore the brunt of battle. It 
was in the campaign in Marvland, in September of the same year, and fought gallantly in 
the liattles of South Mountain ami .\ntietam. In the official reports of these sanguinary 
struggles Dur)-€e and his brigade are mentioned with special commendation. At the 
battle of Antietam, when General Hooker was wounded ond left the field. Ricketts took 
command of the corps and Dnryee commanded his division. In this terrible conflict he 
exhibited nire courage and consummate militarj' skill, which were officially cmimended. 
His hor.se and those of nearlv all his '^talT v.. !• sbot nnrbr tliiin. :;ud bis bri'i.l. .■aim- 



516 HISTORV Ob' NEW YORK CITY. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Brinckerhoflf, Captains Shuraway and Pond, Lieu- 
tenants Todd and Negus, and one hundred and twenty -one of the rank 
and file of the Seventh Regiment. On the part of the mob thirty-four 
were killed (a few innocent spectators), and a large number were 
wounded. 

The excitement and alarm within the Opera-House had been intense. 
It seemed, at times, as if the building would be destroyed, but the fury 
of the mob was drawn to the mihtary after their arrival. When the 
play was ended the afterpiece was omitted. ]\Ir. Macready escaped 
in (hsguise through a private door and hurried to his hotel. Before 
midnight all was quiet in Astor Place. The dead and wounded liad 
been removed, but a military guard kept " watch and ward "' until 
morning.* 

The city was stirred the next day by the wildest excitement and the 
deepest anxiety. In the morning a placard was posted all over the 
town retjuesting " the citizens of New York opposed to the destruction 
of human hfe to assemble in the Park at six o'clock in the evening, 
May 11, to express jtublic opinion upon the lamentable occurrence of 
last night." 

Early in the day a rumor spread that roughs from Pliiladelphia and 
Baltimore were on their way to New York for the puq^ose of renewing 
the riot, and with a hope of plunder. Happily the rmnor was false. 
The " indignation meeting" in the Park was composed of a vast multi- 
tude of citizens of every class. Speeches were made by demagogues 

out of the battle with only about 300 men. After this battle General Dnryee retired from 
the army, ami in .March, 1805, ho was breveted major-general for " faithful and distin- 
guished services." With this brevet he received the thanks of the governor of New York 
in behalf of the State for his " gallantrj' and devotion." 

In 1873 General Duryfee was appointed a police commissioner, and in that capacity 
did efiBcient service in preserving the peace and security of the city. lie is a member 
of the St. Nicholas and Historical societies, of the Grand Army of the Potomac, a veteran 
of the National Guard, a member of the Masonic order, and of other organizations. He 
is small in stature, elegant in figure, and exceedingly pleasant and winning in his 
manner. " Natural talent, dashing and brilliant, constaut practice and diligent study," 
says Colonel Clarke in his " History of the Seventh Regiment," " made him a superior 
luilitary instructor of remarkable accomplishments." 

* Among the members of the Seventh Regiment was a very conscientious, slow-spoken 
man named Baldwin. When loading his musket he said to Colonel Duryee : 

" My conscience forbids me to fire on these citizens." 

" You are here to obey orders," said the colonel ; " conscience is not in command." 

At that moment a stone struck Baldwin's head. With the greatest celerity he loaded 
and cocked his musket, and was about to fire when he was ordered to stop, shoulder his 
piece, and await orders. He was one of the foremost workers against the rioters when the 
firing began. The stone had put his conscience asleep. 



SI-X'OND 1»EC.\I>K. l«40-ll*r,(). ''''' 

,,.„„„c,....,y of tho oivi, , -';-^ -ttn,::';,'!::::::';:!;; in 

v.. 1 a tnutor to s.x-ial onU-r ; an outlaw uLosc- sul.ju;,at.on 
tZ^ :^:iy acnands at any sac-i.c. fo. the -u^-^^T c^"u.'^ -^^ 
istowar.1 anaivhv ami utter .lisorgan.zat.on <.f hun.an MXittj. 

Tlu- nu-oting in tho Park did not hint at violent den.onstratw.ns a 
desi 1,0, nor were anv attenuated. The lesson of the ,u-evous n.ght 
t" ee:{ed. The n...b spirit was tan.e.l l>y an effectual a.j.un.ent. A 
lK.,.tionof the Seventh Regin^ent ren.uned on duty on 1^ ' ^ ; I 
12th, as faithful guanliaas ..f the peace of the c. y. " tla-'^ ' " J 
e.nment had a local reputation and honor as such guard. ans that 
l^Jula^Um and honor we.l nu.de national by their con.luct >n the try.ng 
houi-s of the Astor Place Kiot. 

A,nolg the citizens who signe.l the assuring letter sent to M=u.-c.u^ 
wore Washington Irving, Charles King, General (ieorge 1 Mon-s, 
Genera T. SrCunnning:, Moses II. Cirinnell, and other lea.hug n.er- 
^ rand professional men. The principal act... ,n the ev.,U are 
now hevond the reach ..f bunu.n judgn.ent and .uHuence. ^^ -<'>; 
Fon-est Mi-s Pope, (Generals Samlford and Hall, lalln.adge, and the 
si'nei of the letter above n.entioned, have, all but one (General 
Cmnniin.^), c.-ossed the dark river, never to return. 

T ef=nul;usold Park Theatre-tho patriardj among tl-^ew ^ork 
„l.u- houses-had been destroyed by fire m December, 1»-In, on the 
: t : i;:umive...ry of the great fire of 1.35. Just^ befc-e th. o,>en- 
n.^ of the house on that evening a file of play-bdls hangmg near h 
ln.pter's entrance-door to the stage was blown agams a hghted 
^Is-iet and took fire. The flames were commun.cated t^ the scenerj 
tnd in less than an hour the interior of the building was m a blaze, and 
was si^eedilv reduced to ashes, nothing but the bare w.Uls remanung^ 

So perished the oldest and the leading theatre for about half a 
,,.ntu.T in the city of New York. It luul been the P-^*^^ '^^ ^^^^^^ 
It ha.r formed a link of connection w.th the ol.l Anu-r can tluMtncal 
> nv, which in 1T.-.P. first perforn.ed in a snudl budd.ng .m >assau 
S reet • for of that old a.npany. Lewis IlalUun, second, one of .s 
;!".;L. played ten yea.-s i.. the Park Theatre from the tune of .ts 
openiuiT. in January, IT'.tS. ttu,,„r^t 

In Februarv, IS-H, the Park Theatre presented one of the most 
l.nlliant spectacles the citizens of the metropohs had ever seen. It 



518 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

was the occiision of the famous " Boz Ball," in honor of Charles 
Dickens, then on his fii-st visit to America with liis wife. The fete 
was given on the lOth of Febmary, 1842. 

The committee of arrangements for this ball included many of the 
most jiromineut men in the city — Robert H. Morris, the mayor ; ex- 
Mayor Philip Hone ; Drs. Mott, Francis, and Cheesman ; Judge 
Oakley ; Messrs. Hamilton Fish, Henry Brevoort, Moses H. GrinneU, 
William II. Ajjjileton, C. C. Cambreling, David C. Golden, and others. 
The tickets were $10 each — an enormous price at that day. The char- 
ticter of every purchaser was strictly scrutinized by a committee of 
gentlemen, so that the company might be perfectly select and unexcep- 
tionable. The decorations were beautiful in the extreme and conspicu- 
ously appi'opriate. 

After every dance was exhibited an exquisite tableau illustrating 
some scene from the works of the great novelist, "which," said an 
ej'e- witness, " excited rapture in the beholder." So anxious were the 
public to see the grand decorations and other appointments of this cele- 
brated festival that they were left as used on the occasion, and two 
succeeding balls were given by ilanager Simpson, which, at reduced 
prices, attracted very large attendance. 

In the fall of that year George "S'andenhoff and Mr. and ilrs. 
Brougham made their first appearance in America at the Park Tlieatre. 
The former was a tragedian, and had made a good name as a ^lerson- 
ator of Hamlet in the London theatres. The Broughams were charm- 
ing actoi-s. Mi's. Brougham was " a model of physical beauty of the 
Juno type." She M^as Miss Williams. In 1845 she returned to Eng- 
land, came back seven years later, remained a short time, and returned 
to England, and in 1859 she came again as Mi's. Eobertson. She died 
in Xew York in 1865. Meanwhile Brougham had won and retained 
unbounded popularity, and Avas a favorite until 1862, when he returned 
to England. As a handsome and bright comic aofor he was a legiti- 
mate successor of Tyrone Power. The Broadway Lyceum (afterward 
Wallack's) was built for him in 1850, but it was not a success finan- 
ciaUj''. For about fifteen years Brougham was a popular comedian at 
Burton's and Wallack's theatres. He wrote many popular pieces for 
the stage. 

In 1843 Macready made his apjjearance at the Park Theatre, the 
first time in sixteen years. He played the part of Macbeth. The 
same year Forrest performed at the Park with great success in various 
tragedy characters — as Eichelieu, Claude Melnotte, Macbeth, Otliello, 
Hamlet, Metamora, King Lear, and Spartacus. Ole Bull, the grci^t 



^ 




!^ 



^. o^a^i^^.'CcJ^^^/ ^'^"^ 



SKCOM) MKCADK, 1840 IS.O. 61!l 

Xorwogian violinist, mado liis lii-st appearanc;' tlicie in tin- autumn of 
that year, with a full orehostrai aL-i-oinpaninK-iit. IIi; was alrcadv 
rciiownetl all nvoi Kuri>])(>. 

Mr. and Mi-s. Scguin ivapiuMrcd at thi' I'aric in l^U in lialfc's opera 
of the Biilii'iiiiiiii Girl, and were warndy wi'lconied. In Is^.') Anna 
Com Jlowatt nuule her lii"st ai>peariince there on any stage ; and in 
18-i5-4() Mr. and .\[i-s. Cliarh's Kean (the latter late A[iss Ellen 
Tree) were received at the Park with great enthiLsiiusai after a consid- 
erable absence, and fuUilled an engagement. The same year (l^+t>) 
"Miss Julia Dean, an American— young, pretty, graceful, and intelli- 
gent — (ii-st appeared at the Park, and was for a long time a ])<jwerful 
attraction there ; also afterward at the Astor Place Opera-IIou.se. 
She took the part of Julia in the IJuni'hhac-l-. Miss Dean imvrried 
Dr. Ilayne of Charleston, S. C, in is.jo. 

Simpson had been struggling for some time with a<lverse fortune. 
For thirty-eight years he liad been chief manager of the Park Theatre. 
He had acquii-ed a fortune at one time ; now it was slipping awav from 
him. Ilis last season of management was 1S47-4.S. During that 
season Madam Anna P)ishop, the second wife of II. IJ. Bisho]!, the 
eminent composer of the nmsic of many of Moore's best songs, channed 
the large audiences at the Park with her magnificent voice.* I'ut 
])oor Simpson, after a long and heroic struggle, was comjielled to suc- 
cumb, lie relin(|uishe<l tlie management of the Park on the night of 
June 5, 1848. The effects of rivalry and lo.s.ses In' unfrtrtnnate invest- 
ments had im|X)verished him on the verge of old age. lie parted with 
his interest in the theatre for a life annuity of ^^loOO. (.'rushed by 
grief and mortification, he died a few weelis after ho gave up the 
theatre, t 

At the beginning of this decaile the bowery Theatre was the most 
popular of the New York play-houses. It i)resented spectacular plavs, 
in acconlance with jiublic taste. Among these was a wild drama 
called the Oiioin,; Ff;/, in which the jirincipai actor was a deformed 

* Mnilaia Annn Bishop had niailo Iut first appearance as a public singer in I-ondon 
in 18;tn, with Grisi and others. She made the tour of Europe with uTeat frlnl. Beauti- 
ful in person, and snch an accomplished linguist that she could sing In the vernacular 
of every capitid iu Europe, hers was a triumphal career at once. She sang everj-where 
in .America, in .Australia, and in China, 

t Edmund Simpson was bom in England in 1784. He first appeared as a stage-player 
ntXowccster in May, 1806. and on the boards of the Tark Theatre, New York, in October, 
1809, in the lioad io Ruin. In 1810 he became manager of the Park Theatre. Stephen 
Price was his partner many years. Sin.pson retired from the stage in 18.13, but appeared 
occasionally on the boards. His last performance was in 1811. 



520 HISTOHV UK NEW YOHK CITY. 

man named Leacli, a native of Westcliester County, New York. He 
Avas defonned from liis liirtli. Ilis legs at maturity were no bigger 
than those of a child two yeai-s of age. He acquired great strength of 
arms. In the Gnome Fly he performed the parts of a baboon and 

fly- 

This was followed by a phu'' in which Eihin, the Belgian giant, who 
was nearly eight feet in height, took a part as the Oiant of Palestine. 
Putnam, the Iron Son of^Q, drew immense crowds to the Bowery for 
a long seiics of nights, and Hanibhn, the ])roprietor. was well rewarded 
for his enterprise. 

In 1847 a large and elegant stracture was erected on Broadway, be- 
tween Pearl and Anthony (now Worth) streets, and called the Broad- 
way Theatre. It was intended to supersede the Park in the public 
regard, but the expectations of its owners were not reahzed. The first 
performance in it took place in September, 1847. The play was the 
School for Scandal, in wiiich the veteran Henry "Wallack appeared as 
Sir Peter Teazle. 

At this time J. Lester Wallaclc, son of the popular manager, James 
"W. "Wallack, and grandson of Ilenrj", made his first appearance on the 
stage. He was very successful in a wide range of characters in hght 
and genteel comedy. He was slender in person, fastidious in his toilet, 
graceful in carriage, and was for many years regarded as the hand- 
somest man on the Kew York stage. 

At the beginning of this decade the most renowned stock actors in 
New York were Placide, Browne, Abbott, Barry, Latham, John 
Fisher, Chippendale, W. II. WiUiams, Wheatley, Miss Cushman, ]\Irs. 
"Wheatley, Mrs. Vernon, ISIrs. Knight, and INIiss Buloid. These gave 
great success to tlie Park during the season of 1841-42. Tragedy was 
neglected, and even Fanny Elssler, though generally attractive, often 
danced to thin liouses. 

It was during this decade that another strenuous effort was made to 
establish the Itahan opera as a permanent institution in the city of 
New York. The movement began in opposition to the theatres. Men 
and women who assumed to be a7-biters of fashion in this regard 
declared the common ]ilay-house to be Aidgar, and the opera the only 
refined species of dramatic amusement and instniction. They carefully 
abstained from attending upon the most refined performances at the 
Park. They soon had a large following, and their influence had a 
serious effect upon the fortunes of the Park and its enterprising man- 
ager. The result of this movement was, not the permanent establish- 
ment of the Italia)! o])era in the city of New York, but the financial 



SKCOM) DKlADK, 1840-l«.'iO. 521 

ruin of a wortliy Italian wiio luitlcitook tiial task, 'i'hal Italian \\;is 
Signor Fci'dinand I'alimi. 

Mf. I'alino had Ijcen forsonio tiino tlio ])ropri('tor of a cafe on Di-oad- 
way, Ix'twft'n iIr- Ni'w Voric Hospital antl iJuane Street, where he 
"^ave a variety <»f imisical entertainments. It was ealieil " Cafe des 
Jlille Colonnes." There he had amassed a eonsideraltle fortune. He 
hired the huildinij formerly occupied hy Stoppani's Arcade I'aths, at 
Nos. 8i> and 41 Cliainhers Street, and had it neatly fitted up for an 
oiH^ra-hou.se. It was lirst opened on the evening of Kel)ruarv 3, Is44, 
with / Pnritiiui. On the hills for the occa.sion was a notice that the 
])roj)rietor had made arrangements with *' the railroad comjiany [the 
Harlem, then the only city line] for the accommodation of ladies and 
gentlemen living U])t(nvn, so that a large car, well lighted and 
wanned, will start after the theatre closes ; and ))olice officers will l)e 
in attendance to jn'event disorder. The cars will nin from the c(jrner 
of f'liainhers and fV'nti-e streets as far as Forty-second Street." 

Poor Palmo ! He contiiuu'd the experiment without success so long 
as his money lasted, when he gave it up, and then Ijccamo a l>arkee]>er 
in a fashionable hotel in Xew York. The Eavels. and afterward 
Burton, occupied Palmo's Opera-IIouse with success. 

In the spring of 1847 there came to Xew York an Italian opera 
troupe from Havana, Cuba, where they had performed with great suc- 
cess during the winter. There were seventy-two artists in the troujie. 
Among them was the celebrated Tedesco. They opened with "N'erdi's 
opera of ^/V((7/(/. During tliat summer Ca-stle Garden was fitte<l up 
for dramatic ])erformances and concerts. Thither the troupe from 
Havana went, and performed for a short sea.son the operas Eruani, 
XoniHi, and Let Sontutmh^iht. Their last performance was on tlic 2oth 
of August, for the benefit of the Koman Catholic Oqihan Asylum of 
Xew York, when they departed for Euro|)e. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ALLUSIOX has been made to two calamities wliicli afflicted the 
city of New York in 1849 — namely, the Astor Place Eiot and 
the Asiatic cholera. The fonuer has been considered. 

The fii-st cholera case in 1849 appeared in the then focus of conta- 
gion-breeding in the city, the Five Points, on the 14th of May. The 
health dei)artment immediately appointed a sanitary committee,* in- 
vested with the full powers of the board of health. They associated 
with themselves three membei-s of the medical i)rofession in high stand- 
ing, which were denominated medical counsellors. These, with the 
resident iihysician and the health commissioners, acted in concert 
dm-ing the entire period of the prevalence of the epidemic. They 
came to the conclusion early that the disease was not contagious, but 
was caused by a peculiar condition of the atmosphere. 

The fii'st care of the sanitary commission was to remove the patients 
from impure localities to better air. A large three-story building 
knowTi as Mom-oe Hall, on the corner of Pearl and Centre streets, was 
taken and converted into a hos])ital, and thither the patients were con- 
veyed. It was put under the charge of Dr. Buel, and was known for 
yeai"s afterward as the Centre Street Hospital. 

On the 24th of ilay the medical counselloi-s (Di-s. J. B. Beck, J. M. 
Smith, and S. ^X. Moore), Dr. Seth Greer, the health commissioner, 
and the resident physician, Dr. R. L. Morris, published in all the city 
newspapers an address to the inhabitants setting forth the fact that 
epidemic cholera Avas present in the city, and that the fii*st and most 
important consideration related to the cleanliness of tiie streets and 
dwellings. 

It was pro])osed to appropriate the public-school houses for hospital 
purposes. The board of education warmly remonstrated. A commit- 
tee on hospitals was appointed, of which the late ex-Governor E. D. 
Morgan was chairman, to thoroughly investigate the subject. After 
patient inquii'ies they reported in favor of so appropriating the public- 

* James Kelly, Kobert T. Hawes, Alexander H. Schnltz, Charles Webb. George H. 
Franklin, Edwin D. Morgan, Robert A. Sands, Jacob F. Oakley, and Oscar W. Sturtevant. 



SIX 'UN U DKCADK, ISJO ISJO 533 

school l)iiil(Un<;;s. Tlie sjinitarv coiiiiiiittoo, i-c^iirdin'r the puMi*- liealth 
as of till' lii"st iin])i)rtaiieo, accepted tlio ivpoit, and atted in arcordaiuo 
with its ivfoninifiidation. Tliorc was iniicii (ip|H>sitii)n. and pul)lic 
meetings were lield to remonstrate against tin- nieasurc. Thu sciioul 
buiUhngs wore made liospitals, and very soon there was general aeijui- 
escence in the humane measm-e. 

At tills junetiire <)eeiirred an episode in the niediial history of the 
city of New York wiiieh has a niedi;eval aspeil. On the 14tli uf June 
the board of health iveeived a petition i'e(juesting the establishnicnt of 
a cholera hospital, in which patients might be treated on tin- honueo- 
pathic i)lan. The ])etition was referred to the sanitary eoinniiltee. 
They referred it to tlieii' medical coiinselloi-s. The latter reported on 
the r.»tli as follows : 

' ' By intelligont ami well-eilncnted physicians generally houionopathy is looked upon as 
a species of einpiricisiu. It is neither prnctiseil by them nor conntenaoced by them. 
Concnrring entirely with their professionul brethren on this subject, the undersigned 
conceive that the public authorities of our city would not consult either their own dig- 
nity or the public good by lending the sanction of their name or iatlueuce to homa-opathy, 
or any other irregular mode of practice." 

The sanitary committee, feeling it to be " their duty to have nothing 
to do with medicine, exce])t as they found it embodied in what is un- 
dci-stood and known, both to the public as well as physicians, as the 
regular profession," denied the prayer of the petitionei-s. Ilomoe- 
o])athy had then been successfully ])ractised in the city of New York 
for twenty yeai-s. 

The number of pei"sons admitted to the free cholera hospitals was 
1901 ; the number of deaths from that disease in these hospitals was 
1021. The number of deaths in the city, outside the ho.sjiitals, is not 
known. It is supposed that nearly 3000 pci-sons died of cholera in 
New York in 18-10. 

A new era in the art of building sailing vessels at New York began 
in the second decade, with a more perfect development of the famous 
Baltimore clipper, which gained such renown for the American navy 
during the second war for indei)endence, 1812-15. The New York 
sliipbuildei-s had alreatly become jire-eniinent as constructoi-s of fast- 
sailing vessels for the merchant marine. The Liverpool jiackets built 
by the Webbs (father and son) and by otheis were the fa.stest sailing 
packet-ships of that class in the world. They had attained a speeil and 
a regularity in their voyages in point of time almost equal to that of 
our steamships. Fourteen and sixteen days was the average time occu- 
pietl by «>\w i>f them in voviiges between Xew Ymk and T.iverjwxil. 



524 iilSIOKV Ol- NEW YOHK CITY. 

They carried double crews before the labor-saving invention of doulile 
topsails appeared. 

The great development of the East India trade at the middle of the 
second decade, and especially the rushing stream of emigration to Cali- 
fornia after its annexation to the Unitetl States and the discovery of 
gold in its bosom, called for faster sailing vessels, and inventive genius 
soon produced a greater develoi)ment of the Baltimore clipper principle 
in naval architecture. New York-built vessels soon reached a higher 
point of excellence than had ever before been attained. 

It was about this time that the Steers Brothers (James and George, 
sons of an English shipbuilder) achieved wonderful success in the con- 
struction of swift pilot-boats and other smaller craft on the clipper 
model. Their first great success was the cat-boat Manhattan. Then 
they produced the schooners George Steers and Mary Taylor — " our 
Mary," as the fascinating actress then at the Otympic Theatre was 
called, after whom the vessel was named. They were buUt in 18-15, 
and after their model the best sailing vessels have since been con- 
stnicted. 

This was also the era of the development of the yacht as it is now 
known. There had been yachts built long Ijefore, and races between 
them, but no regular yacht association existed until ISJri, when John 
C. Stevens founded the Xew York Yacht Club. There were nine 
member's and as man}' yachts. The first regular regatta in America 
was sailed about the middle of July, 1S45, when the Cygnet, built hy 
Steers Brothei-s, was the winner. 

In 1851 the Steerses built for Mr. Stevens the famous vacht Anierica, 
designed to contend for the Queen's Cup at the annual regatta of the 
Koyal Yacht Club at Cowes, England. Mr. Stevens offered to give the 
builders a large bonus in case she won the prize. They both went to 
Europe with her, with Richard Brown as pilot. As they approached 
the port of Havre they were met by a Channel pilot-boat bearing a 
French flag, indicating that she was in command of a French pilot. It 
Avas immediately discovered that this was a false pretence. The pilot- 
boat hatl been sent out as a spy to discover the sailing qualities of the 
America, whose fame had gone before her. The j^ilot was charged 
with fraud, and acknowledged that he was not a Frenchman. He was 
dismissed, and lim-rying back to Cowes said to the Royal Yacht Club, 
" The Yankee is the fastest vessel going." 

When the America crossed the Channel and it was proposed to enter 
her as a contestant for the prize which, according to the terms, was 
"open to all t'"> v, ..ii.-' J^ev builders wore coldlv received. The 



SKCUM) DKCAOK, ISIO ls.V). 625 

momlipi-s of tlip Roviil V:itlit ("liih weiv so iilaniio<l by the rejKut of 
tlio spy tliat tlit'V (leU>riiiiiH'(l to keep tlio Aiii>ri<-<i out of the nice as a 
competitor fctr the prize. Aeeordiii^'ly at near inidnij^lit hefoie tlie rlav 
appointed for tlie regsitta, tiie Steei-s IJrotliei-s were ollieially infoi-nied 
that tlieir vessel was " ruled out of the laee," ;iiid wagers from lier 
company were refused ! 

The America had voyaged :iOU(» miles to show iier speed, ami was 
determined to do so, tiiougii dejirived of the right to the prize if she 
won it. She stalled willi the other yaclits the next day (August 21, 
I80I), and easily outsiiiled them ail ; and yet the 2n,()no English people 
who saw the victory were, wrote an eye-witness, " as mute as oystei"s." 

All fair-minded jiei-sons comlenmed the conduct (jf tlie IJoval Yacht 
("lub on that (X'casion. (Jueen ^'ictoria, who witli Iier iiushand and 
the young Prince of "Wales was a witness of the triumph of the 
America, with her innate love of fair play immediately paid a comjjU- 
mentary visit to the winning yaciit, with her maids of honor and 
othei-s. She was dressed, with lepuhliean simj)licity. in a calico gown. 
When about to leave she incpiired the number of the crew, and when 
told she took out her jmi-se and laid down on a plate an ecjual lunnber 
of guineas to be distributed among them. She also invited them to 
visit her at Osljorne. She did more. She rebuked the unfair conduct 
of the Royal Yacht Club by having a duplicate of the (Jueen's Cuj), 
which the crew of the Aiiurira fairly won, made and jiresented to 
them. This cup is now in possession of the Xew York Yacht ("lub. 

The comi)any of the Amirira visited Osljonie, where the Queen had 
some fetes for their enttMtainment. The ^larquis of Anglesea visited 
the yacht, invited the company to his mansion on the Isle of AViglit, 
and said he had come " to sec the men who had brains to build that 
vessel." * 

Five yeai-s after these events George Steei-s, Avhile driving a team of 
horses to Glen Cove, Long Island, to take his wife home, w:is thrown 
from the carriage and mortally hurt in head and sj)ine, and never spoke 
again. He wa.s then tiiirty-six yeai-s of age. At the time of his death 
the great steamship Adriatic, of the Collins line, liad jiLst been launched 
fi"om his yard. 

Mr. Stevens sold the America in England. Tiic Confederates bought 
her in 1802, Ijrought her back to the I'liited States, and sunk her in a 
Southei-n harbor to jirevent her falling into the hands of the national 
authorities. She was raised, became a tender to a naval schoolship. 

• See " The Old Shipbiiililors nl Xrw Ynrk." flfirprrs ^^a(|(lzine, vol. Ixv. 



526 HISTORY OB' NEW VOUK CITY. 

ami was finally bought by (ienoral B. Y. lUitler, who was Goveriioi- 
of Massiichusetts in 1SS3. 

From the close of this docadc until the Civil War shipljuilding at 
New i'ork was one of its most nourishing industries, and "WilHam II. 
"Webb was its most conspicuous representative. Ilis father, Issiac 
Webb, a leading shipbuilder in Xew York for many years, died in 
18J:i), when his son William II., then less than twenty-four years of 
age, became his successor in business, forming a, coj^artnership with 
his father's partner, Mr. Allen, under the firm name of Webb tc 
Allen. This connection continued less than three years, after which 
Mr. Webb pursued the business in his own name until 1868. During 
that quarter of a century he built one hundred and fifty vessels of all 
sizes, most of them of the largest class and of a much greater average 
tonnage than liad ever been constracted In- any shipbuilder in the 
world. 

Among these vessels were ships of Avar for the United States, Mexico, 
Eussia, and Italy. lie built the T2-gun frigate General Admiral, 7000 
tons burden, for the Eussian Government, and the screw frigate J?e 
d' Italia and jRe de Portoyalo, 6800 tons, for the Itahan Goverimient. 
The last two were the firet iron-clad ships that ever crossed the 
Atlantic Ocean. The first went from Xew York to Cherbourg in the 
unprecedented short time of eleven days and eight hours ; the other 
made the passage from Xew York to Xaples, 5000 miles, in eighteen 
daj^s and twenty houi-s. 

In 1847 Mr. Webb built for Charles li. Mai-shall and others the 
steamship United States for the New Orleans trade, but it was sold to 
the Gennan Confederation and altered into a powerful vessel of war 
by Mr. Webb. The next year he built the steam vessel California for 
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. It was the fii'st steamer to 
enter the Golden Gate and the harbor of San Francisco. He also built 
the three steamships which carried the first regular United States mail 
Ijetween this comitry and Japan and China— New York and Aspinwali. 
and Panama to San Francisco, and thence to Yokohama and Ilong 
Kong. 

Mr. AVebb built for the I'nited States Government the Harriet Lane 
(named in honor of the niece of the baciielor President Buchanan, and 
who was the accomplished " lady of the AVhite House"), the first 
steam revenue vessel constructed for our govermnent. The contract 
was awarded to him in competition with twenty-two other shiji- 
builders. It was the fii-st competition of the kind ever had in this 
country. The vessel was a noted one. She was destroyed by the in- 



SKrONU DKCAUK, 1H40-1M.'):). 

surgoiits oil tin: liarlnir (jf Ciiilvostoii in iNf.^. Mr. Wcljb also built (or 
tilt' I'liitod States (ruvernuieiit the steuiu-raiii Jfii/ii/i'rb<'r(/, 72<I0 tons 
liurdcii, tlio largest wotjden vessel ever yet built. Ilfr speed is un- 
rivalled by any vessel of war afloat to tliis day. She mounted twenty- 
two guns of enonnous calibre in casemates. The Civil AVar ended 
before she was c<)mj)lett!d, and the government had no immediate a e 
for her. Tiie coinliincil ;,n)vernments of l*eru and C'iiili were then at 
war witli Spain, inid tluy offered Mr. "\Vel)b s.-)jMtnjM)(i, United States 
currency, for her delivcM-ed, full annored, in the iiarbor of ^'alparaiKt>. 
He offered to refund U> our govt-rnment the money alr(>ady i)aid, l>ut 
it ivfused to release him, unwilling to have the most ]iowei'ful vessel of 
war in the world leave the country, for she was the jiride of the 
nation. Mr. "\Vel)l> afterward obtained a law of Congress relieving 
him from the contract on etjuitable conditions, and ho sold tiie Dumhi- 
hi'nj to the Em])eror Napoleon for !i;2,"><Hi,(MiO. delivered in \ew York. 
The French admiral sent a French crew to man her for an Atlantic 
voyage, but, afraid to undertake the task, he made arrangements with 
^fr. Webb to deliver her in the port of Cherbourg. This was done b^' 
an American crew, under the command of Captain .Tose]>h AV. Comstock, 
with Mr. "Webb on board. She made the passage in fourteen days. 
Her name had been changed to liorhnmhean. 'Six. Webb was prom- 
ised the decoi-ation of the Legion of Honor in case she was safely de- 
livered, but that promise has never been fulfilled. 

Previous to these great stnictui-es for steam navigation ^Ir. Webb 
Iniilt many saihng chpjier vessels of large size and umnvalled sjieed, 
notably the Comit and Yomnj Airi'Tifxt, yet in ser\ice, and about 
thirty yeai-s old. The former made five consecutive voyages between 
New York and San Francisco around Cape Horn, averaging one hun- 
dred days each. One pas.si\ge from San Francisco to Xew Y<irk was 
made in seventy-six days. The latter has been noted for her regu- 
larity of annval in jwrt, and obtained the best reputation for excellence 
among the ships in the Pacific trade. 

In !><•>() ^[r. Webb built the magnificent coast steam-vessels Brlj<tnl 
and Provith'nri^ which ply between Xew York and Newport. They 
were his fii-st effort in this class of vessels. They were built at a cost 
(.f >;l.2o((,o(i(i each. The Brlsi,,] is 37."> feet in length and of ?.ti(io tons 
bui-den. She has four tiers of staterooms, and can furnish 12<«i berths. 
These vessels are unrivalled in s])eed and best sea-going qualities. In 
a|)pointments they are veritable palaces afloat.* 

* William H. Webb was bom in the city of New York June 19, 18IC. His parental 
ancestors were from tlie lowlands of Scotland, and criming to America settled first ot Hart- 



528 HISTOKY UK NEW YUKK CITY. 

At about the middle of tliis decade fashionable residences began to 
appear in considerable nmnbers beyond Fourteenth Street, particidarly 
in the vicinity of Fourtii and Filth avenues and around Union Square. 
The latter is a piece of ground of oval form between Fomteenth and 
Seventeenth streets and Fourth and Fifth avenues. It was inclosed l)y 
an iron fence, and had a fountain in its centre. Farther on, between 
Twentieth and Twenty-first streets and Tliird and Fourth avenues, 
was Gramercy Park. The land had recently been conveyed, in trust, 
to the owners of the sixty lots around it. It was inclosed by a costly 
iron fence, and has remained a jjrivate park ever since. The generous 
provider of this elegant httle park was the late Samuel B. Ruggles, for 
lialf a century one of the most active, enterprising, and pubhc-spirited 

ford, and in 1642 at Stamford, Connecticut. His mother's family were Huguenots who 
settled at New Kochelle, in Westchester County. William's father was one of the early 
and eminent shipbuilders of New Y'ork. Designing his son for a profession, he pro- 
cured for him a good education in private schools and at the Coliuubia College Grammar 
School. He preferred his father's business, and when a little past fifteen years of age 
he entered the shipyard as an apprentice. Before he attained his majority he made a 
sub-contract with his father to build the sailing-ship Oxford, for the old " Black Ball " 
line of packets sailing between New York and Liverpool, the first regular line ever estab- 
lished. 

Having by overwork impaired his health, young Webb went to Europe in the fall of 

1839. His father dying soon after his arrival there, he returned home, and in April, 

1840, entered upon the business of shipbuilding on his own account, as we have 
observed. His career in that pursuit has been briefly outlined in the text. He retired 
from it in the year 1868, after a business career of nearly thirty years of almost unex- 
ampled success in every particular. His services were acknowledged by the Russian 
and Italian governments by presents and appreciative letters. The latter bestowed ujion 
him the decoration of the Order of St. Maurice and Lazarus, one of the oldest in Europe. 

Besides the building of ships Mr. Webb was largely engaged in other enterprises. He 
was a large stockholder of the Panama Eailway at the time of its construction, but sold 
out long after its completion at an enormous profit. After his retirement from shipbuild- 
ing he was engaged in running steamships to California, the Sandwich Islands, Nev," 
"ealand, and Australia for several years. He was the first to establish an American line 
of steamers to these far-off countries. It was done with a view to control the trade which 
had enriched them, and to bring it to the United States. He tried to interest his own 
government in the enterprise, but notwithstanding President Grant recommended it in 
two messages. Congress would not be m.ide to see its advantages. He obtained sub- 
sidies from New Zealand and Victoria, the first ever accorded l).y British subjects to an 
American line of steamers. The enterprise proving unprofitable, the ships were with- 
drawn. 

At the age of fifty-six Mr. Webb withdrew from active business life. He lives qmetly 
at his beautiful and picturesquely situated country seat, " Waldheim, " at TaiTytown on 
the Hudson. He hos never been a candidate for any political office, though three times 
offered the nomination for mayor of the city of New Y'ork, and by both political parties. 
In 1843 he married Miss Henrietta Amelia Hidden, a native of New York City, and 
descended from the Ives family of Rhode Island. 




C--J^ 



530 HISTOin OF NEW YORK CITY. 

At the close of this decade Xew Yoi'k City liad oiih- a few httle 
parks or " squares,'' as they were called whatever their form. They 
were the Battery, Bowling Green, Cit}' Hall Park, with shade trees, 
walks, and a fountain ; St. John's Park, in front of St. John's Chapel, 
between Yarick and Hudson streets, beautifidly laid out and shaded 
and surrounded by an iron fence, but accessible oidy to subscribers ; 
"\\'ashiugton Square or Parade-Ground, also j^l'inted with trees and 
inclosed by an iron fence ; Tompkins Square, then in the north-cast 
part of the growing citj^ and just planted with trees ; Union Square 
and Gramercy Park, ah-eady mentioned, and ifadison Square, Stuy- 
vesant Square, and Hamilton Square. StujT'esant Square had lately 
been inclosed, and new St. George's Church edifice erected on its 
western side. Madison and Hamilton squares were yet a sort of rough 
'• commons." The latter was six miles from the City Hall, toward the 
eastern side of the island. There a corner-stone of a ])rojected monu- 
ment in honor of "Washington had been laid. Other squares had been 
marked on a map of the cit}', but were not N'ct visibly defined in its 
tojiography. 

Two events of national importance occurred during the latter portion 
of this decade, in which citizens of Xew York were consijicuous actors, 
directly or indirectly. These were the war with Mexico (l>!4!i--l-8) 
and the discovery and mining of gold in California. 

There were abundant causes for the existence of mutual irritation on 
the part of the United States and the Repubhc of Mexico at the begin- 
ning of this decade. In Mexico good government was an impossibility 
because revolutions in that country were frequent. American vessel:-. 
in the Gulf of Mexico were plimdered by the Mexicans, and the prop- 
erty of American merchants in Mexico was seized and confiscated. 
The United States Govei-nment remonstrated in vain. In 1S4() the 
value of the property of Americans so plundered amounted to more 
than $6,000,000. American settlers in Texas had rebelled against tlic 
Government of Mexico, and had wrested that ju-ovince from the parent 
State, and in 1846 it Avas annexed to the United States. These were 
causes of mutual irritation. 

War ensued, and the State of Xew York contributed to it two 
veteran generals of the war of 1812-1.")— "Wool and "Worth *— a gallant 

WTiUe sojourning at the Sarf Honse, Fire Island, in the summer of 1881, llr. Rnggles 
dieil, August 28, from the effects of a stroke of paralysis. 

* In memory of General Worth, the corporation of the city of New Y^ork caused to be 
erected, in 1858, an imposing monument at the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. 
This monuratnt is of Quincy granite. Its entire height from the ground is fiftv-une 



SKCOXD r)ECAl»K. 18 10-1 8 >0 531 

sdliliiM' iiiid ;i leader nl' armies in tlie Civil War, I'liilip Kearny, ami a 
host of hrave men wlio won renown. 

When tidings of the vietories of General Taylor (who had been sent 
to tiic fmnticr) over the Mexicans at Palo Alto an<l llesaca do la Palma 
reached the city of \ew Voik, late in May, ls4(I, tiie people wem 
powei-fully stirred with pleasurable exeitement, and the City Hall Park 
was crowded to excess one evening with a multitude of men, women, 
and children looking upon one of the greatest displays of lireworks in 
front of the City Hall ever before seen in New York. 

The war with Mexico was ended by treaty concluded in February, 
184S, and in tlio same month gold was discovered in ralifornia, a 
province acquired by tlu^ treaty — a discovery which speedily led to the 
founding of a ])owerful State on tlie PjiciHc coa.st. A man named 
Mai-shall, employed by Cajitain Sutter, who owned a mill on the 
American Fork of the Sacramento River, discovered gold while digging 
a mill-i'ace. The metal was soon afterward found in other places, and 
during the summer of IS-IS rumoi-s of the fact reached New York City. 
These rumoi-s were not generally believed until a trustworthy message 
came that there was gold enougli in California to ]iay all the expenses 
of the war with ilexico. 

In December, 184S, President Polk in his annual mes.sage to Congress 
ollicially announced the wonderful discoveries <jf the precious metals in 
California, and early in 1840 tliousiinds of gold-seekei-s were on their 
way to the modein Ophii-. Around Cape Horn, acro.ss the Isthmus of 
Panama, and over the great central ])lains of our continent men went 
by hundreds. Gold was soon found in every direction in California. 
Hundreds also flocked thither from Europe and South America, and 
Chinese came from Eastern Asia to dig for gold. The dreams of the 
early Spanish voy:igers, and those of the English who sought gold on 
the shores of Labratlor and up the mid-continent rivei"s, have been more 
than realized. This was the beginning of the discoveries of the 
immense mineral resources of the Western States and Temtories of our 
Republic. 

In this great early migration to California the citizens of Xew York 
bore a consjiicuous part, and very soou it became the chief receiver 
of the precious metals sent to the Atlantic coast for coinage at tlie mint 
or exjwrtatifin to Europe. During that early migration hundreds of 

feet. It is an obelisk. The smooth surface of the shaft is broken by niise<1 bands, on 
which, in bronze letters, are the names of the buttles in which Genenil Worth was dis- 
tinf^iiished in the war of 1812 and in the war with Mi^jtico. On the lower section of the 
shaft arc representations of military trophies in bionze in relief. 



03JJ HlSTOliV UF NEW VOKK CITY. 

energetic men went from the city of Xew Voik. IJusiness of every 
kind was tihandoned ; families were left without fathei-s, husljands, and 
brothel's, in the wild scramble for gold, the visions of whicii almost 
dazed men. Some made fortmies, but a vast majority who rushed 
blinilly to the Pacific slope were disappointed. Many returned home, 
but many remained, and at the end of thi-ee yeai-s from the time the 
tide of emigration began to flow thither, California had a mi.Ked popu- 
lation of over 250,()(t0 human beings, and had become an independent 
State of the Republic. When the gold fever had somewhat subsided, 
and political, moral, and religious consideration directed public atten- 
tion to California, Xew York City contributed very largely many 
efficient instrumentalities in forwarding the great woi-k of building uj) 
an enlightened and prosperous State. 

It has been observed that during the great fire of 1S35 the Post- 
Office -was removed fi'om the Exchange budding in Wall Street. It 
was temporarily estabhshed in a brick store in Pine Street, near Xassau 
Street. There was then such a demand for buildings in that neighbor- 
hood that it was almost impossible to obtain a good place for the Post- 
Office. The corporation offered the Rotunda, in the Park, built for 
Vanderlyn for the exhibition of panoramic paintings. It was accepted, 
and when this acceptance was known there Avas great indignation 
expressed by business men because of the removal of the Post-Office 
so far up town. The Post-OfRce remained in the Rotunda for about 
ten years. 

Much dissatisfaction was continually felt and expressed by citizens of 
all classes because of the location of the Post-Office. A letter delivery 
was established at the new Exchange, but this gave little relief. 
Finally the Middle Dutch Reformed Church, in !Xassau Street, was pur- 
chased by the government and converted into a city Post-Office, and the 
first mails were placed in it early in January, 1845. There the Post- 
Office had its location while the great tide of business and population 
was flowing up town, until the completion of the spacious Post-Office 
building at the southern end of the City Hall Park. * 

* The new Post-Office building, situated at the southern end of the City Hall Park, is 
one of the largest and most conspicuous structiires in New York. It is triangular in 
shape, five stories in height (one story in the mansard roof), besides a basement and sub- 
basement. In the latter are the engines and other machinery used in running the eleva- 
tors connecting the different floors and in heating the building. The architecture is a 
mixture of the Doric and the Renaissance, and the material of the walls is a light-colored 
granite from Dix Island, Maine. The girders, beams, etc , are iron, and the structure is re- 
garded as absolutely fire-proof. It was completed at a cost of between |(;,000,000 and 
$7,000,000, and was first occupied September 1, 1877. 



SECOND KKCADE, lS40-18oO. 533 

Tlie posttil fuoilitic'H ill thu city ore admirnblo. Besides the General Pust-OQico tliero 
were nineteen snb-Ktiitiniis, iit tbe be^^naiu); of 1883, under the control uf (be I'ostiuaster. 
There were iibout one tbousiind liiiiip-poHt boxcH, from which oolIectionH were made from 
twelve to twenty times ii day iind ni^ht in uU pnrts of the city below Fifly-nwilh Street. 
The city mnil is conveyed between thu I'osl-Ufficu nud the stulious by the elevuled rail- 
ronds and by wagons. 

The following exhibit, kindly furnished to the writer by tho Postmaster at New York, 
H. G. Pearson, Esq., will indicate the vast amount of work performed at tho PostOfBoo 
during the year endinj.; January 1, 1883 : 

There were delivered, through lock-boxes and by carriers, 253,528,302 pieces of or- 
dinary mail matter, divided as fallows : 15!t,2l5,(l25 letters, 38,735,751 jiostal-cards, 
ond 55,537,580 of other matter. There were handled in the distribution departim nt, 
including receipts, a total of 541,015,572 pieces. These were contained in 520,477 lock- 
pouches ond 502.173 socks, be.siiles a very large number of pouches, cases, ond sacks 
of registered letters and supplies, and pieces in transit to and from other offices, making 
a total of pouches, cases, and sacks of 2,321,572. Tho heaviest day's work was on De- 
comber 20, 1882, when 10,147 mail.bags of every kind, with their contents, were handled. 

The amazing growth of tho population, and especially of tho business of the city, during 
the past thirty years is conspicuou.sly indicated by the following comparative i-tatement : 
The number of Ietters,ne\vspai)ers, circulars, etc., delivered in New York City by lock-boxes, 
carriers, etc., in 1853, was3,927.030 : the number of letters, newsjjapcrs, jwstal-cards and 
circulars delivered in tho city by lock-boxes and carriers in 1882 was 129,037.537 : increase, 
125.037,587. The gross receipts of the National Post^Office Deiiartment in 1S53, includ- 
ing those from the 23,546 post-offices then e-stabli-shed in the United Slates, was 0,255,- 
586. The gross receipts of the New York City Post-Office in 1882 were $4,331,705. 

There were posted at the New Y.jrk Post-Office during the year 1882, 21.999.14-1 
pounds of " mail matter of the second class" (newspapers and periodicals sent by pub- 
lishers and news agents to subscribers), equal to 10,995 tons. The postage received on 
this matter amounted to |;439,802, a daily average of $1322, 



CHAPTEE V. 

AT the close of the second decade there were 224 church edifices in 
tlie city of New York, including those of all denominations of 
Christians, Hebrew synagogues, and of miscellaneous congregations. 
There were 41 Protestant Episcopal church edifices, 33 Presbyterian, 
31 Methodist Episcopal, 26 Baptist, 15 Dutch Reformed, 13 Reformed 
Presbyterian, 13 Roman Catholic, 7 Congregational, 3 Unitarian, 
5 Lutheran, 3 Associate Reformed' Presbyterian, 2 Welsh, 1 Protestant 
]\[ethodist, 12 miscellaneous, 9 synagogues, and 4 Friends' (or Quaker) 
meeting-houses. The aggregate number of church edifices in the city 
in 1883 was about four hundred and seventy-five. 

THE DUTCH KEFOEMED CHTTECH. 

The most ancient of the church organizations in the city of New 
York is the Dutch Reformed. There were members of that Church 
among the traders on Manhattan Island as early as the year 1620, and 
it is believed that among the colonists who arrived there in 1623 a 
church organization was effected in 1626. There are regular records 
since 1639. 

The Dutch built a largo square fort on the southern end of Manhat- 
tan Island, on the ground now known as the Battery. In it were 
several houses, and in 1642 a church edifice was erected at the south- 
east comer of the fort. It stood there nearly one hundred years. In 
1741 it was consumed by fire, and not again rebuilt. This edifice was 
constructed by oi'der of Governor Kieft, by John and Richard Ogden. 
It was built of stone and roofed with split oaken shingles, which were 
called " wooden slate." The cost of the edifice was about $2000. It 
was 52 feet in width, 70 feet in length, and 16 feet in height. Before 
this they had a little barn-like structure in which they worshipped. 

The city (first New Amsterdam, and after the English occupation 
New York) grew apace, and in 1090 there were nearly eight hundred 
and fiftv families there. The citv stretched northward, and a new 



SKCONI) DKCADK. ls|(( lK.-,o. 535 

churoli booaiiic a in'cossitv. Tlicrt! was at tliat time a sliort, narrow- 
street called (iardcii Alley, rimning j)arallel with tlie ]>resi'iit Wall 
Street, from IJroad Stieet eiustward. Tlie grounds here had Jjeen laid 
out and cultivated with much taste, hence the name — (Jardcn Alley, 
then (iarden Street. It is now Exchange Place. A church was built 
there in KV.i.i. It wa.s considered nither too far out of town. This 
was afterward called the South Church when two ..tiicr Diitdi IJe- 
formed churches were Iniilt north of it. . 

The (iarden Street ("liurch was built of wo<xl, of octagonal fnrin, 
with a tower and ste(>|>le in the centre of the rfX)f. It Wiis enlarged 
and repaired in 17Ti'>, and in 1m>7 was rebuilt of stone, 00 feet long and 
50 feet wide. A large congregation continue<l to assemble there until 
1813, when it was separat(>d from the Collegiate Church an<l became a 
distinct charge, and the Rev. James M. Matthews was installed its 
pastor, lie was its st)le ])astor until IS.'U, when he was chosen chan- 
cellor of the Tnivei-sity of the City of New York, and the Rev. Mancius 
Ilutton was installed as cf)lleague pastor. This ancient church edilice 
was devoured by the great tire in 183.5, as we have observed. The last 
sennon ever preached in it was delivered to fourteen hearers. A new 
church was built on Murr.iy Street, corner of Chui-ch Street. It was 
opened for service in the spring of 1S38, with the Rev. J. M. Macauley 
as pastor, Messi-s. Matthmvs and Ilutton becoming colleague pa.stoi-s of 
a new church adjoining the I'nivei"sity. 

Again the increasing ])c)pulation of the city made it necessary for the 
Dutch Church to erect another edilice farther north. A more spacious 
structure than either of the fonner ones soon appeared on X;iss;xu 
Street, between (i)resent) Cedar and Liberty streets. It was opened for 
worship in 1729, and was kno^\Ti as the Xew Church. It was l)uilt of 
stone, K'O feet long and 70 feet wide, with a steeple and bell. It liad 
no gallei-y, and the ceihng was a single arch without pillai-s. So it 
remained until 1704, when a gallery was built on three sides, and 
columns wei-e put up to support the roof. It was closed as a ])lac(> of 
worship during the old war for independence. The Rritish removed 
the 1)6 ws and ased the building fir.st as a hospital and then as a riding- 
school. It was reopened and repaired after the Revolution. In time 
business crowde<l families out of its neighborhood until, in 1844, there 
was scarcely a mcnd)er living within easy walking distance of it. It 
was then dctennined to aban(lon it as a place of woi-ship. It was sold 
to the National Government and converted into a city Post-Otfice. 

A farewell meeting was hehl in the church on Sunday evening, 
August 11, 1844. when the Rev. Dr. Knox, the senior pastor of the 



536 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Collegiate Church, preachetl, and the lie v. Dr. De "Witt,* one of tlie 
pastors, presented an outline history of the church. He pronounced 
the benediction in tlie Dutch language. For many years the edifice 

♦ Thomas De Witt, D.D., was dcscoiuleil from the eminent Ilolland family of that name. 
His father was Thomas De AVitt, a soldier of the French and Indian war and of the old 
war for independence, who, in 1782, married Elsie Hasbrouck, of Huguenot lineage. 
Thomas, their fifth and youngest child, was born near Kingston, Ulster County, N. Y., on 
September 13, 1791. His iireparatory education was at the Kingston Academy, and when 
he was little more than fourteen years of age he entered the sophomore class at Union Col- 
lege. Before he was eighteen he graduated, became a communicant of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, and began the study of theology under Kev. Dr. Brodhead, of Khinobeck, Duch- 
ess County. In 1810 he entered the divinity school of Rutgers College at New Brunswick, 
N. J., and was graduated in 1812. The same year he was ordained at Poughkeepsie a 
minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and accepted a call to the pastorate of the united 
churches at New Hackensack and HopeweU, in Duchess County. He had a wide field of 
labor, and he cultivated it with untiring zeal and gratifying success. So great were the 
promises of abundant fruit that he twice declined the offer of a professorship in Rutgers 
College. He remained in charge of the Hopewell congregation, which became separated 
from that of Hackensack, until 1827, when he was called to the pastorate of the Collegi- 
ate Dutch Church in the city of New York. 

Dr. De Witt married Eliza Ann Waterman, of New Y'ork, who was as lovely in character 
as she was beautiful in person. She was his loving companion and efficient and judi- 
cious helpmate in aU things, until her spirit was suddenly called home not long before 
his own death, in Hay, 1874. For more than forty-five years Dr. De Witt was loved, 
honored, and revered as a pastor and a citizen by all classes of men of every creed, and at 
his funeral clergjTnen of nearly all denominations were the pall-bearers. 

In the summer of 1846 Dr. De Witt visited Holland and England with his eldest 
daughter. He was never so long absent from his pulpit. He was always at his post of 
duty of every kind, whether in the Church or in the various religious and benevolent in- 
stitutions of which he was a manager. 

With all his varied labors, he always seemed to have leisure, and to no appeal for his 
help did he ever say, " I have not time." He was an active and most useful member of 
the New York Historical Society, of which he was second vice-president ten years, firgt 
vice-president tMenty years, and in 1870, when he was nearly fourscore years of age, he 
was chosen president, served two years, and then declined a re-election. 

When old age began to lay its burdens upon him. Dr. De Witt resigned his position 
as stated preacher, yet he retained the office of senior pastor of the Collegiate Church 
until his death, when he was succeeded by Dr. Vermilye, who yet (1883) holds that posi- 
tion. His latest public act was the dedication of the new church edifice on the corner of 
Forty-eighth Street and Fifth .\venue. when he was eighty years of age. 

Dr. De Witt suffered sore afflictions in the loss of children by death ; also of his wife, 
when he was in the eighty-second year of his age. Y^et such was his sublime faith in the 
goodness and wisdom of his JIaker, and his overflowing gratitude for mercies, that he 
never murmured. "When his only sou, a promising young man. suddenly died, a friend, 
hearing of it, hastened to the house of affliction. The stricken father met him at the 
door. The friend said, "Oh, Doctor, can this be true?" The aged saint, with serene 
composure, said, "We must remember the mercj.9." At the burial of his wife in Green- 
wood, as the coffin was lowered into the grave, there burst from the lips of the venerable 
husband the uncontrolled worls which thrilled every heart of the multitude of friends 




lUuA^M 



CAA^ 



538 HISTORY OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

In the North Dutch Church was beguu, under the auspices of the 
Collegiate Church,* in the season of great financial trouble in 1857, 
those remarkable rehgious services known as the Fulton Street noon 
praj'er-meetings, originated by Jeremiah Lanphier, aud yet (1883) con- 
tinued. These will be noticed hereafter. 

From the lieginning of this century until the period we are consider- 
ing the Dutcli lieformed Church established many new congregations 
and erected cliurch edifices as the city extended northward. A church 
was built at Bloomingdale in 1805, five miles from the City HaU. It 
was erected by Jacob Harsen, on his own land, and was dedicated by 
the Eev. Dr. John H. Livingston. 

The Greenwich Street Church was a small wooden structure built in 
1802, between Amos and Charles streets. It was sold in 1S2G to a 
societj^ of Eeformed Presbyterians, who had it removed entire, with a 
spire containing a public clock in motion at the time. Dui-ing its 
migration to Waverley Place a congregation was gathered in it and a 
sermon was preached to them. 

The FrankUn Street Church was between Church and Chapel streets. 
Its firet pastor was the Eev. Christian Bork, who was a Hessian soldier 
captured with Burgoyne in 1777, and converted under the preaching of 
the Rev. Dr. Livingston in a barn. The Houston Street Church was 
the result of missionary work for a destitute population. The Broome 
Street Churcli was erected on the corner of Broome and Greene streets, 
and the Orchar-d Street Church was built between Broome and Delan- 
cey streets. 

The Colored Reformed Dutch Church did not succeed, and a chm-ch 
edifice \vas never erected. Such was the case with the A^andcwater 

* The Collegiate Church consists of three congregations under but one ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction, the ministers officiating alternately in the three churches. It is the centre 
of power aud government in the Dutch Reformed Church in New York, and is the oldest 
and wealthiest coiijoration in the metropolis. It was chartered by WiUiam III. in May, 
1696. This royal charter was ratified by the Legislature of the Colony of New York in 
1753, and by the LegLslaturo of the State of New York in 1781 and 180.5. The control of 
the corporation and it.s largo property is vested in a legislative body of twenty four 
persons, each of the three churches belonging to the society being ecjually represented 
in it, and is known as the consistory. The ministers of the Collegiate Church av.i called 
to it for life, and may be removed only for cause. 

The oldest of the Collegiate churches is in Lafayette Place, and known as the Jliddle 
Church ; the second is at the corner of Fifth .ivenue and West Twenty-ninth Street, and 
known as the Holland Chmch ; and the third is at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 
West Forty-eighth Street. At the close of the second decade the Collegiate Church 
embraced about live hundred families aud a membership in communion of nearly fifteen 
hundred persons. 



SKfOND DECADE. 1840-1850. 539 

Strt'i't C'liiucli. Tlicy were both soon disbanded. Tin- i[aidiiittiin 
Duteli Church was the result of missionary labor. The edifice stan<l- 
ing near the Dry Dock was built by Presl>yterians, and j)urchased by 
the Collegiate Church in ls:!;5, wiien a congregation was foi'nied. It 
was known for many yeai-s as the Young ilen's Mission Church. The 
Iiev. D. A'an Kleck was the first minister. A new edifice of brick was 
built and o})ened in 1S4:^. 

The Xinth Sti-eet Church, on Ninth Street, between Bi-oadway and 
the Bowery, foinied a very convenient location for a large portion of the 
congregation of the Collegiate Church who had rem<ned to that 
part of the city. TJie Twenty-fii"st Street Church, near Fifth Avenue, 
was built on ground given by the family of the deceased Iiev. John ]■'. 
Jackson. 

Such, in brief, is a history of the Dutch lieformed churches jirojier, 
existing at the close of the second <lecade, in 1841t. There was a 
church estaljlished at Ilarlem at a very early date, but it is uncertain 
"whether it was in connection with the Collegiate churches. There was 
a clmrch there as early as lf>S(>. The first trustworthy reconl of it 
begins one hundred yeai-s latei-. It is believed the services were con- 
ducted in the Dutch language at Harlem as late as 1784. In 1883 
there were twenty Refonned Dutch churches in the city, some of them 
elegant structures. Perha])s the finest is the one on the corner of F(jrty- 
eighth Street aiul Fifth Avenue, of which Rev. Dr. Coe is pastor. 

There was also a Genuan Refonned Church in Xassau Street, 
between John Street and ^laiden Lane. The building had formerly 
been used as a theatre. The fii-st minister (IT.'iH) was the Rev. ^Ir. 
Rozencnmtz. The congregiition was composed of Germans who bad 
attached themselves to the Dutch R<'formed Church because they could 
undei-stand the Low Dutch language, or had joined the Lutherans 
where the services were conducted in German. They were Calvinists. 
They adojrted the name of the German Reformed Congi'egatiim of 
New York. Before the Revolution they formed a connection with the 
Collegiate Church. In 1705 they Iniilt a new cluu'ch edifice on the 
siime spot. About 1822 they sold the ]iroperty an<l built a new church 
on Foi-srth Street. For many yeai-s there were bitter controvei-sies in 
the church between the Lutheran and German Refonned ministei's, 
and the law was evoked to settle the question as to the rightful jios-ses- 
sion of the jn-operty. The Court of Errore decided that the Lutherans 
had the right of possession. 

In 1823 a difference arose in the Dutch Refonned Church. Several 
ministei-s and churches, principally in Eastern New Jei-"'V. withdi-ew 



540 HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

from that coiiimunion. A church of the secessionists was orgauized in 
New York Citv iu 1823, calhng themselves the Time Reformed Prot- 
estant Dutch Church. They built a house of worshij) on King Street, 
and at the close of the second decade they had no fellowship with the 
main body of the Reformed Dutch Church. 

The school of the Reformeil Dutch Church in New York City is the 
oldest educational institution in the United States. It was founded in 
1633, and has been in constant oj^eration (excepting a few years, 
1776-83) until the present time, a period of two hundred and fifty 
years. The history of this famous school is exceedingly interesting. 
Allusion to this institution has ah-eady been made in Chapter XYl. 
This school was under the care of the local government at New 
Amsterdam for many years, and was a cherished institution. The 
Dutch municipaUty was too poor to build a school-house, and the 
school was held for manj'^ yeai's in the City Hall, at the head of 
Coenties Sh]). 

When New Amsterdam was incorporated a city in 1G53, Governor 
Stuyvesant relintiuisiied to the municipal authorities the revenue ainsing 
from excise hcenses, on condition that they should pay out of it the 
salaries of "two ministers, one schoolmastei", and one dog-whipper ;" 
but this privilege was withdrawn the next year liecause the burgomas- 
ters had paid the salary of only the dog-whipper. 

The conquest of New Netherlands by the Enghsh did not materially 
affect the Dutch Church or its school. The petty tjTant Lord Cornbury 
gave them some trouble, but it was temporary. The school had no 
permanent habitation until 1748, when it was one hundi'ed and fifteen 
yeai-s old. In that year a small house was built for it on Garden 
Street (now Exchange Place). On its site was erected a new and more 
spacious house in 1773, when the salary of the schoolmaster was $-100 a 
year. 

Up to this period, though the English language was generally spoken 
in New York, no one had presumed to teach any but the Dutch tongue 
in this school. From its foundation until 1808 the school was mider 
the exclusive control of the ministers and deacons of the Chm-ch, and 
they for some time strenuously resisted the inevitable change. The 
pressure of necessity became too great, and in 1773 the deacons con- 
sented to have reading and writing taught iu both the Dutch and Eng- 
lish languages. 

While the British held the city of New York (1776-83) the Dutch 
Church Sc1k)o1 was closed. It Avas reopened a few weeks befoi'e tlie 
British troops evacuated the city. In 1789 a custom was established of 



SEroNI) DECADK, 1840-1850. '141 

providing eacli scholar witli a suit of clotiies, collections being made 
for the ])uri)ose in tiie cliui'ches. The fii-st collection was made in the 
Xorth Dutch Church, and amounteil to $lM<;. 

In 17".i2 the lii-st feminine teacher — Eli/.aheth Ten Kyck — was em- 
ployed in the school. She continued al)out eigiiteen years, when the 
introduction of the Lancastrian sy.stem e.\clu(led her, hut for thirty 
yeai-s afterward she was employed in making cluthing for t lie girls of 
the si'hool. 

It was not until isiii that English gnimmar was taught in this 
school. Four yeai-s hiter the deacons gave up their rule tt) a board of 
trustees, and that form of government still continues. The folhnving 
year the Ltuicastrian system was introduced. Henry Weijb Dunshee 
was api)ointed teacher in ls4-2, and yet (1883) holds that exalted jiosi- 
tiou, after a faithful service of forty-one yeai-s.* 

The home of the school is in a three-story brick building on the south 
side of Twenty-ninth Street, near Seventli Avenue, fifty feet wide in 
fi-ont. Over the imnt door is a wliite tablet in the form of a shieltl 
bearing the following words : 

"SCHOOL OF THE COLLEGIATE REFORMED PROTESTANT 

DUTCH CHURCH OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 

FOUNDED A.D. 1C33. ERECTED A.D. 1860." 

For the fii-st thii-ty years of its existence the school was su])ix)rted 
by the Dutch West India ('(Jinpany or the Dutch colonial government. 
After the Enghsh occupation (and since) its support came chieHv fi-om 
collections taken up in the Dutch churches. A few gifts and legacies 
also give it a small income. It luus been migratory : fii-st on Garden 
Street, then on Duane, Canal, l)asement of the church on the corner of 
Broome and (ireene streets, liasement of the Ninth Street Church, 
Fourth Street near Sixth Avenue, and finally at its ])rese7it hx-ation. 
The number of its pupils has always been limited : first (178(5) 12 ; in 
180S, 72 ; in 1S32. l.')i». The school is exclusively for children of those 
pei-sons who are either members or habitual attendants of the Reformed 
Dutch Church. The 25i»th annivei-Siiry of this school was celebrated 
on November 22, 1883. 

MTUKKAX rni-Rcn. 

So early as 1(5(13 the Lutherans settled in New Amsterdam had 
organized a church, and had a meeting-house near the fort. Their 

* In 1H.".3 Jlr. Dunsbeo propiircil ami pnblished n most intereMtini;; history of the school, 
irom which the writer has drawn largely the facts tor this brief sketch. 



542 HISTOKY l)F NEW YORK CITY. 

first minister, the Rev. eTacol) Fabricius, seems to have been obnoxious 
to the Dutcli nmnicipal government, for he was twice fined for " mis- 
demeanor," and in 1765 he was forbidden to preach any more in the 
province. 

In 1702 the Lutherans erected a small church edifice of stone, on the 
corner of Eector Street and Broadway, the original site of Grace 
Church. It was destroyed by the great fire in New York in 1776, and 
not rebuilt by the Lutlierans. In 18o5 Grace Church was erected on 
the spot. In 1751 a small Lutheran church was built at the northerly 
termination of Cliff Sti'eet, now occupied by portions of the East Eivcr 
Bridge, but a few years later the}'' built a substantial stone edifice at 
the corner of Franlcfort and AYilliam streets, known as the Swamp 
Church. As in the Dutch Reformed Church, so in the Lutheran : dis- 
putes arose about the change of language in the public services. Final- 
ly the English was substituted for the German. For a long time the 
services were conducted interchangeably in German and English. 

At the time we are considering (18-1:9) the Lutheran churches in the 
city were St. Matthew's, in Walker Street, established in 1751 ; 
St. James's, in Mulberry Street : German Refonued Lutheran, in 
Foi-syth Sti-eet ; Evangelical Lutheran, Sixth Avenue ; and Old 
Lutheran, Columbia Street. In the latter the services were conducted 
in the German language. The first Lutheran Church established in 
1663 became extinct in 1784. 

I'liOTESTAXT EPISCOPAL CUUKCH. 

The Enghsh Church, as the Protestant Episcopal Church was called 
in colonial times, was tiie third ecclesiastical organization established in 
the city of New York. When, in 16(;4, the name of tlie city of New 
AuLsterdam was changed to New York by tlie English conquerors, 
they also gave to the English Chui-ch the precedence in the colony 
\vhich the Dutch Church had enjoyed for about forty years. They 
called the clia])el in the fort King's Chapel, and introduced the hturgy 
of the English Church tlierein. This was the only Enghsh Church in 
the city until l(i97, when Trinity Church was comjjleted. 

Trinity Cimrch edifice was begun in 1696, and completed in 1697. 
It was a small square building, and was fii-st opened for divine service 
in 1697. This church stood on the west side of Broadway, which then 
ran along the brow of a green slo])e that extended down to the Hudson 
River. The site was the one now occupied by the elegant structure on 
Broadway at the head of Wall Street. This building was enlarged in 



17:57 unci 17;5!t, to the tliiiicnsions of 14s feet in Icnj^tli and 7'2 IVct in 
width. It liad a stcople 175 feet in lieij^ht. 

This ediliee wa.s tlestroyed in tlio j^reat conflaj^iatioii of 177''i, and no 
efFt)rt \vai> nuule to leliuild it until after the war then la^ring. A new 
l)uilding wiis completed in 17MX, not so lonj^, hut of tlie sjinie widtii as 
tlie former one. This was demohslied, and the corner-stone of tlie 
])resent sui)orl) elmrdi edifice was hii<l on tlie old site in ls41. The 
l)uildinj; was conseeiated in May, 1S4<'). At that time there were forty 
other Trotestant M|)isco|)al churches in the city. Now there are nearly 
ilouhle that miinlier. Of the ahoumlinjf j^ood work of Trinity Church, 
in irlif^ion and charity, an account will he jjiven ])resently. 

In all the ancient churches in New York ("ity the plan of a colle<^iate 
charge seems to have ohtjiined. This plan was acted upon hy the 
Episcopal Church as well as the Dutch Reformed Churcli. Trinity 
was considered the parish church, and had as a collegiate charge three 
others, which were calletl chapels — namely, St. Cieorge's, St. Paul's, 
and St. John's. St. (leorgc's iiecauie a distinct charge in Isll, while 
the other twrj are still diajjels of Trinity. 

St. (George's Churcli, or Chapel, was completed and consecnited in 
the summer of 1752. It wtus erected on the corner of Van Cliff's Street 
(now Cliff Street) and Eeekman Street, and the high ground on which 
it stood was named Chaiiel Hill. It was built of stone, lu4r feet long 
and 72 feet wide, with a tall pointed spire. It stood sixty years, when, 
in 1.S14, fire con.suined all of it hut its stone walls. It was rebuilt and 
reopened in Xovember, 1S15. The Rev. James Milnor, D.I)., became 
its rector in ISlfi, and held that position until his death in 1S45, when 
the Rev. Stephen II. Tyng, D.D.,* became his successor. At that 

* Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., for many years the distinguished rector of St. George's 
Chnrch, is a native of Ncwbiiryport, Mass., where he was bom March 1, 1801). He 
graduated at Harvard College at the age of seventeen years, and for two years afterward 
he was a merchant's clerk. Then he began the study of theology under Bishop Gri.s- 
wold, of Rhodt; Island, and was ordained a deacon in the Protcstiint Episcopal Church 
in .\merica in 1821. For two years ho labored at Georgetown, D. C, and for six years in 
Qneen Anne's parish, Prince George's County, Maryland. In May, IS'29, he removed to 
Philadelphia and became rector of St. Paul's Church. In 1833 ho was c.illed to the 
Chnrch of the Epiphany in the same city. 

On the death of the venerable Dr. Milnor, of St. George's Church, New York, in IMii, 
Dr. Tyng was called to be his succes-sor in charge of that parish, and he occupied that 
position until the spring of 1880, when, at the ikge oi eighty years, he relinquished the 
charge. After laboring in old St. George's Church in Beekman Street a few years, his 
field of parochial labor was transferred to another part of the city. The congregation 
bad erected a magnificent (for the time) new chnrch in Rutherford Place, comer of 
Sixteenth Street, and facing Stuyvesant S<piare. It was first occupied in 1849. There 



544 HISTORY OF NEW VOHK CITY. 

tiiiu' tlic miiiiber of comiiuiniciints of St. George's Church was about 
four huii(h-e(l and fifty. 

The following year Peter G. Stuyvesant generously gave to St. 
George's Church lots of ground in Rutherford Place on which to 
erect a new temple. ^lany of the members of the church had moved 
uj) town, and a new buikhng was speedily begun. Before the close of 
the decade a very spacious stinicture was erected and occupied by the 
congregation. It fronts on Stuyvesant Square. The church in Beek- 
nian Street was finally demoUshed and its place approj)riated to com- 
mercial business. 

Fourteen years after this second E[)isco[)al chui'ch or chajjel was 
built, a third was erected on Broadway, between Fulton and Yesey 
streets, and called St. Paul's Chapel. It was built of reddish-gray 
stone, 113 feet long and 73 feet wide, and was consecrated in the 
autumn of 1766. It has an elegant and tall tower and spire. St. Paul's 
remains a chapel of Trinity Church. 

The third chapel of Trinity built in the city is St. John'i. wliicli is 
an elegant structure of stone with a tall tower and spire. It is in 
Varick Street, fronting what was formerly known as Hudson's Square. 
It is 111 feet in length and 73 feet in breadth, and was completed in 
1807 at a cost of more than $200,000. It, too, like St. Paul's, remains 
a chapel of Trinity Chui'ch. In front of it, between \'arick and 

for more than thirty years Dr. Tyng labored most successfully. His Sabbath-school 
work was marvellous. At one time there were in the home school, and in a mission 
school attached to the church, about nineteen hundred pupils and teachers. During his 
pastorate that organization raised and disbursed $63,985. The disbursements, included 
the building of two churches and two sehoolhouses in Africa, building and furnishing 
the Chapel of Free Grace in Nineteenth Street, building and furnishing the German 
chapel in Fourteenth Street, including the ground on which it is built, the annual sup- 
port of the parish missions of St. George's Church, and for all the chancel furniture of 
the church and a portion of the clock, when it was rebuilt after the fire that consumed 
its interior, about the year 1850. Out of that fund also were made gifts to instrumentali- 
ties for the promotion of religion and morals. 

Dr. Tyng was one of the most learned and eloquent clergymen of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, a man of great force of character, decided in his views of men and 
things, varied in his knowledge, extremely energetic in his labors of every kind, earnest 
and faithful in his legitimate work, and beloved by all his parishioners. Since he left 
his charge the infirmities of age and the effects of hard work with the brain have borne 
heavily upon him. He is the author of several valuable books, mostly on biblical 
subjects. 

In his intercourse with other denominations Dr. Tyng has always been extremely 
friendly, working earnestly with them in advancing his Master's kingdom. He has not 
been walled about by church discipline or Episcopalian propriety ; not tongue- or 
hand-tied by forms and customs. As a platform speaker he had few equals. His with- 
drawal from the ministry left a void not easily to be filled. 



SKC()N!> DKCAOK. 1840-1850. ^>46 

Hudson streets, was a beautiful private ))ark, planted witli sliadu trees 
under tlie direction of the Elder Miehaud, who chose tiieni i»ecause of 
their mutual allinities. They had become jnaf,miiicent trees when they 
fell victims to the insjitiaiile apju'tito of commerce: Al)out IStls the 
land was bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt, the trees were cut down, 
and the space Wius covered l>y tlie freight-houses of the Hudson Kivci- 
Ivailroad Company. It is now ahuost the oidy church within :\ radius 
of half a mile.* 

• Trinity Chnrch, which is i)r)s.sesscil of a lar(;e income, is doing ft vnst amount of good 
in the promotion of religion nnd monility in the city of New York. Our spucu will 
allow only n brief outline of its openitious. .Vt the beginning it received u miigniticeut 
endowment from the English Government -the gift of the " Queen's Fiiriu." inclosing 
the entire lot of liind lying nlong the Hudson River west of Broftdwiiy. between Vcsey 
nnd Christopher streets. A large part of this domain the church still holds, and from it 
derives an annual income of about $500,000, which goes to the maintenance of the parish 
church on the ancient site, six chopels, a multitude of charities connected with them, 
nnd in keeping alive about a dozen churches in the poorer jjortions of the city. Two 
(if these chapels— St. Paul's nnd St. John's— have already been mentioned in the text. 

Between \H~A and IR.'iG Trinity Chapel was built, on Twenty-fifth Street, just west of 
Broadway, for the accommodation of up-town communicants of the parish church. It is 
the only one of the six chapels where the pews are rented. It is an elegant brown-stone 
building, ond its interior is noted for its richness of color. 

St. Chrysostom's Chapel is on Seventh .\venue, corner of Thirty-ninth Street, and was 
the first built of a scries of mission chapels which the Trinity corporation proposes to 
erect in the poorer districts of the city. It too is a pretty Gothic brown-stone building, 
and was completed in 1869. Connected with it are a school and mission-rooms. 

St. Augustine's Chapel, in Houston Street, just east of the Bowery, was completed in 
1877. It is built of bro\vn stone, in Gothic style, with a steeple, on the apex of which 
is a crystal cross which moy be illuminated at night with gas, making n beautiful appear- 
ance. It is one of the most complete little churches in the city. Its interior is finished 
in what is termed the Queen Anno style. The entrance to the chapel is grand and 
beautiful. The finishing of the chapel and school and mi.ssion-rooms is verj- handsome. 
It has a hall, in which pleasant entertainments are given to the jioor children of the 
neighborhood. The chapel is in a densely crowded ond poor district. 

St. Cornelius Chapol is on Governor's Island, and was erected nearly twenty years ago 
by the free-will offerings of churchmen in the city of New York, the offico of post-chap- 
lain there having been discontinued. 

The charities of Trinity parish nnd its dependencies are numerous nnd liberal. The 
Dorcas societies of the cha))els of St. Paul and St. John were founded about thirty 
years ago. The Employment Society of Trinity Chapel was fonned some years ago by 
the ladies of the chapel for the purpose of furnishing em])loyment for those who need. 
They give sewing or light employment to indigent communicants, for which they pay the 
full market price. Trinity Chapel Home, on West Twenty-seventh Street, is an excellent 
local charity, supported by the volnntnrj- contributions of the congregation. It shelters 
and cares for the aged communicants of the chapel. There is connected with Trinity 
Chnrch the Sisterhood of the Holy Cross, an association of ladies under the direction of 
the clergy, assisting and providing for the sick poor. 

Industrial schools are important methods of dispensing charity. In these girls ara 



546 HISTORY OK NEW YoUK CITY. 

The second Episcopal church organized in the city of New York was 
Chi-ist Church, founded in 17D4, when a small edifice was built of stone 
for its use in xVnn Street, a few doors east of Nassau Street. The Rev. 
Joseph Piilniore ^\•^^s its first rector, and was succeeded in 1805 by the 
Rev. Thomas LyeU. Tlie chui'ch remained in Ann Street until 1823, 
when a large portion of the congregation took possession of an edifice 
which had been ei'ected in Anthony Street. A 2)art of the peo]3le 
remained, and forming a separate congregation worshipped in the old 
church until it was sold to the Roman Catholics. A few years after 
that sale it was consumed by fire. The churcli in Anthony Street was 
prosperous at the close of the second decade. 

Soon after the organization of Christ Church, St. Mark's was organ- 
ized. After the surrender of the city to the EngUsh, in lOGi, Governor 
Stuyvesiint retired to his farm lying on the East River, whereon he 

taught to sew, and rendered able to earn their own living. Connected with the one of 
the parish of Trinity is a Ladies' Emiiloyment Society, by which deserving women are 
employed in preparing clothing for those who need it. In the industrial school of St. 
John there were, in the (spring of 1882, about 500 scholars and 41 teachers. The school 
attached to Trinity Chapel gives, in addition to common sewing, instruction in needle- 
work, and has an average of 300 girls. St. Chrysostom's contains about 120 girls, and 
St. Augustine's 600 girls and 41 teachers. 

There are several parochial .schools which furnish instruction to the children of the 
parish gratuitously. The instruction embraces the ordinary English branches, music, 
and sewing. Night schools connected with the parish church and St. .\ugustine's chapel 
are open for women on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and for men on the other 
evenings of the week. 

St. Paul's has a Working Club, formed for the purpose of " social intercourse and 
material help in poverty, sickness, and burial of the dead." It is composed of men 
residing in the lower part of the city. It occupies a building at the corner of Centre and 
Leonard streets, where there is a reading-room, bath-rooms, and other apartments, open 
to members at all hours. Under the auspices of St. Paul's Guild, lodging for sixty or 
seventy persons a night may be had for a mere nominal jjrice, and wholesome meals for 
five cents each. 

^ The Mission Home of the Sisterhood of St. Mary, in State Street, is under the direc- 
tion of the rector of Trinity Church. In the Mission Home is a dispensary, a kinder- 
garten, a kitchen-garden, a girls' training school for household service, and ladies' em- 
ployment society. Hundreds of poor women and girls appear at this Home weekly. 

Trinity Infirmary is a charity maintained by the corporation of Trinity for the benefit 
of the sick poor belonging to the parish. Whenever there is room, patients are received 
from the free or mission churches of the city. They are also visited at their homes. 
The vestry of the church also pay for free beds in St. Luke's Ho.spital. 

The Trinity Association is an organization of gentlemen wlio volunteer to carry on 
charitable work down town in connection with Trinity Church. The association sup- 
ports the Mission Home in State Street, the headnuarters of a great work among the 
poor, with all its adi'nnots-a young men's guild, a boys' guild, a summer sanitarium by 
the seaside, entertainments and lectures for the poor, a relief bureau, and a home school 
for instructing little girls in housework. 




y^^^ /^^' 



PKrOND DKCADK. ISIO-IKJO. 047 

.erected ;i (■lia|)el in wliieli divine woi-sliip was eeleljrated aceording to 
the rites of tiie Diiteli Reformed Cliurch, of wlueli lie Wius ji ruling 
elder. At his death, iti liiS2, (tovernor Stiiyvesiuit's remains were 
deposited in a vault under this c-hapel, and near it wtus ])laeed the 
remains of (Jovernor Ilenrv Slougliter. 

After Stuyvesant's deeea.se puiilie woi-shii) ceased at the chapel. 
More than one hundred yeaiN afterward ( 1 '\Ki) a f^reat-grandson of the 
Dutch governor generously offered the site of the old chapel to the 
vestry of Trinity C'huicli, with $+'""* i" uioney, to induce them tf> erect 
an Episcopal church there. The offer Wius accepted, the corner-stone 
of a church edifice was laid in the spring of IT!*."), and in May, ITl'O, 
the church was consecrated under the name of St. Mark's Church. 
The steeple was not built until is^U. The ])arish was organized early 
in the year 1810. The Rev. Henry Anthon, D.D., was rector of the 
church at the period we are considering (iS-Ht). The church is on the 
corner of Eleventh Street ami Second Avenue. 

The tii*st church in the city in which the services were conducted in 
the French language was Du St. Es]>rit. It was founded by some of 
the Huguenots who fled from France after the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes in 168o. Large nundjei-s of them came to Xew York. A 
congregation was formed, and in 1704 they built a church edifice in 
Pine Street, in size 50 by 77 feet and running through to Cedar 
Street. There they continued to worship one hundred and thirty 
years. In 1834 they sold this property and erected an elegant Iniild- 
ing of white marble on the corner of Franklin and Church streets, 
at a cost of St!i>,0(lO. This church was organized according to the 
doctrines and discipline of the Refonned churches of Geneva and 
France: Just one hundred years after they built their first church 
in the city (18(i4). it was agreed by the ]iastor and people to adopt 
the rituals of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Since that time the 
Church du St. Esprit has been in ecclesiastical communion with the 
Episcopal Church. 

A second Episcojial church in which the services were conducted in 
the French language was organized in 1843, and called the Church du 
St. Sauveur. The Rev. C. II. Williams was apjiointed its pastor, and 
at the time we are considering there were about twenty communicants. 
Having no house of woi-ship. they a.ssembled in the Rrick Church 
Cha]iel. near the Park, on the site of the office of the Xew York Ihnf>/ 
Tillies. 

There was another Church of Our Saviour, a floating chapel for 
.-Ciunen, built liy the Young Men's Missionary Society of the Episcopal 



548 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Church, iuiil first opened for religious worsliip early in 1844. It was- 
70 feet long ami 30 feet wide, and was j)ernianently moored in the 
East River at the foot of Pike Street. The Rev. B. C. C. Parker was 
its first rector. 

Of the remainder of the forty-one EjMscopal churches in '^ew Yorlc 
at the close of the second decade, the most prominent were : St. Ste- 
phen's, Grace, St. Luke's, St. Thomas's, the Ascension, Epiphany, 
St. Bartholomew's, Calvary, Holy Communion. 

St. Ste])hen's Church edifice was erected on the corner of Broome 
and Chrystie sti'eets in 1805, when there were sixty communicants. In 
1849 there wei'e three hundred and fifty. 

We have observed that the first Grace Church edifice was built on 
the site of a Lutheran Church, on the corner of Rector Street and 
Broadway, which was consumed by the great fire in 1776. In 1808 
Episcopalians erected a plain but spacious edifice, and the Rev. N. 
Bowen was appointed rector. There the congregation continued to 
worshi|) until their elegant new home on Broadway and Tenth Street 
was completed and opened for public service, in March, 1846. 

St. Luke's Chui'ch was organized in 1820. A substantial house of 
worshi]), built of brick, on Hudson Sti'eet, was first opened in 1822. 
Two of its rectors — the Revs. L. S. Ives and W. R. Whittingham — after- 
ward became bishops, the former of the Diocese of ISTorth Carolina and 
the latter of the Diocese of Maryland. The Rev. J. M. Forbes \vas its 
rector in 184!>. Both he and Bisliop Ives afterward joined the Roman 
Catholic Church. Since 1850 it has become a prosperous and influ- 
ential church under the rectorship of the Rev. Dr. Tuttle. 

St. Thomas's Church was organized in 1823. A very capacious 
house of worship was built of stone, on the corner of Broadway and 
Houston Street, and was opened for divine service in February, 1826. 
The late Dr. Francis L. Hawks became its rector late in 1831, and 
remained until the close of 1843. The Rev. H. J. Whitehouse, D.D. 
(afterward Bishop of the Diocese of IlUnois), succeeded Dr. Hawks, 
and was its ]iastor at the close of this decade. It is now one of the 
most flourishing and useful of the Ejiiscopal churches in the city, with 
a magnificent ]ious(! of worsliipon Fifth Avenue, the Rev. Dr. Morgan, 
rector. 

The Church of the Ascension was founded in 1826, and in the spring 
of 1827 Bishop Hobart laid the conier-stone of a chm-ch edifice for its 
accommodation on Canal Street, between Broadway and Elm Street. 
It was opened for worehip in l\Iay, 1828. A large congregation soon 
gathered there under the Tuinistrv of tlu> Rev. (afterward Bishoj) of 



SEl'OXU DKCADi:, lS40-lsr)0. 0-19 

Miissiichusctts) >[iiiit()» Eastl)urn. Tlio Ijuililiiif,' was (iestroyed by fire 
in 18.3!). A new etlilicc wius erected on Fifth Avenue, ccirncr of Tentli 
Street, which was consecrated in November, ls41. Mr. Eastlturn 
luiving been elected IJi.slio|) of tiie Di(X;e.se of ^Ias.sjiciiusetts the next 
year, lie wa.s succeedetl iiy the Kev. (i. T. Bedell {now I'ishoi) of the 
Di(X'ese of Ohio) in the sprinjj of 1S4'>. 

The C'huirh of the Kpipliany, built i'oi- niis.sioiiaiv |)Ui|ioscs, was a 
very efficient instrumentality at this jieriod. One Sabljath in the fall 
of l.S;W the Rev. Dr. ^fcVickar, pa.ssing thi-ouj^h the lowei- jKii-t of 
Stanton Street, saw throngs of destitute cliildren playing or lounging 
on the sidewalks. 

" Why are you not in Sunday-school '.'' he asked a group of cliildren. 

" There is no Sunday-school," they answered. 

" Why are you not at church '.'' 

" There is no church," was the reply. 

The good man's heart was touched with pity at their heathenish 
condition. He mentioned the case to two benevolent women. They 
placed $7") in his hands, and said : 

" AVe will have on that s])ot a mission church ; do you i)reach. and 
we will help you." 

A small, dark room over an engine-house was obtained, and tlicr(> 
the fii-st congregation — si.x adult woi-sliijjpers with two pr.iyer-books, 
and a few ragged children — were gathered. A Sabbath-school was 
organized, and on the third Sunday the meeting w;us held in a well- 
lighteil hall on the corner of Allen and Houston streets. It was on 
Epiphany Sunday — the day in the Church calendar commemorative of 
the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles — and the church organized 
soon afterward was called tlic Epiphany. The corner-stone of a chui-ch 
edifice was laid by Bishop ^Nloore, of A'irginia, on Stanton Street, near 
the spot where Dr. McVickar was inspii-ed to begin the work, and it 
was completed in June, 18.34, at a co.st of about $l!»,<iou. At the 
period we are considering (1840) the Rev. Lot Jones was the pastor, 
and there were more than .">(»• communicants, with a Sal)l)ath-school of 
300 childnm, under the care of 4o teachei-s. 

St. Bartholomew's Chui-ch edifice, erecteil in Lafayette Tlace, was 
completed in 188<i. The sjune year Calvaiy Church Wius orgjinized, 
with nine memliers. A small frame building was erected on the comer 
of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street, and was opened for 
worship on Xew Year's day, 1837. It seemed too far up in the un- 
settled parts of the city, and about 1841 it occupied a .small craciform 
wootlen buihling on tlic comer of Twentv-second Street. The same 



550 HISTOIiV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

ycai- tlie corner-stone of tlie present edifice, on the corner of Fourth 
Avenue iind Twenty-first Street, was laid by the bishop of the Diocese 
of -Michigan. 

The Church of the Holy Communion, a costly building, was erected 
on the cornel- of Sixth Avenue and Twenty-first Street in 1825. Dr. 
"W. A. iVfuhlenberg- was its rector, and there he performed eminent 
services in the field of Christian effort until his death. The church 
was free to all. There were no pews, only " sUps," neatly cushioned. 

A band of colored EpiscopaUans began a meeting by themselves in 
1809, assembling, by permission, in a school-room near the corner of 
Frankfort and William streets, where Mr. McCoonibs, a white man, 
officiated as a lay reader for several years. In 1819 the congregation 
obtained the lease of three lots for sixty years (after that to be held in 
fee simple as a gift) on the westerly side of Centre (then Collect) 
Street. There they erected a modest building, which was consecrated 
to divine worship in the summer of 1819 by Bishop llobart, as 
St. Philip's Church. This edifice was burned in 1821, and the follow- 
ing year it was rebuilt of brick, at a cost of $8000. It was under the 
pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Williams, a colored minister. In 1819 niore 
than three hundred names were on the roll of its communicants. 

Early in this century tlie E]iiscopalians began the planting of 
churches in the northern ])art of Manhattan Island. There were a few 
families of EpiscopaUans at Bloon^ingdale, Manhattan ville, and around 
Fort Washington. In 1 807 a congregation was organized at Blooming- 
dale called St. Michael's Church, and a small frame iiouse of worship 
was built. Tliero were about fifty comnuinicants scattered all over 
that sparsely inhabited region. 

In 1810 a small church edifice was built on Hamilton Square, a mile 
or more eastward of St. Michael's, called St. James's Church. In 1811 
the two churches became one charge, under the rectorship of the Rev. 
Samuel Farmer Jarvis, who continued his juinistry until 1818. In 1822 
the Rev. William Riclimond was instituted rector of the united 
clmrches, and the next year a third church, located at Manhattanville, 
and called St. Mary's, was added to his charge. A lay reatler assisted 
him. A small church l)uilding was erected at Manhattanville in 1826. 
The previous year another church, called St. Ann's, was organized at 
Fort Washington, and in 183-3, after struggling several years, this 
church became the fourth under the charge of Mr. Richmonil. In 
1825 St. Ann's Church was dissolved. In 1837 the other tJiree 
chui'ches were under the rectorship of the Rev. James Cook Richmond, 
an eminent, learned, and eloquent preacher. These churches were 



SKCO.NI) DKCADE, ie-10-l»50. 561 

maintaining a feelile existence at tiio close of tiiis deciule. Tliey are 
now (1S8;5) in a flourishing condition. At the cl<«e of tiiis decade nine 
Episcopal ciiurciius in tlie city iiad heconie extinct— namely, Calvary, 
near Corlear's Hook ; Christ's, in Ann Street ; St. Ann's, Fort Wash- 
ington ; St. Augustine's, Emmanuel, Free Church of the Redemption, 
Church of the ilessiah, St. Timothy's (German), and St. Matthew's, 
colored. 

In lss;3 there were in the city of New York seventy-one Pmtestant 
Epi.scoi)al churches, presided over by Right Rev. Horatio Rotter, 
D.D., LL.D., S.T.D., who has been bishop of the diocese since lfS54.* 

•Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., S.T.D., wiis born in the town of Beekmnn, Duch- 
ess County, N. Y., on February 9, 180-2. His pnruuts were Joseph and Anna Potter, 
members of the Society of Friends or Quakers. He received an acn.leinic education at 
PoHiihUeepsie ; his collegiate education was received at Union CoUeye, Schenectady, 
where he was graduated in IH'ifi, and was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Eiiiscopal 
Church the next year. In 1S28, ho was elevated to the full ministry, and was appointed 
professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Washin-jton (now Trinity) College, 
Hartford, where he remained five years. Bishop Moore, of Virginia, invited him to 
become assistant minister of the Monumental Church at Richmond, but he declined the 
position 

In 1833 Mr. Potter accepted the rectorship of St. Peter's Church, Albany, and in 
1837 he was elected president of Trinity College, Hartford. That office he declined, 
and remained rector of St. Peter's until 18.5-t, when, on the death of Hishop Wainwright, he 
was chosen provisional Bishop of the Diocese of New York. Bishop Onderdouk, a sus- 
pended prelate, was yet living. At his death, in April, 18(J1, Hishop Potter was conse- 
crated full bishop of the diocese. He received the degree of D.D. from Trinity College 
in 1838. and in 185G the degree of LL.D. from Geneva. 

In ISGU Dr. Potter visited England, and wivs received with marked honor by the 
English prelates. The University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of S.T.D. 
He has presided over his diocese with great ability, dignity, and sound judgment. 
Faihng health compelled him to ask for an assistant in the autumn of 1883, when the 
diocesan convention appointed hisnephew, Dr. Henry C. Potter, rector of Grace Church, 
New York, aud a son i>f the late Bishop Alonzo Potter (brother of Horatio), of the Diocese 
of Pennsylvania, to till that responsible position. 

Bishop Horatio Potter is regarded as one of the ablest scholars in the denomination. 
In person he is fall and thin, erect in carriage, and of active step. His utterances are 
cidm and dignified, full of earnestness, and ever displaying a gentle Christian spirit. 
Universally popular in his denomination among both clergj- and laity, he has labored in 
the ministry with very great success. 

Dr. Henry C. Potter, the newly elected assistant bishop, is forty-eight years ot age. 
He was bom in .Schenectady in 183.5, and received his education at the Episcopal Acade- 
my in Philadelphia, at Union College, and at the Theological Seminary of Virginia, 
graduating in 18.">7. The same year he was ordained a deacon, and took charge of Christ 
Church. Greenwich, in Westmoreland County. Pennsylvania. In 18.511 he accepted a call 
from St. .Tohn's Church, Troy. He became assistant minister of Trinity Church, B.iston, 
in IBGfi. and in 18G8 he succeeded the Rev. Dr. Taylor as rector of Grace Church. New 
Y'ork. In 18G5 he received the degree ot D.D. from Union College. He is one of the 
most active, earnest, and able ministers of the Episcopal Chnn-h in this counlry 



"(52 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK ("ITY. 

The diocese is in a very flourishing condition. The inci'ease in the 
number of its churches has been greater than that of any other denom- 
ination. 

FRIENDS OE QUAKERS. 

The Friends suffered persecution at the hands of the Dutch authori- 
ties on Manhattan Tshmd, as well as the Puritan authorities in Church 
and State in ]\[assachusetts. In 1656 Robert Hodgson landed at New 
Amsterdam, but found it dangerous to stay. Stuyvesant was a stanch 
churchman, and was intolerant of all "irregulars." So late as 1672, 
when George Fox visited Friends at Flushing, L. I., he crossed fi'om 
^liddletown, X. J., and landed at Gravesend, avoiding jSTew York 
altogether. 

The Friends finally obtained a footing in New York and established 
a meeting for public worship at the close of the sixteenth century. 
Their meeting was connected with the monthly meeting at Flushing, 
and with the yearly meeting, which had been held on Long Island so 
early as 1070. 

The first house of worship erected by Friends in New York City was 
built about the year 1700 in Little Green Street, a lane extending from 
Maiden Lane to Liberty Street. It was their sole meeting-house for 
seventy years. In 1775 they built a meeting house of brick on Pearl 
Street, between Frankhn Square and Oak Street. This was demol- 
ished in 1824. The congregation worshipping in Little Green Street 
built a new meeting-house of brick in Liberty Street, in 1802, in size 
60 by 40 feet. It was abandoned as a place of worship in 1826, when 
it was occupied by Grant Thorburn as a seed-stoi'e. 

In 1819 the Friends built another house of worship, in Hester Street, 
between Elizabeth Street and the Bowery. When, in 1824, the 
meeting-house on Pearl Street was taken down, they built a spacious 
one in Rose Street, near Pearl Street. There are now only two 
Friends' meeting-houses in the city of New York — one belonging to 
the Trinitarian or Orthodox branch, and the other to the ITnitarian 
or Hicksite branch. 



The early appearance of Jews in Now York City, and their erecti(m 
of a synagogue in M\\\ Street, have already been noticed.* The syna- 

* The congregation then and tlicre formed is still in existence. It is Sheareth Israel, 
and is the oldest and richest of the Jewish corporations in the city (chartered in 1674% 
its real estate being estimated at ^.=500,000. It was originally composed of Spanish and 



SECOND DF.iADK, 1H40-1«.'.0. "•''' 



„.. was l.uilt ..f won.l, l.ut in 1729 it was replaced hy <.no ..f stone. 

nu^.surm.^ r.S hv '.W feet in si/.e. Ti.erein tl.e Ileb.-ews w.>.^lu,.,>e.l f-.r 
;;;;.:: a'^ntury. U was ,-el.«ilt in .M. Already l.us.nc^ ha. dnven 

,nanv fan.iiies froni tl.e neighl.-.r .d, and very soon ti.e • '•^^- ^^ 

Cl.ri'stians, souj-l.t an..ther s,...l whereon to erect a temple The> 
chl Crosby, near Spvin. Str.>et, for their new place of wo.slup. an.l 
there thev hnilt an elejrant synajrogue m ls.i-5. , „ ,• i 

A se<-on.l synago^ne was orK^nn.e.l alH.ut 1S24 by Oernuu^ and Po hsh 
Jews, who separated fnnn th.« confxre-afon ni C rosby Street. They 
,„.uf,ht a ehul-eh edifice bnilt by colored Presbyter.an. .n Eln. S^et. 
near Canal Street, and altc-red it to snit then- own forn, of ^^on,h p 
\ secession t<H,k place in this con-re-ation in ls:V... wh.ch h-l o the 
establisiunent of another, which assend.l.-d in Franklin Street, w.th he 
Rev. S. T^I. Isaacs as minister, an.l there they were w.nNh.i>pn.- at tin- 
close of this decade. ,1 il„. 
\ thir.l cm-re-ation ..f Jews Wius f..nne.l. They purchase.l the 
Friemls' Meeting-house in Henry Stn^et, and fi,-st occup.e.l .t =us a 
svnag...rue in 1840. The next year a fourth synagogue was budt m 
"Utomev Street, near Rivington Street, an.l in ls+2 a hfth synagogue 
;as buiit, in Att..rney Street, near Il.mston. The two synag.>gues m 
Attorney Street and ihe one in Henry Street form.vl a sort of collegiate 
onnection, and elected as chief rabbi the Rev. Dr. Ld.enthal, who had 
been en^ph ve.l in the department ..f education of the Russ.an (xovern- 
me'u He-otliciate.l in each of then, alternately. Four .>ther c..ngre- 
g-atirms had been f.n-m.xl in the city at the close of the s.-cond .lecade, 
tut thev had n..t ei-ected any buildings for woi-ship In 1 ^^. there are 
twenty^six buil.Ungs dedicated to divine worship by the Hebrews, tlie 
most notable of which is Temple Emanuel.* 

Xotoneof the nine synagogin-s existing in IMU now occupies tbe 
site it did then, for the congregations have move.l up t<jwn hacli 
synagogue adopts some significant title, as Sheareth Isniel, the 
remnant of Israel." 

Portuguce Jews. «n<l iH one of the strictest of the orthodox congregations. Its place of 
worship is on the corner of Nineteenth Street an<l Fifth .\venne. , . , ^, , u 

. t1 temple is at the north-e.s, corner of Fifth Avenue an.l ^"^'y^^'^^^J^ 
is the finest specimen of Moorish architecture in Amenea an.l "f ""« ^f^.^^^^^"; ^J 
reliKions structures in the city. The material of whK-h it .s hu It ,s '-"^ ^^ ^^ ^ 
»„„'lst.,ue, «n.l the roof is composed of altemato red and WacU t.l^^ JX^l^rlil 
f„V«de on Fifth Avenue, cnntaininp; the main entn.nce. .s flanke.l In '^^^ "rorthe 
„r .ts Tl.ese and the entire front are richly covered with ornaments. The mtenor of the 
T le rraohed live doors It is decorated with a profusion of OnenUil omau.ent*- 
r an rin« • ^ e mTnTs.er is Rahhi OusUv Gottheil. a profound schoUr and an 

ea,^.^t promoter of the interests of the reformed portion of the .Jewish Churca. 



CHAPTER YI. 



PEESBYTEEIAN CHFECH. 



A FEW New Englandei's living in 'New York at the beginning of 
the last century were in the habit of meeting in private houses 
for social woi-sliij). In 1708 two Presbyterian niinistere (the Revs. 
Francis Keniie and John Hampton, of Lonilon) came to Xew York, 
after jireaciiing in Yirginia and Marj^land. Showing proper credentials, 
Kemie obtained leave to preach in the Garden Street Dutch Reformed 
Church, but when Lord Cornbmy, the governor, heard of it, he issued 
an order forbidchng liim to preach there. The governor persecuted 
Kemie in various ways, even to imprisonment. 

In 1 Tit! the Presbyterians in New York I'esolved to organize a churcii 
and obtain a minister, if jjossible. It was done, and the Rev. James 
Anderson, of Scotland, became theLr pastor. They held their meetings 
in the City llall for about three years, when, in 1719, they built a 
house of worship in Wall Street, near Broadway. About 1722 a party 
seceded fi'om this church and formed a separate society, but did not 
effect a chui-ch organization. Jonathan Edwards, the (afterward) 
eminent theologian, then about nineteen years of age and a candidate 
for orders, was invited to preach for them, which he did for about 
eight months. Most of the members returned to the old organization, 
and the new society was disbanded. 

The first visit of the Rev. George Whitefield, in 1740, caused a great 
increase in the number of Presbyterians in New York City, and they 
were compelled to enlarge their house of worship in 1748. A few 
years later serious dissensions arose in the church on the subject of 
psalmody, when some membei's withdrew and joined a society known 
as Scotch Presbyterians, wlio ])ermit nothing but ])salms to be sung at 
pubhc woi-ship. 

The expansion of membersliip went steadily on, and in 1705 the 
Presbyterians obtained fi'om the corporation a grant of land "' in the 
Fields" (comer of Beekman and Nassau streets), on which an edifice 
was erected. It was opened in 1768 under the name of the Brick 
Church, the two churches remaining under one pastorate and govern- 



SKCUXD DECADE. 1840- 1850. •>oo 

iiu'iit. Duriii',' the wiir lor inilopomloncp tlip "Wall Stroet f'hurcli was 
U-;<><1 In- the IJritisii lor harnu-ks, and the IJrick C'liuroli for a hospital. 

I'ojiulatioii St retelling north-ea.stwanl alter the Revolution, there was 
a demand for another I'resltyterian eliureh in that direction. ^ 'olonel 
Ilutj^eiN fjave them land on the corner of what was afterward Rutgers 
and Henry streets, and there the Rutgeis Street C'hureh was eompleted 
in 17'.*S. The three Presbyterian churches i-emained a collegiate 
charge until ISnO, when they were separated. In 1^10 th(! AVall Street 
Clunx-h was reliuilt on an enlarged plan, with a handsome spire. It 
was built in ls;?4, and soon afterward rebuilt. In 1S44 it was sold, 
taken do\ni, and removed to Jersey City. Tlui next year this Church 
erected an elegant edifice on Fifth Avenue, between Eleventh and 
Twelfth .streets, and it was opened for worship on January 1, is-ttj. 
It is now (ISS:}) one of the most flourishing Presbyterian churches in 
the city, under the jia.storate of the Pev. William M. Paxton. The 
P.rick Church was demolished in l^.^iT, and the congregation have 
since occujiied a super!) edifice on Fifth Avenue. The Rutgers Street 
Church is now on Aladison Avenue. 

The fn-st Presley tiM-ian church organized in the city, independent of 
the then collegiate churches, was the Cedar Street Church, founded in 
ISitS. Pusiness crowded the street, and in 1834 the jiroperty was sold 
and a new and sixu-ious ediKce was built in Duane Street, near Church 
Street, which was fii-st occupied by the congregation in lS3t!. The 
name was changed to Duane Street Church. At length, when many 
of the membei-s had moved u]) town far from Duane Street, the neces- 
sity for a new church was obvious. Dr. Potts, its ]xistor. resigned and 
opened services in the cha]>el of the Univei-sity. An elegant ciiurch 
edifice -was buUt in Univei-sity Place in 1845, with the Rev. Dr. Potts 
a-f pastor. 

This migratorj' movement presents the most conspicuous features of 
the extemal history of all the churches in the city, of every denomina- 
tion, founded during the first quarter of the present century. They 
were nearly all organized and the edifices were built at points below 
Spring Sti-eet before 18-J."). They have gradually followed the stream 
of population, constantly tending northwanl as the lower part of the 
city yielded to the demands of tradt^ and commerce. The jiroperty of 
these churches down town enormously increased in value, and when 
sold the proceeds furnished the congregiitions with ca]>ital which 
enabled them to build more siwciousand elegant structures in the upjier 
part of the city. Now that section of New York above Fourteenth 
Sti-eet is famous for thi> splendor of its church architecture. 



556 HISTORY OK NEW YORK CITY. 

Before the close of the second decade twenty-one Presbyterian 
churches of the city had become extinct. In 1883 there were fifty in 
the city. 

BAPTIST l.HUECn. 

Tlie Baptists, hke the Friends, were persecuted in 'New York on 
their fii'st apjjearance. In 1709 a Baptist clergyman named Wickenden 
preadied in the house of Mr. Ayres, in New York, and having no 
license he was imprisoned by the royal governor three months. In 
1712 anotlier minister (Mr. Whitman) came and preached in the house 
of Mr. Ayres, who became a convert and afterward a Bajrtist preacher. 
He continued these private services for about two years. For fear of 
consequences it was finally proposed that the ordinance of baptism by 
immersion should be performed at night. Mr. Ayres was opposed to 
this ]:)roposition, and he obtained from Governor Burnet ]jernussion to 
be so publich^ baptized. The governor attended the ceremony. That 
Avas about 1720. Four years later a Baptist chm'ch was organized in 
New York, and a small meeting-house was erected on Golden Hill, near 
(present) Gold and Fulton streets. A few j^ears afterward this edifice 
was claimed by one of the trustees as his private property. It was 
sold, and tiie church was dissolved. 

The body now known in New York as the First Bajjtist Cliurch was 
organized in 1762. For seventeen years previously Baptists had held 
prayer-meetings, and heard jireaching occasionally in private houses, 
but tliei'e was no church organization. Sometimes they occupied, in 
these meetings, a rigging-loft in "William Street. The nearest Baptist 
church at that time was at Scotch Plains, N. J. , and to that church 
these faithful people were attached, and considered as a branch of it. 
Elder B. Miller, the pastor of the Scotch Plains Church, jireached 
occasionally to the congregation in New York, and administered the 
Lord's Supper once in three months. 

In 1759 the few Baptists in New York bouglit a lot on Gold Street, 
between (present) Fulton and John streets, and there built a small 
meeting-house in 17(>U. Two years later a church wtis organized — the 
First Baptist Chm-ch— with nearly thirty mendiere, with the Eev. John 
Gano as pastor. This gifted preacher soon drew a large congregation 
to the meeting-house, but the society was scattered during the war of 
the Revolution. When, in 1784, Mr. Gano, who became a chajilain 
in the Continental Army, returned to New York, he could find only 
thirty -seven of the two hunch-ed church -members he had gathered. 

Tlie old meeting-house was rebuilt in 1Sf»l at a cost of fcTi.Ooo. 



SECOND DECADE, 184O-ia'50. 667 

The dedication service was preached in Miiy, 1S02, by Stcpiien Gano, 
son of the lii-st pastor of tiio church. 

Oljedient to the (U'inands of necessity, tlie con<,'re;,'ation sold their 
])i-o])ertv in Gold Street in is4i» and built a spacious and elegant chuit'h 
editico of stone, on the corner of Broome and Elizabeth streets, and 
called the Kev. Spencer II. Cone, D.D., to the pastorate of it in 1841. 
The Second liaptist niurch was the outgrowth of a serious dissension 
in the Kii-st Church, on the subject of parcelling the lines in the sing- 
in"- ! This occurred in 17T<>, when some <tf the dissiitislied membei-s 
withdrew and formed a new church organization. It was scattered 
during the Revolution, but was again united a year or two after the 
war had ceased. 

Ag-ain, about ITlMi, dissensions rent the Firet Church. There was 
another secession of members, the secedei-s uniting with the Second 
Church. In that congi-egation a violent quarrel was soon developed, 
and early in I7"Jl the church was divided, each section claiming to be 
the true Second Church. Friends effected a comjironiise. The con- 
tending claims were dro])]ied. One party assumed the name of Bethel 
Church, the other that of the Baptist Church in Fayette (afterward 
Oliver) Street. 

The Bethel Church occupied a small meeting-house in Rose Street, 
opposite the Friends' Jleeting- House, and the name Second Church 
was apjilied to it for several yeai-s afterward. It erected a small 
wooden building in Broome Sti-eet, near the Bowery, in 18(>(). In time 
it became prosperous. In 181i» the congregation erected a brick church 
on the coi-ner of IJelancey and Chrystie streets, which they occui)ied in 
unitv until is^o, when the church was split by contentions. Out of 
this church the Si.xth Street Bajjtist Church was formed, and the name 
of Betliel was dro])ped. 

The Church in Fayette Street erected a house of woi-shi[), in 1795, on 
the corner of Henry Street. It being too small, it was rebuilt five 
yeai-s afterwanl, and again in 1819. It was destroyed by fire in 1843, 
and rebuilt. In \s->l the name of the street was changed to Oliver, and 
the name of tiie society was changed to Oliver Street Church. It be- 
came very flourishing, for it preserved peace, harmony, and Christian 
charity within its bordere. 

Of the ivmainder of the Ba]>tist churches foimded in the city of New 
York <luring the (ii-st (juarter of this century, the most conspicuous was 
the Mulberry' Street, afterward the Tabernacle Church. The former 
was organized in l.so'.t, imder the name of James Street Church, with 
thirtv-seven uu^uiIkm-s, and it contmued under the ministry of the Eev. 



558 HISTOIJV OK NKW VOliK CM Y. 

Archibald Maclaj^, D.D., from tliat time until 1S38, a period of 
twenty-nine years. It was very flourishing for many years. It finally 
became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and the church was dissolved 
in 1S39. A new church \vas organized by the old members and a large 
colony from the Oliver Street Church, when the society took the name 
of the Tabernacle Church. Very soon the church received large acces- 
sions to its membership, which in 1842 numbered nearly one thousand. 
It was then thought proper to divide the church, and in December of 
that year a colony of over one hundred left and formed the Laight 
Street Baptist Cliui'ch. The Rev. Edward Lathrop was called to the 
pastorate of the Tabernacle Church. At the close of the second decade 
it had in communion eight hundred members. The colonj"- from the 
Tabernacle bought the Laight Street Presijyterian Church edidce, and 
in 1849 it numbered about three hundred and fifty membei-s. 

A Welsh Baptist Chui'ch was organized in 1807, consisting chiefly of 
Welsh peo|)le. It lived about six years, when it was dissolved. An- 
other Welsh Church was foimded in 1833. In 1844 they erected a 
small brick meeting-house in Christopher Street, where they were wor- 
shipping at the close of the second decade. 

In 1841 tl>e Rev. Job Plant, a Baptist from England, established a 
Particular Baptist Society in the city. He left it with a membership 
of less than forty members in 1844, when it was dissolved. A few of 
the membere continued to hold prayer- meetings, and in the summer of 
1845 four persons covenanted together as a church, calling it the Chris- 
tian Baptist Church. 

So early as 1809 a colony of colored membei-s of the First Baptist 
Church in Cold Street formed a separate congregation called the 
Abyssinian Church. They finally procured a place of worehip in 
Anthony Street, and in 1824 they had a stated pastor. The church 
passed tlu'ough many trials because of jiecuniary embnrrassments, their 
house of worslii]) once having been sold at auction. They now (1883) 
have a meeting-house in Waverlcy Place. 

At the close of the second decade, fifteen Baptist churches once 
formed had become extinct. In 1883 there were thirty-eight Bajitist 
churches in the city, many of them elegant structures. The finest of 
these edifices is Calvary Church, lately completed, on Fifty-seventh 
Street near Sixth Avenue, of which Rev. Dr. iiac Artliur is pastor. The 
Fifth Avenue Church, Rev. Thomas Armitage,* pastor, and Madison 
Avenue and Park Avemio churches, are beautiful temi)les of woi-ship. 

* Thomas Amiitage, D.D., was barn in EngliiRil in 1819, and came lo America before 
he was ninftfni y,ai>i of tvc. He is of the family of Sir John Aj-uiitaye, who was ere- 



SKCONl) DKiAUK. ISlO-lS-'iO 559 



MiiKAViAN ( iri-i:i'il. 

Ill 17-">*'' r>isli(i|)s S|iaii^i'Mlii'ri; ami Nitscliinaii, of tlic Moniviaii 
Cliuivli, landed at Now Vuric wliilo im tlicir way t') tlieir co-rcligiijiiists 
ill I'fiiiisylvaiiia. Tlii'V iiiatli> tlio ac<iuaintaiu-(.' of .lolin Xolilc, a 
wi'altliy iiiorcliaiit and rulini; i-ldor in tlic I'l'csli^'toi'ian Cliurcli in "Wall 
Street. He heeaiiie a convert to tlie Moravian faith, anil at liis liouse, 
while the hisliops tarried, meetinji^ were held for social worslii|i. His 
house heeaino a rallying jilace for f)ther ^loravian missionaries who 
eaiiie from Germany, ineluding Count Zinzondorf, the founder of the 
modern Moravian t'hureh in (Jerinany, and who arrivecl at New Vork 
witli a considerahle hody of Moravians in 1741. 

Late in 174S Bishop Wattivel eaine to New Voik from (iermaiiv, 
and while he tarried there ho efFected the lii-st organization of a Mora- 
vian church in that city, and administei-ed the? Lord's Supper. The 
numher of the congregation was nearly one hundred. For two ycai-s 

ntcfl a Viaronet hy Charles I. in 1640. His motber was a pious Jlethodist. who diod when 
this her eKlest son was six yenr.t old. It wiw hor enrnrst pniyor that he should be 
converted iu his youth and " become a good minister of t'hrist." Her prayer was answered. 
Bnnyans " Pilgrim's Progress " and some sermons which he read made a deep im)>res.sion 
on his mind, and iit twelve years of age he was converted. .\t fifteen he was nuthorizo.l 
to exhort at Methodist meetings. Before he was sixteen he was licensed by the confer- 
ence a local preacher, and ho entered upon the ministry with great success, disjilaying 
at that early age the fluency of speech and peculiar eloquence and persuasive powers 
which have distinguished him in later life. His first sermon was remarkable in many 
resjiects, and was the instrument of sevend conversions. 

After laboring as a local preacher until he was almost nineteen years old, he came to 
America, and was stationed, first in Suffolk County, L. I., then at Watervliet, a few 
miles from .\lbany, and finally in Albany. In all of these places he inaugurateil fruitful 
revivals. Impressed with the method of baptism used by the Baptists, his mind became 
much exercised by the question. What is true baptism? Satisfied that immersion was 
the method ]irescribed by Scripture, after a long struggle with his convictions he yielded, 
and withdrawing from the Jlethodist Church, he was immersed by the Kev. Dr. Welch, 
of .Vlbany, and was ordained a Baptist minister at the age of twenty-nine years. He was 
called tc) the Norfolk Street Church, in New York City, wliere he labored with great zeol 
and success. The congregation removed toForty-sixth Street, near Fifth .■Vvenue, in IWJO, 
and a.ssnmed the name of the Fifth Avenue Church. There he has ministered ever since. 
The degree of .\.M. was conferred upon him by JIadison University, and that of D.D. 
by Georgetown College, Kentucky, when he was thirty-four years of age. 

In 18.5(; Dr. Amiitage was chosen president of the .\merican Bible I'nion of the Bap. 
tist Church. In all religious and benevolent works in which he is engaged, he labors 
with untiring zeal, energj-, and efficiency. A late writer said of Dr. Aimitage : " Endowed 
with the greater gifts of e-loquence, a man of extensive learning and soul culture, he 
justly holds a front (dace among the earnest expounders of the trnth, and in the ranks 
of upright and i".i>iil:ir m. ii ■" 



560 IIISTOHY OF NEW YUHK CITY. 

they met for worsliiji in tlie liouse of Mr. Xoblo. In 1751 the 
Jiloravian congre<^-iiti<)n l)uilt a modest house of woi-shijj in Fair (now 
Fultoji) Street, between Wilham and Dutch streets. It was dedicated 
by Bishop S])angenberg in the summer of 1752. In that house they 
worshipjied nearly eiglity years. It was rebuilt of brick in 1829. The 
congregation sold the ])ro]ierty after Fulton Street was widened, in 
1843, and eight feet of their building had been cut off by the operation. 
They erected a new and substantial house of worshij) on tlie corner of 
Mott and Houston streets in lS-t5. The number of communicants in 
1849 Avas about one hundred and tliirty. 

METHODIST CIItRCn. 

The first Methodist Church in America was founded in the city of 
Kew York in 1760. In that year a few Irish families who were 
]\Iethodists an-ived in this city, among whom was Philiji Embury, a 
well-to-do local pre;icher, who made his residence in Augusta Street, 
afterward kno«Ti as City Hall Place. He gathered his countrymen at 
his house for social worship, and preached to tiiem there. After a 
wliile a room was hired adjoining the soldiers' barracks at Chambers 
Street, and a church was organized, of which ^h\ Embury was the 
minister. 

Very soon this seed of the great ^Methodist Church in America was 
watered 1)y the ministration of Captain Thomas Webb, barrack-master 
at Albany, who preached to the little congregation in his regimentals. 
This was a novelty which drew a multitude of people to the meeting, 
and many who 

"... came to scoff remained to pray." 

The congregation i-apidly increased, and the rigging-loft where the 
Baptists had held their meetings was liired and fitted up for pubhc 
worship. It was a high-roofed, one-story building, the gable at the 
street, in the fashion of the old Dutch houses. This building was on 
the east side of William Street, about half way between Fulton and 
John streets. The congregation worshipped there about two yeai-s, 
when a church edifice was comjileted on a lot purchased on the south 
side of John Street, east of Nassau Street. It was 60 feet in length 
and 42 in l)readth, and was called Wesley Chapel. It is more famil- 
iarly known as the John Street Church. The first sermon preached in 
it was delivered by Mr. Embury on October 30, 1768. 

The following year Messrs. Boardman and Fillmore came fi-om Eng- 
land and lal)ored for the ^Fcthodist Chui-ch in New York, and founded 



SKCOND DKfADi:, 1*10 1H50. 561 

one in Pliilailfl|iliia. Mr. I'illiiinrf lici-jiiiic tlif fliNt rector of Clirist 
(Ei)isco])al) Cliiircli, in Ann Street, in 1T1»4. 

Tlie Jolin Street rimreli was the niotlier of over llfty Methotlist 
churches in New York in 1S83 Tlie lii-st edifice Wiis taken down in 
1S17, and another was elected on the spot. Jolin Street was widened 
in ls4(i, wlien the ciinrcii was ag:iin taken down and anotiier was built 
in its phxcc, spacious enouj^li to accomnuxhite a large coii;ri'e<^ratioii. In 
l!S4!> the coininunicaiitsof that church numbered over four hundred. 

The Second ^fethoilist conjj^re^ition finniefl in New York City was 
the Foisvth Street Church, in 1?.hi. They first built a small edifice of 
wood, near Division Street. This was taken down in is:',.!, and a sub- 
stantial brick buildiiM^ was ert»cted on its site. This cliurch seemed 
always to be in a flourishinj,' state. Befort; the close of the second 
decade two churches had colonized from it. 

The thinl ^lethodist Church in the city was founded in IT'.'T. They 
built a house of woi-ship in Duane Street, neai- Hudson Stivet, and were 
always a flourishing congregation. In ls47 nearly si.x hundred and 
fifty communicants were on its list of membership. 

At a very early period the Methodi.sts began to jilant the seeds of 
church organizations among the scattered population on the island. 
Near the close of the hust century Philip I. Aivularius and John 
Spruson, earnest membei's of the John Street Church, established a 
weekly prayer-meeting in the north-ea.sterly part of the city, on the 
road leading to Harlem, now the Bowery and Thinl .\. venue. It was 
near the two-mile stone, and to designate this station from others it 
was called the Two-ilile Stone Pmyer-ileeting. It was continued 
several j-cars. and quite a large number of the inliabitants became 
attached to the Methotlists. A class was formed, preaching was 
obtained occasionally, anil about the year isoO a church was org;inized 
— the fourth in the city of the Methodist denomination. 

For some j'ears this society was known as the Two-]\[ile Stone 
Church, but after 1S3<I it was the Seventh Street Church. The con- 
gregation fii-st occupied as a place of worship an old building in 
Nicholas-William (near St. Clark's) Place, which was hired on a long 
lease. In 183(i, before the Iea.se expired, the owner, wishing to use the 
land, gave them a longer lease of a lot on Seventh Sti-eet. To that lot 
the old building was transferred. Again the owner wanted the land, 
and he giwc the church a lot in fee on the other side of Seventh Street, 
where they built a sul)stantial brick edifice in ISSC. The old building 
was removed to Yorkville, where, after two migrations, it served a 
^fethotlist congregation as a ])lace of woi-ship for several years. 



OUZ HlSTOIiV Ol' NKW V(J1!K CITY. 

A Methodist church was built in iVllen Street iu 1810 — a su])stautial 
stone building, which was replaced by a more spacious brick edifice. 
From the beginning this congregation flourished exceedingly. In the 
same year (1810) a Methodist church was organized on the westerly 
side of the city, among the scattered i)opulation there. At first they 
Avorshi])ped in a private hous?. At length they erected a small ^vooden 
building on the coi-ner of (present) Bedford and Morton streets. The 
congregation increased ra]iidly. Twice they enlargeil their ]>lace of 
worehip, and in 1840 they erected a large and substantial brick edifice 
on the site. The churcli was then, and for years afterward, overflow- 
ing with communicants. 

In 1S:>!) a Jlethodist church was organized in the sparsely populate(i 
district along the Hudson Iliver above Greenwich, in the vicinity of 
Eighteenth Street. Other churches rapidly sj^nuig up in other portions 
of the city, and at the close of the second decade there were -iO 
Methodist church organizations, with 81 houses of worship, and an 
aggregate of over 13,000 members of various nationalities. There 
were eight cliurches composed of white and colored persons, and seven 
composed exclusively of colored persons. 

The history of the organization of colored Methodist churches in 
New York may be briefly told. Late in 1787 the colored IMethodists 
in Pliiladclpliia, considering the disabilities the\'^ were subjected to in 
comiection with their white bretlu-en, determined to form a separate 
and distinct ecclesiastical organization. In 1793 Richard Allen, a 
colored preacher, built for his race a house of worship on his own 
grounds, and it was consecrated by Bishop Asbury, with the title of 
the Bethel Church. The white Methodists claimed both the house and 
the congregation. The colored peojile resisted, and a long and bitter 
controversy ensued. At length a general convention of colored 
Methodists assembled in Philadelphia in 1810, and formed the African 
Methodist Ejiiscoiml Church. Tliey deleted the Rev. Richard Allen 
bishop, and he was regularly consecrated. 

"Within this ecclesiastical organization thei-e soon appeared four dis- 
tinct and separate church organizations— namely, the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Church, tiio Asljury Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the African Methodist 
Union. In their doctrines, discipline, and practices these four bodies 
were substantially ahkc. 

A Methodist E])iscopal Zion congregation was the fii'st colored 
Methodist church founded in the city of Xew York. It was organized 
ai)out the year 1800. The same year a house of worship was built for 



SECOND DKCADK. 1810 is.jo. SBS 

it oil till' fin-nci- of Cliiifcli iiiul Leotijinl .st^(^'ts. A l>r;iiK-li of this 
ilmivli was afterward establislied at Ilarlom. 

Ill tlio ywir l>^l:! an Ashiirv African Mctlioilist Kpiscopal ilimcii 
was founileil. It louUl not stand alone, and in 1S20 it was L-onnci-tcd 
with the Zioii Chuivh. In l^:Jt! a Methoilist Atrit-an Union church 
was orjjjaiiized as an independent i)ody of sewn pji-soas. They con- 
tinued their meetings with increasing nunibei-s until 1885, wIkmi the 
Iniilding where they met, on Seventh Avenue near Kighteenth Street, 
was hurned. In |s4ii they erected a hricU Imilding on Fifti-enth Street, 
near Sixth Avenue, where thi-y still worshijipeil at the dose of this 
decadi'. 

The Methodist Harlem Mission was 1) -gua in I83i). It was a circuit 
estahlished Ijy the denomination. There we;v si.K principal stations — 
namely, Harlem, Vorkvilie, Manhattanville, Fort Washington, Forty- 
tii-st Street on the Hudson liiver, and Twenty-seventh Street toward 
tlie East River. Out of this missionary effort grew several nourish- 
ing Methodist chuirhes. 

There was a (ierman Methodist Mission church established in 1841, 
and a (iennan Evangelical Methodist church was gathered the siine 
year in the city of Xew York. The former had their place of woiship 
in Second Street, the latter in Sixteenth Street, near Sixth Avenue. 
In eacii tlie services were conducted in the fTcrman hmguage. There 
was also a Welsh Methodi.st church oi-ganized in New York about 
1828. 

A Marinei-s' Methodist E|)i.scop.il church was I'ounded in 1S44, and a 
house of woi-ship was erected in Cherry Street, near Rutgers Place. 
The next year a Floating Betliel was established at the foot of Rector 
Sttvet by the Methodists. These were the immediate fruits of the 
Asbury Society, which had been established for the special purpose of 
incre:ising the number of ^lethodist churches in the city of Xew York. 

Methodism, as established in the city of Xew York in the la.st 
century, has undergone modifications. In 1820 inenil)3i\s of that 
denomination in this city, dissjitisfied with what tliey conceived to be 
an assumption of jiower by the bishojis and the conference, ami jirefer- 
riii'' a conjjreffational form of jjovernment, organized what thev tei-med 

Oof? o ^ t5 t 

the Methodist Society, for effecting a reform. They opened a place of 
woiship in Chrystie Street. There were contuuial accessions to their 
numbei-s. In ^lay, 1820, a division took place, some jireferring the 
entire independence of each cliurch and a ]iennanent ministry, and 
otheiN jireferring a connectiim of churches and an itinerant ministry. 
This .societv was followed bv the establisliment, aliout 1S80, of a 



564 HISTORY OK NEW VOKK CITY. 

Methodist Protestant Churcli, Avliicli protested against the authority uf 
the conference and tlie jurisiliction of the bishops. At about the same 
time a small congregation of Primitive Methodists was formed in New- 
York, who desired to luring the Oliurch back to its primitive simpUcity. 
In 1SS3 there were fifty-five Methodist churches in the city. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

So powerful and implacable were the religious prejudices existing 
between the Poman Cathohcs and the Protestants at the period of the 
European emigration to America in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries, that these antagonistic rehgionists could not harmonize in 
the business of building up a new empire in the virgin hemisphere. 
The Protestants, having occupied the field north of the Carolinas 
earlier and in far greater nmnbers than the Roman Catholics, compara- 
tively few of the latter were in the English-American colonies at the 
time of the old war for independence, excepting in Maryland, because 
they were everywhere subjected to disabilities if not absolute persecu- 
tion. 

The fii-st settlement of Roman Cathohc famihes in the city of Xew 
York was during the administration of Governor Dongan, late in the 
seventeenth centurj\ Dongan was a Roman Cathohc, and a generous 
and enhghtened man. His successors under royal rule were Prot- 
estants, and the Roman Catholics were frequently subjected to the 
operations of very oj^pressive laws. There was even a law, at one 
time, on the Kew York statute- liooks providing for the hanging of any 
Roman Cathohc priest who should voluntarily come into the province, 
but it was never enforced. 

Until the establishment of the pohtical independence of the United 
States no Roman Catholic priest was allowed to perform the functions 
of his sacred oiRce pubhcly in the city of Xew York ; but immechately 
after the evacuation of that city by the British troops, in Novembei-, 
1783, a congi-egation was formed under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. 
Fanner, who came from Philadelphia occasionally for the comfort of 
the people. They woi*shipped in a building in Vauxhall Garden, which 
was on the margin of the Hudson River, extending from Warren to 
Chambers Street. Tradition saj's mass had been celebrated so early as 
1781-82 in a loft over a carpenter's shoji in Barclay Street, then in the 
suburbs of the city. The first regularly settled priest in New York 
was the Rev. Charles Whelan. lie was unpopular, and was soon suc- 
ceeded bv the Rev. Andrew Xujjent. 






i«S(1IM • • • '" I 

mk-if-' -111 a .' " ^^ — ' - ' - ' „i_ 



'<rr ~W •«*• 



jpHHfiiuua" 



.y^'yiMu 




SErU.Nl) DICCADK, ISW-lHoO. 565 

Tho fii-st Rnnuin ('atliolit; dmrcli on Afanliiittan Island was incor- 
jiomteil .luiie 11, 17>>">, l»y tlio mini' of tlic Trustees of tlie Utmian 
C'allioiio {'liinrli in tlie City ol' New VorU. Tliey ai>|iiieil for the use 
of tlie couit-rooui in llie Hxeliango, situatutl at tlie lower [jart of liroatl 
Street, as a jdaco for puijlic woi-sliip, hut faileil to seeure it. when steps 
were ininuHliately taken to ereet a ehuieh edilice. Lots were hou^ht 
on t\w I'orner of Cliuieh ami Barelay streets, and on them a hrieU 
buildinjj was erected, fs hy SI feet in sizm It was eoinpleted hit!- in 
ITstl. The lirst mass in it was peiformed hy the Itev. Mi-. Nu'_fent 
on Novemher 4tli, assisted hy the chaplain of the Spanish minister and 
the Rev. Jose I'helau. In the followinj^ spriiifj^ the name was chan^icd 
to St. Peter's Church. Charles III., Kinj,' of Spain, was a munificent 
contrihutor to the fund for tho erection of this church. 

Mr. Nugent left tlie charge in 17S8, and was succeeded by the Rev. 
W. O'Brien, who filled the position until his death, in 181<'». He 
estabUshed a free school in the yeur ISnii. ^Ii-s. Elizjibeth A. Seton, 
afterward the founder of the Sistjrs of Cliarity in the United States, 
was received into St. Peter's Church, and took her first communion 
there in ilarch, 1805. St. Peter's Church was rebuilt of gnmite, and 
was consecnited by Bishop Hughes in February, 1S3S. 

For more than thirty yeai"s St. Peter's wa.s the only Roman 
Catholic Church in the city of New York. The denomination in- 
creased i-apidly, and the want of another place of jiublic worship 
becoming a necessity, a very spacious stone building was erected on 
the corner of Mott and Prince streets in 1S15, and called St. Patrick's 
Cathedral. It was 120 feet in length and SO feet in width, but not 
many years passed before the increasing number of the congregii- 
tion comi>elled an enlargement of the building, extending it through 
the blcx-k from ilott Street to Mulberry Street. It afforded sitting 
nxjra for two thousand persons. This cathedral l)ecame the seat of the 
Roman Catholic Episcopate in New York. The Cathedi-al was then 
on the outskirts of the city. 

Ten years after the Cathedral was Iniilt another cliurch edifice was 
demanded by the increase of the Roman Catiiolic ]toi)ulation, and 
toward the close of lx2t'> a Imilding in Sheriff Street, between P.roome 
and Delancey, was bought of Presbyterians who had woi*shij)ped 
there. In that small frame building the Church of St. Mary wor- 
shipped for six J'eai-s, when it was destroyed by fire A large and 
convenient edifice was immediately built in Orand Street, corner of 
Ridge Street. It was opened in IS^M, and dedicated as the Church of 
St. :Marv. 



566 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

The Eoman Catholics bouglit of the Episcopalians, as we have 
observed, Christ Church, in Ann Sti-eet, and adopted that name for the 
chui'ch they established there. When it was burned, in 1834, two 
churches were established, as the congregation had become numerous. 
A part of the congregation erected a, large edifice in James Street, near 
Chatham Street, and named it St. James's Church, while the re- 
mainder of the Ann Street congregation erected a house of worship in 
Chambers Street, near Centre Street, and called it the Church of the 
Transfiguration. 

The lioman Cathohc popidation increasing i-apidly in the north- 
western part of the city, it became necessary to jirovide for their 
spiritual wants. St. Joseph's Church was erected on Sixth Avenue, 
corner of Barrow Sti'eet, and opened in 1833. 

During the first and second decades there was a lai'ge Gennan 
immigration to Xew York City. The immigrants were mostly Roman 
Catholics, and between lS3o and 1850 no less than four churches were 
erected for them. Another was built for French Roman Catholics in 
1813, on the site of the Church of the Ascension, in Canal Street. 

A large Roman Catholic population had settled at Harlem, and a 
church was built for them there in 1835. St. Andrew's Church was 
established in an abandoned Universalist Church in Duane Street, near 
Chatham, in 1810, and Avithin five years afterward four other Roman 
Cathohc churches Avere estabhshed. Among these was the chm-ch of 
St. Yincent de Paul, consisting of French people chiefly. 

The history of the marvellous growth of the Roman Cathohc Church 
in the city of Xew York during the half century ending in 1850 is 
exceedingly interesting and important in several aspects. That rapid 
growth was owing chiefly to the steady flow of the tide of immigration 
from Europe, especially from Ireland, after 1830. 

The comparatively rajiid increase of the Church in New York from 
the beginning of the centuiy demanded an authoritative ecclesiastical 
force at that point for its better government. Until 1808 the Clmrch 
in N"ew York formed part of the Diocese of Baltimore, the only one in 
the United States. In that year Pope Pius VII. erected Baltimore 
into an archiepiscopal see, vrith Bishop Carroll at its head, and ch^ided 
the rest of the diocese into four sees, of which one comprised the State 
of Xew York and a part of Xew Jersey. Over the latter the Rev. 
Luke Concanen, of the Order of St. Dominic, was appointed the first 
bishop. He Avas consecrated at Rome on x\pril 21, 1808, but died at 
Naples before he embarked for Xew York. Xo other bishop was ap- 
pointed until 1814, after the Pope I'eturned to Rome from exile. The 



SECOND DKt'ADK. IH^O-IS-W. 507 

(liocoso rciiiaiiiiMi until that tunc unilci' tlic spiritual j,'-ui(lanci' of 
viciii-s. 

Mciinwiiilc an inipoitant ((ucstioii had lieon sfttlod. A fiti/.cn had 
lu'on robbed of <r(Hjds, and he liad a man and liis wife arrested on a 
charge of Ijeing the tiiieves. Very soon aftei-ward the jj^riods were 
i-estored to liini through the instrumentality of the confessional, exer- 
cised by tlie Kev. Anthony Kolilman, a Roman Catholic jiriest then 
officiating in New York. The latter was cited before a justice of the 
])eace to testify as to the name of the real thief. He refused to do so, 
pleading that his church strictly forbade him to make such revelations 
concerning mattei-s at the confessional, which were knowni only to 
himself and the penitent. The case was sent to the grand jury, be- 
fore whom tlio priest made the same plea in support of his refusal to 
testify, and liegged to be excused. 

The trial was held in June, 1813, before a court composed of De 
Witt Clinton, mayor of the city of New York ; Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 
recorder, and two sitting aldermen. The Rev. ilr. Ivohlman held 
firmly to his position when called upon to testify. Richard Riker and 
Counsellor Samjison had volunteered their services in behalf of the 
priest. Mr. Rikei- argued the case with great al)ility, and showed 
that, under the Constitution of the State of Xew York, which allowed 
the fullest toleration, every principle of any religious denomination was 
fully jirotected which did not " lead to licentiousness, or to practises 
inconsistent with the peace and safety of the State." Counsellor 
Sampson made an eloquent plea on the siime broad jiremises. Mayor 
Clinton gave his decision in the case in favor of the priest. 

The jirinciple of this decision was afterward embodied in a statute 
of the State of Xew York (1S28), which declared that " Xo min- 
ister of the gospel, or priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall 
be allowed to disclo.se any confession made to him in his professional 
character, in the course of discipline enjoined by tiu^ rules or jiractice 
of such denomination." 

In 1S14 the Rev. John Connelly, an Irish Dominican priest, was 
appointed bishop of the Diocese of Xew York. He was consecrated 
at Rome in Xr>ven\lM'r, and reaclKnl Xew York early in islC. Ho 
was an active and energetic jirelate, but, worn out by overwork and 
anxieties, he <K-cupied the see only al)out nine years, dying in 1825. 
He was buried under St. Patrick's Cathedral, near the altar. During 
his episcojiate Sistei-s of Charity fii-st a|)peared in Xew York, sent 
thither at his iXHpu>st from Emmittsburg, in ^laryland, to take charge 
of an orjihan asylum (Established in 1817. 



5(38 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

Tlie See of >ie\v York now remained vacant nearly two years, Dr. 
John Powei-s, appointed vicar-general by Bishop Connelly, administering 
its spiritual affairs. In October, 1826, Dr. John Dubois was consecrated 
bishop. There were then nearly 150,000 Eoman Catholics in the diocese, 
over 34,000 of whom were in the city of Kew York, and yet there 
Avere only four or five priests in the city to administer the sacraments. 
He was compelled to perform the duties of parish priest, confessor, 
catechist, and bishop. There were but nine church edifices in all his 
vast diocese. Even so remote from Xew York as Buffalo, there were 
between 700 and SOO Roman Catholics in that city and its immeiliate 
vicinity. He was reUeved in 1837 by the appointment of the Rev. 
John Hughes, pastor of St. John's Church, ixs coadjutor, who was con- 
secrated on January 8, 1838, when he immediately entered upon his 
duties. A fortnight after that consecration Bishop Dubois was 
attacked by paralysis, from which he never recovered. He lived until 
December, 18i2. Bishop Hughes had been appointed by the Pope 
administrator of the diocese. 

Bisliop Hughes was a remarkable man. He possessed wondeii'ul 
physical and mental energy, an indomitable will, and the courage to 
act in obedience to his convictions. He was a man of great business 
ability, and during his episcopate he did more for the advancement of 
the interests of his Church in his diocese than any man had done 
before. He promoted every means for the elevation of the intellec- 
tual, moral, and spiritual character of his people. 

The holding of church property by trustees had been a great annoy- 
ance and real trouble to his predecessors in office, and, it was alleged, 
was the chief cause of extravagant expenditures which had burdened 
the churches with crushing debts. Not doubting his authority and 
power in the case, Bisho]) Hughes boldly took the church property into 
his own exclusive control, adopted wise measures of economy in expen- 
diture, and a successful plan for relieving the burdened churches 
through the instrumentality of a Church Debt Association. He was 
chiefly instrumental in establisliing St. John's College and a Theolog- 
ical Seminaiy at Fordham, and the Community of the Sacred Heart 
for educational purposes. The latter made its permanent home at 
Manhattan ville.* 

* The commnnity was composed of Sisters of the Sacred Heart, from France, and 
founded u school for girls which has since become famous. They ■were under the direc- 
tion of Madame Elizabeth Galitzen, a Russian princess. 

The .\cademy of the Sacred Heart is now one of the oldest and best known convent 
schools in the country. The buildings are large and on high ground, at One Hundred 



SKCONU DECADE. 1840-1850. 

liishup Huglics took effectual measures against the secret societies 
funned lor political and other purposes among his countmiien — the 
Irish. Desirous of assimilating the discipline and customs of the dio- 
cese as far as possible to the deci-ecs of the Council of Trent, lie calletl 
a synod of the Church, the lii-st ever convened in the diocese. It met 
near the close of Auiiust. \s4-2. Twenty-three dccrcijs weiv ])ut forth, 
mostly propositions Ity the bishop in regaril to the siicr.iments, the ba])- 
tism of infants in private houses, the management of church ]iro]»erty. 
regulating secret societies, etc. These were all enforced by a ]>astoi"d 
letter, dated September Sth. Meanwhile the publie mind had been 
vehemently excited by the discussions of the School (Question, in which 
Hisho]) Hughes took a conspicuous jiart. This topic will be consiilercd 
]>resently. 

In 1S4T the sees of Albany and Buffalo were created, and Bishop 
McCloskey. the coadjutor of New York, was transferred to the lii-st- 
mentioncd diocese. In 1S50 New York was created an Archiepiscojial 
or ^[etropolitan See, with the sees of Boston, Hartford, Albany, and 
Buffalo as suffragans. Bishop Hughes was created archl)ishoi>. He 
sailed for Europe in November and received the pallium from the 
hands of Pope Pius IX. 

Early in the same year (1850) the Jesuit Fathers began the erection 
of a college in New York. It was Imilt in Fifteenth Street, between 
Fifth and Sixth avenues, and was comijleted and ojjcned in September 
with the title of the College of St. Xavier. It was dedicated by the 
archbishop in July, 18.")]. 

Such, in brief outline, is the history of the TJonian Catholic Church 
in the city of New York from its first implantation to the close of the 
second decade, in is-H).* In 1SS3 there were fifty-seven Roman Cath- 
olic churches in the city. 

imd Twenty-fifth Street, ncnr Eightli Avenue. They are constructed of light-colored 
stone, iind stand in the midst of a lart;e and beautifully wDoded park. The language of 
the 8chool is French. The nuniher of scholars is nsnaUy about two hundred. 

* .Tolm Hnghe.s, a distinguished prelate of the lioman Catholic Church in .America, 
■was the third son of Patrick Hughes, a well-to-do and highly respected farmer of 
Tyrone County. Ireland. His mothor. Slargaret McKenna, was a devout, sweet-tempered 
woman, and these qnalitie?; were inherited by this son. who was born near Clogher in 
1797, and died in New York Jannarj- ^, lfifi4. Evincing a passion for learning, ho was 
sent, for a time, to a Latin school. In 1810 his father came to America, and in 1819 the 
whole family settled near Cliamberslmrg. Pa. .lohn obtained admission to the College of 
Mount St. Marj-, at Emmittsbnrg, lid. There he superintended (he garden as a compen- 
Bation for his expen.ses. until he might become a teacher, at the same time prosecuting 
his studies under a private tutor. Toward the close of 1825 he was ordained priest and 
placed in charge of a small mission at Bedford, Pa. A few weeks afterward he was trans- 



570 iiisTuKY OF :ne\v vork city, 

ferred to the pastorate of St. Joseph's Church, Philadelphiii, and soon became distin- 
guished as a pulpit orator and a skilful man of affairs. His bold utterances in behalf of 
his faith brought from the Kev. Dr. Breckeuridge, a distinguished Presbyterian clergj'- 
man, a ehallenge to discuss, through the jiress, the question, " Is the Protestant religion 
the religion of Christ ?" The challenge was acceiited, and the discussion, able on both 
sides, took place in 1830. The next year Mr. Hughes built St. John's Church in Phila- 
delphia, of which he was rector until he was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese 
of New York, in 1837. Meanwhile he had accepted (1834) a second challenge from Dr. 
Breckeuridge to an oral discussion of the question, " I.s the Roman Catholic Church 
hostile to liberty T' This discussion created wide interest, but led to no satisfactory 
conclusion. 

Mr. Hughes was consecrated coadjutor of the bishop on January 7, 1838, and became 
administrator of the diocese in 1839, which then comprised the entire State of New Y'ork 
and a part of New Jersey, with a Roman Catholic population of about 200,000, with only 
forty clergymen. Then he set about reform, as we have observed in the text ; also the 
founding of a college and a theological seminary. In furtherance of these objects and 
for obtaining aid for religious communities in his diocese, he visited Europe in 1839. 
During his absence the Roman Catholics of New Y'ork began an organized opposition 
to the public-school system of that city, of which he took the lead on his return. This 
movement is noticed in the text. 

After the death of Bishop Dubois in 1842, Bishop Hughes succeeded him as titular 
bishop of the Diocese of New Y'ork, and in August of that year he convened the first 
diocesan synod. In March, 1844, he consecrated the Rev. John McCloskey, D.D., his 
coadjutor. During that spring and summer he calmed the violence of an anti-Roman 
Catholic spirit in New York by a judicious letter addressed to Mayor Harper. He made 
a second visit to Europe on behalf of the Roman Catholic cause in his diocese in 1845, 
and on his return President Polk desired him to go on a peace mission to Mexico, but he 
declined. At the request of both houses of Congi-ess in 1847 he delivered an address in 
the hall of the Representatives on " Christianity, the only Source of Moral, Social, and 
Political Regeneration." In 1850 the See of New York was raised to a metropolitan rank, 
and Bishop Hughes was created an archbishop. He presided over the first provincial 
council of New Y'ork in 18.54. In that year he had a famous ccmtroversy with Hon. 
Erastus Brooks. The next year he laid the corner-stone of the new cathedral on Fifth 
Avenue. 

At the breaking out of the Civil War in 18G1 Archbishop Hughes hastened to Washing- 
ton to proffer to the government the aid of his priests, Sisters of Charity, and Sisters of 
Mercy. Late in that year he was sent by President Lincoln on a peace mission to 
Europe, as we shall observe hereafter. The archbishop had contracted Bright's disease of 
the kidneys, which gradually undermined his constitution. His last public address wn.i 
Miida in July, 1803, to (juell the draft riot in New York City. His strength now rapidly 
failed until his death, a few months afterward. His remains were buried under the high 
altar in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Mott Street, where they lay undisturbed for nineteen 
years. At the close of Janiiary, 1883, they were placed in a new coffin made of polished 
red cedar and borne to the new Cathedral, where the sister of the archbishop (Mrs. 
Rodrigue) and his niece (Mrs. Eugene Kelly) were waiting to receive them. The coffin 
was placed on a catafalque erected in front of the high altar. On the following day 
(January 31st) funeral services were conducted in the Cathedral, with impressive cere- 
monies, in the presence of about four thousand people, among them a large number of 
clergymen. These services were closed by the solemn ceremony of absolution by Cardi- 
nal McCloskey, when the coffin was placed in a vault under the high altar, with no other 
ceremony than the singing of the chant for the repose of the soul of the dead. 



CHAPTER VIl. 

rr»HE establishment of a clmrch of Un.v..:rsa...st. in New York C^ity 
i was done in a peculiar u.anner. A few discourses jn axlvoeary of 
the doctrine of unive,.«il salvation had been yreached m he c t b^ e 
Eev John Murray (who had been a Methodist cUvss-leader) for seseia 
ve-us nothing pennanent in the form of a church orgam.jtu.n h.ul 

\Z Wected. ^length, in the sp,|ng of H^;^^ Abnd.am K J .^e.^ 
Richard Snow, John Degrauw, Wdhani Palmer, Jacob ( iimh 
Elw rd MiteheU, and two or three others, who were pnMu.nent .n d 
etrnest membei-s of the John Street Methodist Church, having ad.. ,te.l 
:« in the Hnal .dvation and happiness of all ,nen. -^":^;- - 
the church. Thev organi/.ed an assoc.atmn entitled the Socict) ot 
Unite in-istian Friends in the City of New 1 m-k, cons.s tmg o four- 
teen pei-sons. Their constitution provided for the annua elec.on of an 
Ilerl who was to perform the functions of a pastor m the adni.mstra- 
tion of the Lord's Supper and other mattei-s 

In this sin.plo way the society wo,-shippe.l for ^^^^al year.. T 
jn-aduallv increase.l in numbei-s. and in 1803 they ordained M.-^ Mitch 
^o tLssed peculiar gifts) for the ^^y^^^^ ^%^'^J^\ 
U'lar pastor. After worshipping in different V^^^> ^^^ 
church e lifice of brick in Augasta Street, now City Hall P hue, in ^l^. 
Unhappilv. dissensions arose among them concermng mattei-s of ci- 
pl ind faith. A rigid nde was adopted and enforced, re<,u ring 
e"v lid r to abstain from worshipping elsewhere whenever there 
^^ "rvices in their own church. This abridgment of pe..onal 
hCtv^ause.! members to fall away. A p.^io;. of the -j;^'^;^- 

to Mr. MilohoU. one of tbo founders of the F.rst lTn,ver«aUst Ch« d. n N « W. and 
rlincb. whom he Rfterwuril raarrica. 



572 UISTOIU' UF XEW YORK CITY. 

gradually dwindled. They rented their place of worship and retiretl to 
a hall in Foi-syth Street. Mr. Mitchell being a Trinitarian, the 
niajoi-ity of the First Univei'sahst Church were of that faith, and when, 
in 1845, they ceased to hold meetings, they joined the Episcopalians. 

There were inore bitter prejudices against tbe Universfdists than 
agaiiLst the Roman Catholics among " orthodox" Cliristians of tiiat 
day. The Univei-sahsts were regarded as the most hopeless heretics, 
and suifered social ostracism. " '\7hen I went to school I was hooted 
at by the other boys, and treated as if I were an Indian," says the 
now venerable John W. Degrauw, ' ' because my father was a IJruver- 
salist," and one of the secedei-s from the John Street Church. There 
were also as bUnd prejudices among the Universalists of that day. 
When the Rev. Wilham E. Chaiming first visited Xew York, there 
was no Unitarian church there, and a request was made for the use of 
ifr. Mitchell's church for him to preach in. It was refused, on the 
ground of ]\Ir. Channing's heterodoxy, and he preached in the Acad- 
emy of Physicians in Barclay Street. There were as strong preju- 
dices against the Methodists. A Calvinistic minister woidd not sit 
beside a Methodist even at a funeral ! Happily, those daj^s of dark- 
ness are overpast, with the exception of some hngering shadows, and 
we are sitting in the warm morning sunlight of a brighter era, in 
which "pure and undefiled rehgion," defined by St. James as this, 
" To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep 
himself unspotted from the world," is regarded as true orthodoxy. 

In 1824 a second Universahst church was organized. They l)uilt a 
house of woi'ship on the corner of Prince and Marion streets. Their 
second minister was the notorious Abner Kneeland, whose impious 
utterances soon scattered the congregation, and the church was sold to 
the Union Presbyterians in 1830. At about the same time the Rev. 
Thomas J. Sawyer gathered a congregation in Grand Street. They 
purchased a house of worship in Orchard Street, and there a large and 
flourisliing congregation was permanently estabhshed. Mr. Sawyer 
left the charge in 1845. 

In 1832 a fourth Universalist church was organized, and in 1836 
erected a substantial meeting-house on the corner of Bleecker and 
Downing streets. It, too, soon became a large and flourishing congi-e- 
gation. Tavo other ciiurches were organized, one woi-shijiping in Eliza- 
beth Street and the otlier in Houston Street. The latter built a neat 
ciuirch edifice in Fourth Street, near Avenue C, in 1843. At tiie close 
of this decade there were six Univei-salist churches in New York ; in 
1883 there are onlv four. 








/ 




SKCONI) KKeADK, l^MO-lWiO. f>73 



rONOREOATIONAr. cntTKCH. 

The fii-st Congi-egiitional i-liuivli in New Voik City was organized in 
1S(I4 l)y tlie Kev. John Towiik-v, a Congregational niinister, wiio 
lahored in an old frame Ijuihling, wliere he gathered almut him fully 
on<! hundicd nRMuhei-s. lie was assisted occasionally liy tin; Rev. 
Archibald Maclay, who was then a Congregationalist. This society 
erected a house of woi-shij) in Elizabeth Sti-eet, between Walker and 
Houston streets, wiiich they (ii-st occupied in 1S()9. I'ecuniary embar- 
rassments followed, and their iiouse was sold four or five yeai-s after- 
ward to tlie ^Vsbury (colored)Methodists. 

In ISKJ J. S. C. Y. Fi-ey, a converted Jew and an Iude|)endent oi' 
Congregational minister, came from England to New York. lie 
began |)reacliing in a school-house in Mulberry Street in 1S17, where a 
Congregational church was organized. Mr. Prey was installed jiastor 
of the church in 1S18 by the "Westchester anil Morris County Tresby- 
tery. In Octolier, 1821, the form of government was changed to 
Presbyterian. About 1817 another Congregational church was formed, 
and W(ji-shi|) was regularly held in a building on Broadway, near 
Anthony Street, but it was soon scattered. Another church w;is 
formed in 1810, which built a house of worship on Thom])son Street, 
near Broome Street. Tliis church Wiis in existence at the close of this 
decade. Another, known as the Broome Street Congregational 
Church, was organized about 1820, but it lived only two or three 
years. A Welsh Congregational church Wiis founded about ls2."), and 
first worshipped in a building in ilulberry Street. In 1833 they 
changed their form (,)f government to Presbyterian. They were Welsh 
Calvinists. 

The Rev. Mr. Finney, the famous Presbyterian "revivalist." left 
the Chatham Street Chapel in 183fi, and with a large jiortion of his 
congregation fonned a free Congregational church at the Broadway 
Tabernacle. Tliose who remained at the chapel adopted the Congre- 
gational fonu of government. They finally erected a brick edifice in 
Chrystie Street, anil were woi-shipping there at the close of this 
decade, with nearly three hundi-ed communicants. 

During the second decade several Congregational churches were 
organized and experienced vicissitudes. Of these the most eminent 
and enduring was the Church of the Puritans, of which the Rev. 
(ieorge B. Cheever was tlie founder and ])astoi'. On Sunday evening, 
Mai'ch 1."i. is+r., ho began preaching in the chapel of the New York 



574 HISTOKY OV NEW YORK CITY. 

Univei-sity, and in April he had gatlu'red a sufficient congregation to 
warrant a church organization, which at fii-st consisted of about sixty 
merabei"s. In May Mr. Cheever was installed as their jiastor, and 
ground was purchased on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Union 
Square, on the west, on which an elegant structure was soon erected. 
At the close of this decade there were eight h\nng Congregational 
churches in the city. Xine others had become extinct. In 1SS3 there 
were only live. 

NEW .lEKUSAI-Ejr. CnUECH. 

Emanuel Swedenborg was the founder of a new church. His 
follo\Yei"s in Xew York City, known as Swedenborgians, organized a 
congregation tliere in 1808. They met for religious purj)oses in a 
school-house in James Street for some yeai-s. About 1816 they adopted 
a constitution, styling themselves the Association of the City of Xew 
York for the Dissemination of the Heavenly Doctrine of the Xew 
Jerusalem. They bought a house of worship in 1821 in Pearl Street, 
between Chatham and Cross streets. The society decreasing, the 
building was sold, but the organization survived, and in 1840 they 
chose the Eev. B. F. Barrett to be their pastor. He fiUed that station 
until a few yeai's ago. The society now (18S3) has a house of worship 
in Thu-ty-fifth Street. 

A second Xew Jenisalem church was organized in 1811, composed of 
thii-teen members. They assembled in the chapel of the Xew York 
University. 

rXTFjUSIAX C'UUKCII. 

The first religious seiwice in Kew York City by a T'nitarian ]ireacher 
was held by tlie Ilev. William Ellery Ciianmng in a ]irivate house in 
April, 1810. On May 10th he jn-eached in the Academy of Pliysicians 
or ^ledical College in Barclay Street. The first Unitarian Congrega- 
tional church was founded on the 24:th of that montii, and was incor- 
porated in XovcTnl^er of that year. In the following spring a hand- 
some church edifice was begun in Chambers Street, west of Broadway, 
and was dedicated in January, 1821. The sermon on that occasion 
was delivered by the Eev. Edward Everett (the statesman) of Boston, 
then twenty-seven years of age. The Eev. ^Yilham Ware was its fii-st 
pastor. He resigned in lS?.fi, after which the church was destitute of 
a ])astor for two or tliree years. The late Eev. Henry W. Bellows, 
D.D., was ordained its pastor in January, 1839. He was then only 
twenty-five years of age. So rapidly did the congregjitii )n increase 



SKroM) |)K<'.\1>K, IH 10 18.10. •'>To 

that ii fi'W yoai-s aftcrwiinl a lu-w, spat-ions, aii.l clogaiit st.iictun" was 
erected on 1 '.read way. Iit-twwii Spring and I'rinco stiwts, at a cost of 
lj!!»O,00O. It was tapaldc of si-ating l;!t»> pi-i-stnis. It was dedii-atod 
in October, IM:., under tlie name of tlio Clmrdi of the Divine I'nity, 
and was in a flouiisliing condition at the close of the second tlecatie. 
A new church edilice was nfterwanl liuilt on the corner of Fourtii 
Avenue and Twentietli Stix'ct, and dedicated with tiie name of .\J1 
Souls' Church. In tiiat diunli Dr. I'.ell.iws labored until liis dcati:, 
early in 1SS2. 

Soon after tlie cluuoh edilice in Chainljei-s Street was erected, it 
became so cmwded that niend)ers living " uj) town" concluded to form 
a second congregation. A house of woi-ship was built in Pi-ince Street, 
west of Broadway, and opened for service in Deceiid)er, IS^ti, under 
the name of the Church of the ^lessiah. The sermon on that occiision 
Avas preached by the Rev. Dr. ('banning. The fii-st pastor was the 
Rev. W. Lunt, who was ordained in June, 1S28. He resigned in ls8«, 
and within a few years afterward the late Rev. t)rville Dew.'y tilled 
the iM)sition. He was installed its pastor in 1835. The church edifice 
was destroyed by tire in November, 1837. The site of the building 
was sold, and a large and substantial place of woi-ship Wius built of 
rough granite on the east side of Broa<lway, near Washington Sipiare, 
and dedicated in 1830, under the old name of the Church of the 
Jilessiah. It now (1883) has a spacious chui-ch edifice on the corner of 
Thirty-fourth Street and Park Avenue, with the Rev. Dr. Collyer 
as pastor. In 1S83 there were three Tnitarian churches in the city. 



THK (IIKISTI.VX Cin'R< II. 



An organization bearing the simple title of the Christian Church 
was fonned in New York in the year is^lt, under the ]»reaching of tlie 
Rev. Simon Clough. They built a house of worship on the corner of 
Broome and Norfolk streets. The church was soon involved in 
jHJcuniary embarra-ssinent, their house of woi-ship was sold, and the 
oi-fanization was dissolved. A few active membei"s fonned a new 
chuirh in 1^+1. In 1S44 they began the erection of a new chnrcli 
edifice in Suffolk Street. It was opened in lS+4. 

This sect hold to baptism by immersion, and reject infant Itaptism 
antl the doctrine of the Trinity. They discard all written creeds and 
confessions of faith, taking the l'.il)le sim^ily as the rule of faith and 
church government, mak-ing Christian rhnrurt,,- cmly the te.st of fellow- 
shi)>. 



576 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Such is the brief liistory ;infl such the condition of tlie churclies in 
'New York City at the close of the second decade, in 1849. More than 
sixty once formed were then extinct.* 

Allusion has been made to excitements in New York caused by the 
discussions of the School Question at the beginning of the second 
decafle. This question had been a cause of nmch controversy for 
fifteen years, because it involved antagonisms of religious faiths and 
ecclesiastical organizations. Various rehgious denominations had par- 
ticipated in or liad been refused participation in the l^eneflts of the 
public money placed under the control, first of the Free School Society 
and then of the Public School Society. The latter used these moneys 
in accordance with a system diilerent from that which prevailed in 
other parts of the State. 

The Public School Society was a close corporation, and had supreme 
control of monej'^ intrusted to it. The subject had been before the 
Legislature for decision as to the distribution of the school fund in 
the city of New York. That bodj'- finally passed an act transferi'ing 
the whole subject of the local distribution of the school fund to the 
common council of the city of New York, with full power to make 
such an assignment as they might deem just and proper. This led to 
important debates in that body, and the appearance of some of the best 
talent in the city in arguments before the city legislators. 

Early in 1840 the trustees of the Roman Cathohc free schools applied 
to the common coimcil for a proportionate share in the distribution of 
the school fund. The number of their schools, the certainty of their 
rapid increase, and the ])owerful influence of the apphcants made the 
matter one of serious consideration. The Pubhc School Society sub- 
mitted a remonstrance against the apj)lication, and the common council 
chamber became the arena for the display of the most remarkable 
talent on both sides. As indicated by the personal recollections of the 
writer, the utterances of the jiublic press, the pulpit, and at public 
meetings of citizens called to consider and to act upon what was felt to 
be a question of the first importance, the public excitement in the city 
was almost universal and most intense. Lawyers like Hiram Ketcham, 
employed by the Public School Society, and clergymen like Dr. Spring, 
who volunteered their services in sup])ort of the Protestant view of the 
case, appeared in arguments before the common council, and were met 

* For a brief but more elaborate sketch of the churches in New York, see a little volume 
entitled, " A History of the Churches of all Denominations in the City of New York." by 
the Kev. Jonathan Greenleaf, 184G. 



SKroND DICCADK, 1M40 IKVl. 577 

l)y tlu> iistuto Bishop irujrlios. wlio a|)pcai'c<l in lidialf of the Uoiiiiii 
Catholics. 

Tiic hittor ha<l comiilaiiu'd tiiat tiie ijooks used in tiic jniliiic schools 
al)()iinilc(l with niisie|)n;st,'iitutiijns of the faith and j)racticcs of the 
Koinan Catholics, and allcju'cd that no alternative was left the latt( r 
but to withdraw their children from the scIkmjIs or to chanj^a■ the 
system. To the latter task JJishop IIu<,dies and his confivres applied 
themselves with ^n\it vigor. The liishop f^ave lectures in Carroll Hall 
to immense audiences j)revious to the discussions before the common 
council. 

Careful invest igati<)n had siiown that the complaints of the Roman 
Catholics concerning the books in the sch(X)ls were well founded. The 
society had done what it might to correct the evil. A committee of 
revision and ex])urgation at once frctnl the b(M)ks of objectionable 
sentences. Taking this fact into consideration, the c<immon council, 
by unanimous vote, sustained the remonstrance of the PubUc School 
Society. 

The Homan Catliolics appealed to the Legislature, but a decisicjn wiis 
not reacheil until 1842. The governor recoimnended as a remedy the 
extension of the State system to the wards of the city. In this view 
the Legislature concurred, and bj' act the common-school system which 
had prevailed in the State for thirty years was extendeil to tlie cit}' of 
New York. The management of the schools was ]>laced in the hands 
of inspectoi-s, trustees, and commissi<jners elected by the peojile. The 
Public School Society ami other coq>orations were allowed to continue 
their schools and participate in the public funds according to the 
number of their scholai-s, but such participation was pi"ohibited to any 
school in which any i-eligifjus sectarian doctrine or tenet should be 
taugljt, inculcated, or practised. 

Both the contestants were disappointed. The friends of tiie rublic 
School Society considered that the cause of public education lunl 
received a serious if not a fatal l>low. The Iloman Catlnjlics regarded 
the new aiTangement, excluding all religious instniction fwm the 
schools, as most fatal to the mond and religious ]irinciples of their 
children, and sjud, " Our only resource is to estabUsh schools <if 
our own. 

The first l)oard of education under the new act, psissed April 11, 
1S42, was s|ieedily organized. For about ten years afterward the 
Public School Society kept up its organization and its schools. Satis- 
fled at length of the superior excellence of the new sy.stem, the Pubhc 
ScIkhiI Society tlis.solvod in l^.'iri, and some of its nuMnbei-s took seats 



578 HISTOKY OK NEW YOKK CITY. 

in the board of education. That board has over since luul control of 
]iul)Hc instruction in the city of New York. 

The board of education has carried on the great work of pubhc 
instruction in the metro])olis with singular ability and success. Pubhc- 
school buildings \\-itli admirable appointments have risen in all parts of 
the city, and school acconnnodations have kept pace with the growth 
and wants of tiie population. At length the important necessity of 
providing a sufficient corps of trained teachers for the public schools 
led to the establishment of a daily normal school for such a purpose, in 
1856, but it was sustained for only about three years. For many 
years only a Sa,turday normal school attempted to meet the pressing 
demand. After the reorganization of the board of education, in 1869, 
it was resolved to estabUsh a daily normal school for the training of 
female teachers on an adequate scale. A block of ground bounded by 
Fourth and Lexington avenues and Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth streets 
was secured, and thereon a magnificent building was erected. It was 
completed in the summer of 1873, and opened in September. It is 
known as the New York Normal College. Its career until now (1883) 
has been a ])erfect success. At the close of 1882 there were 1135 
students in the college.* 

The rapid growth of the city of New York and the crowded state of 
tlie chm-chyai'ds wliich were the receptacles for the dead, presented to 
the inhabitants the necessity for an extensive burial-ground outside the 
city limits and beyond the hne of its probable growth. Care for the 
weU-being of the living and respect for the dead ahke urged the duty 
which such a necessity implied. 

The idea of a rural public cemetery appears to have been fii-st 
developed at Boston, near whicli city Mount Auburn burial-place was 
opened in 1831. In that cemetery humanizing and elevating infiuences 
were dis^jlayed in tlie form of landscape gardening, and so 'not only 
relieving the burial-ground of its unpleasant features and associations, 
but rendering it attractive to the eye and delightful to the heart and 
understanding. 

In 1832 Mr. Henry E. Pierrepont, of Brooklyn, visited Mount 
Auburn Cemetery. Im])ressed with its idea, and charmed liy its 

* The Normal College is under the direct ctiutrol of a committee, oC which William 
Wood is chairman. The president o£ the college (1883) is Thomas Hunter, Ph.D., with 
a full and efficient faculty and a largo corps of teachers. All of the teachers outside the 
faculty are women. Miss Isabella Parsons is superintendent of the training department 
of the college, which comprises about six liundrcd pupils. The whole number taught in 
that department during 1882 was 1092. The building is elegant in design, four stories in 
height, and perfectly adapted to the work carried on within it. 



SECOND DKCADK, KMO-IMO. 570 

])iimiisos (if liciiuty and iiioral intlucni-o, lie resolved to urjj;e upon th(3 
citizoiis of New ^ uik and tlio tlicii rajtidly f.Towinfi^ villa<^c of ]»ror)klyn 
tlir necessity of a siinihir l)urial-|tlaee in tlieir vicinity. Tlie next yeur 
lie visited Euroite, jind tlie impressions lio received from the si;,dit of 
beautiful cemeteries tiiere heigiitened tlioso made by liis visit t(j ifount 
Auliurn. 

In is;',4 l)i-oolvlyn was incorporated a city. Its <,rro\vtii, like that of 
New York, had Ijcen quite marvellous for three or four years, ilr. 
I'ierrepont wa.s one of the commissionei"s chosen to lay out new streets. 
AVhile engaged in that duty he proposed a plan for a rural cemetery 
among the Gowanus hills, with which he had been familiar from his 
childhood. At that time Major 1). 13. Douglass, who had been an 
t)tticcr in the United States Anuy and was a distinguished engineer, 
was a resident of Brooklyn. Having, in ls:ir>, completed the survey 
for the Croton Aciueduct, and not then j)rofessionally engaged, he was 
induced by Mr. Pierrepont to consider the jiroject of a rural cemetery 
for the two cities. In a lecture which lie gave in Brooklyn not long 
afterward. Major Douglass first j)resented tlu; project to the public for 
consideration. His lecture seems not to havi- borne any visible fruit at 
that time. 

Speculation in village and city lots was rife soon afterward, and 
alisorbed public attention. The jiroject of a cemetery was allowed to 
slumber. The financial troubles of ls37 jiandyzed enteqirise and busi- 
ness for a time, and it ^^■as not until 1838 that the project of a rural 
cemetery was again brought to the ])ublic consideration. Mr. Pierre- 
])ont and ^lajor Douglass ha»I quietly explored the ground on the 
Gowanus hills, selected the ])ortion which seemed best suited to the 
])Ui-])ose of a ceineterv, and nia])ped the sjime with the names of all the 
jnojjrietoi-s of the land. A petition was presented to the Legislature 
in the winter of 1838, and on the 11th of Ajn'il in that year an act of 
incor]>oration was jiiissed creating a joint stock comjiany, under the 
name of the Greenwood Cemetery, with a cajutal of $3u0,U0ti, and the 
right to hold 2iki acres of land.* 

• The pioneers in thii enterprise who were the petitioners for the charter were : 
Samnel Ward. .John 1*. StauK, Charles Kin^, David B. Doughiss, Knssell Steliliins, .Joseph 
A, Tern,-, Henry E. Pierrepont, and Pliny Freeman. Mr. Ward was of the eminent 
banking-house of Prime, Ward i King. Sir. Pierrepont is now (18H3) the only survivor 
of these corporators of Greenwood Cemetery forty-five years ago. 

The ground selected and purchased for the cemetery lay a little back from Gowanus 
Bay, and comprised 178 acres. Until its hills resounded with the roar of battle between 
the Americans, British, and Hessians, at the close of .\iigust, 1770, it had been a •piiet, 
secluded, and wooded spot. When the land w;\<i |.iiiili;ised an old mill was standing on 



580 IllSTOliV OF NEW YUKK CITY. 

The Greeuwood Cemetery project was not jiopular at first, and its 
tnanagers Avere annoyed by pecuniary embarrassments ; but tliese 
wevc ended in 1843. Through all its subsequent jn'ogress after its 
reUef fi'om financial troubles, the cemeteiy has been watched and 
nurtured with unwearied care and unremitting interest until it has 
attained to a magnitude and value far beyond any other institution of 
the Idnd.* 

CalvjVey Ckmeteky, now the chief burial-place for the dead of the 
Eoman Catholic Church in New York, was estabhshed during this 
decade. The first burial-ground for this denomination was at St. 
Peter's Church, in Barclay Street. The second was in the grounds 
aroimd and in the vaults under St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the third 
■was in Eleventh Street. The latter ha\ing become fiUed, and intra- 
mural burials being forbidden, a farm was purchased on Xewtown 
Creek, L. I., and a portion of it was first consecrated for burial pur- 
poses in August, 1848. This gi-eat cemetery is situated about two 
miles from Greenpoint and Hunter's Point ferries. It is also accessible 
by the Long Island Railroad. 

AVhen the city Umits were extended into Westchester County, AYood- 
lawn Cemetery, at Woodlawn Station, on the Harlem Eailroad, was 
brought within the corporation hinits. It is a beautiful and weU-kept 

Gowanus Creek, at the head of Gowanus Bay, the shores of which had been very little 
changed since the battle that raged near them more than sixty years before. 

The Greenwood Cemetery Association was organized near the close of 1838 by the 
election of a board of directors, who soon afterward chose Major Douglass the first presi- 
dent of the corporation. Already there had been made an addition to the original pur- 
chase of thirty-three acres of land bought from a farmer, which included Sylvan Water, 
" the brightest gem" in the cemeterj'. 

To secure the grounds from invasion by city streets it was necessary to have an outline 
plan of the selected territory in the hands of the city commissioners before the first of 
Januarj-, 183'J. This desirable act was accomplished through the unwearied exertions of 
Mr. Pierrepont, and thus was secured immunity from such invasion for all time. An 
amendment of the charter changed the title of the managers from directors to trustees. 

* In 1814 a colossal statue of De Witt Clinton in bronze, by H. K. Brown, was erected 
in Greenwood. It was the first of the kind ever cast in this countrj-. Since that time 
statues and beautiful monumont.s have arisen in various parts of the cemetery, and add 
much to its attractiveness for visitors. These, with the skill of the landscape gardener con- 
stantly applied, have made Greenwood Cemetery (greatly enlarged in size) one of the 
most interesting and beautiful receptacles for the dead in the world. Its seal bears the 
beautiful device of Memory strewing flowers on the graves. The officers for 1882 were : 
Henry E. Pierrepont, president ; A. A. Low vice-president ; C. M. Perrj', comptroller 
and secretary. The trustees were Henry E. Pierrepont, James K. Taylor, Benjamin H. 
Field, A. A. Low, J. Carson Brevoort, Arthur W. Benson, Alexander M. White, J. W. C. 
Leveridge, Benjamin D. Silliman, Henry Sanger, Royal Phelps, Geraid Beekman. 
Frederick Walcott, James M. Brown, Charles M. Perry. 



SliCOXD DECAUE, llMO-l».'iO 581 

ccmeU'rv, lomprisinj^ neurly four liundrwl iicivs. It is undcnoiiiiiui- 
tioiiiil. It liiis b(3c<>iiic' the seleetod l)Ui'ial-])lacc l)V niiiny wi-altliy Xi,^\v 
York families, who liuve erected vaults and haixlsome lunnunients 
there. Trains on tlie Harlem Koad I'un to it from the (rrand CcntriU 
Depot every hour of tiie day. 

Dui'ing the second decade several benevolent and charitable institu- 
tions were estabhslied in the city of Mew York, the most imi)ortant of 
which were St. David's Henevolent and St. David's llcnelit siK-ie- 
ties, Xew Y'ork Association for the Improvement of the Condition of 
the Poor, Women's Pris<jn Association, St. Luke's Hospital, Prison 
Association of New York, Roman Catholic House of Mercy, and IIos- 
pitiU of St. Vincent de Paul. 

St. David's Bknkvoi.knt Society is an association conipose<l of natives 
of Wales or their descendants. It wjis established in ls41, and was 
incorporated in 184S. It was really formed, by informal action, so 
early as l!S35. The objects of the society are to afford pecuniary relief 
to the indigent and reduced members of the society, to all distressed 
Welsh men and Welsh women, and to those who have recently emi- 
grated to this country, as well as to those who have resided here for a 
longer period ; also to collect antl preserve information respecting 
Wales and the Welsh people and their descendants in this country ; 
to cultivate a knowledge of the history, language, and literature of 
Wales, and to {)romote social intercourse among the members of the 
society'. A committee on benevolence has charge of all matters 
pertiuning to charitable ministrations and of the bui'ial-giounds of the 
society.* 

A Welsh society, formed a few years earlier, is called Tiik St. 
David's Bknkfit SociETi' of the Crrv of New Yokk. It was insti- 
tuted in 1835, incorporated in 1S38, and reorganized in 1851). The 
object of this as.sociation is the mutual relief of the membei-s of the 
corporation when, by reason of sickness or infirmities, any member 
shall require ]iecuniary relief. Welshmen and their descendants, and 
persons married to Welsh women, over the age of eighteen and under 
forty years, are eligible to membei'shi]). They must be residents within 
ten miles of the City Hall, New York.f 

» The officers of the St. Dnnd's Benevolent Societj- in 1882 were : Hugh Roberts, 
president ; Evan Williams and John K. Price, vice-presidents ; John Thoniiis. treasurer ; 
W. H. Williams, recordinR secretary ; T. C. I'owell, corresponding secretary ; Richard J. 
Lewis, connsol, and the Rov. D. Davies, chaplain. 

f The officers of the society in 1882 were : Henry Perry, president : John Hnghes, 
vice-president : John Morgan, treasnror ; W. II. Williams, sccretarj-. 



582 HISTOUY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

The Xkw Yokk Association fok Lmpijovlng tue Conditiox of the 
Poor was organized iii 1843, and incorporated in 1848. It was founded 
largely for the jnirposes of ])ractically controlling the evils growing out 
of ahuso-iving without fjuestioii, which often encouraged idleness and 
led to crime •, also to more effectuall}' respond to the necessities of the 
• really needy. It was acknowledged that the alms of charitable institu- 
tions and of private liberality were often injudiciously distributed for 
want of information concerning the character of the recipient. To 
guard against this evil a system of minute and careful investigation 
was devised, and tlie labor was so di\dded among many that it would 
not be bui'densome. 

The general plan of operations of the society is as follows : First, a 
general division of the city and county into districts ; next, a sub- 
division of the districts into numerous sections, and the appointment of 
a visitor to each section, when the field of labor is thus made so hmited 
that he can easily give his j^ersonal attention to all the needy in his 
section. By this system the societj^ embraces every street, lane, and 
alley in its quest and in its benevolent work. " It penetrates every 
cellar and garret and hovel, where the needy are found, and, irre- 
spective of creed, color, or country, ministers to aU not otherwise 
provided for, in a way to benefit the recipient and promote the best 
interests of the commimity." * 

This society at the outset was far-reaching in its laboi-s for the poor, 
not confining its work to merely temporary relief from hunger or cold. 
It has labored to ameliorate the general condition of the laboring 
classes. It was mainly instramental in the estaljfishment of the Juve- 
nile Asylum in 1851, and the Demilt Dispensary the same year ; the 
North-western Dispensaiy in 1852 ; a public washing estabhshment in 
1853 ; gave impetus to the movement which estabhshed the Children's 
Aid Society in 1854 ; in founding the Workingmen's Home in 1855, 
and in the creation of other charities equally beneficent. 

The visitors of the society are required to give only in small (quanti- 
ties, in proportion to immediate needs ; to require each beneficiary' to 
abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage ; such as 
have yoimg children of suitable age that they be kept in school, and to 
appi'entice those of suitable years to some trade or send them out to 
sei-vice, thus encouraging the poor to be a party to their own iinjirovc- 
ment and elevation. Tlie first board of managers of the institution 
were leading citizens, who ■\verc active in vai'ious vocations. James 

* "The Charities of New Y'ork," liy Hu^h N. Camp, p. -147. 



Ill 




U^tyl^'ol^a /TH 



584 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Minturn, treasurer ; U. M. Hartley, corresponding secretary and agent, 
and Joseph B. Collins, recording secretary.* 

At the middle of the second decade public attention in the city of 
New York had been directed in a special and earnest manner to the 
condition of prisoners of both sexes while in confinement and after 
their discharge. While in prison httle was done or thought of outside 
the prison walls for their moral and spiritual improvement, and there 
prevailed in society an unchristian sjiirit which made the chscharged 
convict, though ever so penitent and earnestly desirous of leading a 
better life, a hopeless outcast from the better social life, and denied the 
means for procuring a livelihood. Many a poor creature emerging 
from his or her cell, after imprisonment for the first time, filled with 
hope and high resolves, was cnished on the threshold by the im- 
])lacable heel of social ostracism. Millions of dollars were spent in 
laudable efforts to better the moral and spiritual condition of benighted 
people in foreign lands, but not one dollar to help the darkened soul 
coming out from prison walls and eloquently pleading for mercy and 
help to do well at our own doors, f 

Sarah Benedict, widow of Alexander Brown, Jr., of London ; Louisa, wife of Howard 
Potter, and Mai^aretta, widow of James Cooper Lord. In 1831 Mr. Brown married Eliza 
Coe, daughter of the Kev. Dr. Coe, of Troy, N. Y., who, with two sons, George Hunter 
and John Crosby Brown, survive him. 

Mr. Brown was a most exemplary man in his domestic and social relations, and of 
marked personal characteristics. From his childhood he was a devout worshipper of 
God and a lover of the sanctuary. This predominant feeling he impressed upon his 
entire household. To the deserving person or institution or cause which commanded 
his attention and his favor, he was always an abiding and munificent helper, and in this 
his children have followed his example. He was personally connected with the principal 
charitable institutions of the city. The most severe domestic afflictions tried his faith and 
his fortitude, but they never wavered for a moment, and he passed through a long life 
with the serenity of a firm Christian believer and worker, ever doing good in the service 
of his fellow-men and of his Divine Master and Friend. 

* The officers of the association in 1882 were : Howard Potter, president ; R. B. Min- 
turn, treasurer ; John Bowne, secretary. 

f A single example will suffice to illustrate the effects of this social ostracism. The 
incident occurred in England many years ago. Two college students at Oxford, a noble- 
man and a commoner, hired a horse and gig and rode to Bristol, where they found them- 
selves without money or means to communicate with their friends. They sold their 
conveyance and started for the college, intending to pay the owner so soon as they should 
receive funds. They were delayed, and on their return were arrested for theft. The 
rank of the nobleman shielded him from punishment, the commoner was transported to 
the penal colony of New South Wales for a term. When it expired he went to work 
there, married, amassed a fortune, and became eminent in society. More than forty 
years after his sentence he went to England on business. Chance brought him into 
court as a witness. He was about to step from the witness stand when one of the law- 



SKCO.Nl> DKCADK, lH40-lH.->0 



^86 



Wise and Iwnovolont-iiiindi'd iikmi and wonirn in Now York liad long 
conmiiscmted the ((.mditiDn of discluiix<-'d lonvicts. Kinally tlicy took 
action in tlieir lu'lialf. Late in 1S44 Ele;izer Parndy, an eminent 
dentist, invited a lew friends to his house to consider the matter. 
Tliey issued a circular, in i-esiwnse to wiiich a mectinfr Wiis held at the 
ApoUo K<Kims on Decendjer Cth, witii the Jlon. W. ('. McCoun in tlie 
chiur. lion. J. W. Edmonds offered a resolution that it w:us e.\|M-dient 
to form in the city of New York a prison ass<>ciation, an<l to nominate 
suitai)lc officei-s therefor. 

At the same time and place, Isiuie T. IIoi)per, one of tiic most active 
l>liilanthroi)ists in the city, offered the following resolutions, which 
were adopted : 

" /,'M,.(if(», That tn snstu.i, nnd enconmRO dischnrKcd convicts who give Ratisfnctorj- 
evidence of repentance ami refonuntion in their en.leftvors to lend honest lives, by 
affording them employment and guarding them against temptation, is demanded of ns. 
not only by the inU-rcsts of society, but by every dictate of humanity. 

" nesolved. That in the formation of such a society it wonld be proper to have a female 
department.' to be especially regardful of the interest and welfare of prisoners of that sex." 

An asstx-iation was formed, l)ut it s<X)n embraced the whole State in 
its orjr.inization, ha\-ing a committee of con-espondcnce in every 
county. It is therefore not a city institution, though most of its ex- 
ecutive officers reside in the metrop<jlis, and its headiiuai-tei-s are tliere. 

Mr. IIoi)i)er was one of the most efficient meml)ei-s of the Prison 
Society, an.l although then seventy-four years of age, he accepted and 
performed tiie duties of agent of the association with great energy and 
acceptance, in which he was es.sentially aided by his daughter, ilrs. 
Abby Gibbons. In all the meetings in jmblic his voice was always 
elwiuent and impressive in its utterances. 

The formation of a woman's iussoc-iation was a project that more 
deeplv conccmed the mind and heart of 'Mr. Hopper, for he well kniew 
how sui>erior would be women's work in the enterprise. Sinmltane- 
ously with the organization of the other prison association, he foiiiied, 
at his own house, the Woman's Puison Associ.vtk'.n of tiik Crrv ok Nkw 

yers said to him in sharp tones, " Were yon over transported ?" The witness turned pale, 
kn.l with <inivering lips replied, " Tes. forty-three years ago, Tinder circumstances 
which I can—" 

" Never mind the circumstances, sir." replied the lawyer. " The fact is all I want to 
know. I have no further ((ucslions to ask this witness, my lord." 

The witness left that courtroom a mined man. Society, which had jnst conrted him, 
shunned him. His credit an.l business were mined, and in three months he died 
broken-hcirted. 



586 HISTORY 01^ NEW YORK CITY. 

York (3'et in active operation), Avith the same objects in view. An act 
of incorporation was passed in the spring of 18-±5, and in June tliey 
took a house, ajipointed matrons, and organized a committee of ladies 
for the management of tlie concerns of the society. In honor of the 
founder the asylum was called the Isaac T. Hopper Home, which name 
it still beai-s. 

The society I)egan its labors with great zeal and vigor, in the face of 
many difficulties, for the salvation of unfortunates of their sex, by 
giving them shelter when discliarged from prison, by leading them to 
a better hfe, and finding means for them to gain an honest hvelihood. 
They established a sewing department and a school, and later a 
laundry, and so made the institution partially self-supporting. They 
visited the prisons, sought out those who were desirous of leading 
better hves, and offered them shelter and aid when they should be dis- 
charged. At the close of the first thirty years of their labors (1S7C) 
the society reported that they had given shelter to 7229 women, sent 
to service 3857, while others had been employed by the day or week as 
seamstresses or in household worlc. According to the report of the 
association for 1882, tlie numlxir admitted to the home during the year 
was 386, of whom 219 were sent to service. Wlio can estimate the 
vast benefits to society of an institution like this, which stood alone in 
its benevolent work for many years ?* 

The Woman's Prison Association has never received aid from tiie 
State. The city authorities have from tune to time made small dona- 

* An illustration has been given of the sad effects of social ostracism on a discharged 
convict. Victor Hngo, in his " Les Misi'rables," gives, in a picture of the meeting of 
Jean Valjean and the bishop, an illustration of the effects of kindness toward the unfort- 
unates, which the Woman's Prison Association exercises. 

Valjean stole a loaf of bread to appease hunger, and was sent to prison for five years. 
Several times he attempted to escape, and was resentenced until he had been confined 
nineteen years. When ho was discharged he was given a passport that stigmatized him 
as a discharged convict, and every honest man's door was closed against him until a good 
old bishop, to his great surprise, gave him welcome, food, and shelter. The bishop's 
silver plate tempted him, and he stole this treasure from his benefactor and fled. He was 
captured and led into the presence of the bishoj), when the old prelate greeted him 
kindly, and said : 

" Ah ! Valjean, I'm glad to see you. But I gave you the candlesticks too, which are 
also of silver. Why did you not take them with the rest?" 

The bishop then bade the officers to retire, for they had made a mistake, and address- 
ing the trembling thief while he laid his hand on his shoulder, said : 

" Jean Valjean, my brother ! yon no longer belong to evil, but to good. I withdraw 
your soul from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition and give it to God. Never 
forget that you are to employ this silver— i/fxr silver now— in becomin'j an honesl man .'" 

Isaac T. lIoi>]pcr was the giiod bi.shop to many a poor shivering soul. 



8KC0NI) Dl'ICADr,. 1H40-Ifir)0. 587 

tions. The society hjus dojjended for supjxjrt on jirivato annual sub- 
scriptions and ;^ifts. In lisO'j tiio Jloiiiu recL'ivi'd a li-gacy of ^.'iOjtMio 
fi-oni Mr. Charles JJurrall, of Hoboken, Now .lerst^y.* 

There was a Avidc lirld of laijor o|)en to the AVoiiian's l^rison Asso- 
ciation at near tiie close of this decade, for in the Tondis and in tlio 
Penitentiary of Black well's Island there were, in lS4>i, lU4u convicts, 
of whom over 4oii wc^i'c women. 

♦ The oflScers of the association for 1882 were : Mrs. James S. Gibbons, first directs 
ress ; Mrs. Frederick Billings, second directress ; Mrs. A. M. Powell, corresponding 
Bccretar}- ; Mrs. William Evans, Jr., recording socrotarj- ; Sirs. James SI. Uolstcad, treas- 
nrer, and nineteen Indies comprising an executive committee. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

THE late Eev. Dr. Miihleuberg, rector of the Church of the Holy 
Cominunion, lamenting the neglect of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church to make adequate provision for its sick ])oor, said to his con- 
gregation, on the Festival of St. Luke, in 1846, that, with their per- 
mission, he would appropriate a portion of their offerings on that day 
to the beginning of a hospital that would afford medical and surgical 
aid and nursing to sick and disabled persons; also to provide them while 
in the establishment with Gospel ministrations according to the ritual 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; also to provide for the instruc- 
tion and training of pereons in the art of nursing and attending upon 
the sick. Thirty dollai's of the collection on that day were laid aside 
for the purpose. 

For three or four years nothing more was contemplated than a 
parochial institution, but when its pm-pose became generally known, 
its appeals were so generously responded to that the managers deter- 
mined to enlarge its sphere. It had received a charter of incorporation 
in the spring of 1850, with the title of St. Luke's Hospital. The man- 
ager asked for a subscription of $100,000. A meeting of Episcopalians 
was held at the Stuyvesant Institute, when a committee on subscrip- 
tions was appointed. The desireil sum was soon raised. Ground was 
procured on Fifth Avenue, between Fifty -fourth and Fifty-fifth streets, 
and thereon the corner-stone of the jn-esent buildings was laiil in May, 
1854. A further subscription of $100,000 was obtained. The chapel 
was fii-st opened in ilay, 1857, and on Ascension day (May 13th), 
1858, the hospital was dedicated and opened for patients. 

So early as 1845 some ladies had associated themselves as a Church 
Sisterhood, and were formally organized as such in 1851. It was 
simply an association of Protestant Christian women for comforting 
the sick. No vows of any kind bound the Sistei-s to their work or to 
each otlier, but after a trial of six months they engaged for three yeai-s, 
after which they might renew the engagement or not at their pleasure. 

On tlie opening of the hos))ital the managers requested the Sisters 
attached to the mfirmary of tlie Church of the Holy Communion to 



SECOND DECAUE. ItMO-lWO. ^^'J 

tiike c-hiirgo of the Wiirds. Tliis tlu-y did, and very soon the i-hiir<,'o of 
the entire liouse was couiiiiitted to tliein, under tlie julviee and direction 
of the founder. This sisterhood, however, is entirely independent of 
the hospital, ijotli lus re«,'artls its organization and its means of sujjimhI. 
A sejjarate lionie was provided for them. This was done tiirough thi- 
liberality of John II. Swift. The gi-ound on which it stands was given 
by Mi-s. Mary Ann Kogei-s. So strong were the prejudices iigiiiust tiiis 
sisterhood, which was i-eganled as an imitation of Roman Catholic 
conventual life, that no money could have been ct)llected for the pur|)ose 
of building them a home. They had estabUshed an intuinary with 
fifteen Ijeds, in a hired house near by, so eiirly as 1854:, anil this was tiie 
real beginning of St. Luke's llcwpitai. The inlirmary wtis transferred 
t«) St. Luke's in 1858. 

Dr. ]\IubK'nberg, the founder of St. Luke's Hospital, w;is its pastor 
and superintendent, and lived in the hositital as the house-father until 
his dcatii.* 

The general plan of St. Luke's Hospital building is an oblong paral- 
lelogram, with wings at each enil. It is three stories in height. No 
institution in the world is better adapted and equipped for its 
work than St. Luke's Hospital.f It administers relief to sutlerei-s 

* William Augustus Muhlonherg, D.D., wn.s bom in riiiladelpUia in 179B, and died in 
New York in 1877. He griuluated at the University of IV-nnsylvania in 1814, and was 
ordainod a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Charch in 1817. From that time until 
1821 he was assistant rector of COirist Church in I'hiladelphia, under Bishop White. 
From 1821 to 1828 he was rector of St. James's Church, Lancaster, where he took an 
active part in establishing the first public school in the Stjite outside of Philadelphia. 
He founded St. Paul's School at Flushing, L. I., in 1828, of which he was principal untU 
184r,. when he was called to the rectorship of the Church of the Holy Communion in New 
York City. It was the earliest free Episcopal Church in the city. He had organized the 
year before the first Protestant sisterhood in the United States. In the latter years of 
his life he was instrumental in founding an industrial Christian settlement at St. John- 
land, L. I., not far from New York, which is still nourishing with most beneficent results. 
Liberal in his views, he was an earnest advocate of Christian union. He mingled prac- 
tical philanthropy with earnest piety and devotion. Dr. Muhlenberg was the author 
of several popular hvmns-" I would not live alway," " Like Noah's Weary Dove," 
"Shout the Glad Tidings," and ' Saviour who Thy Flock art Feeding." His noblest 
monuuient is the hospital which he founded. 

f The officers of St. Luke's HospiUl in 1882 were : John H, Earle, president ; James 
M. Urown and Percy R. Pyne, vice presidents ; Gordon Norrie, treasurer, and George 
Maccnlloch Miller, 'secretary. There are twenty-five managers, besides six ex-<,fficio 
managers, namely : the mayor of the city, the president of each board of the common 
council, the British Consul, and one warden and one vestryman of the Church of 
St. George the Martyr. These ejc-nffido managers may be accounted for from the fact 
that the land on which the hospital was erected was, for certain considerations on the 
part of Trinity Church, granted to the Church of St. Cleorge the Martyr, on the condition 



590 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

witliout distinction of race or creed, in the loving spirit of the Church 
which cherisiies it. TIio motto on its seal — " Corits sanare, animam 
salvaee" (to cure the body, to save the soul) — declares its twofold 
object. 

In 1882 there were treated in the hospital 1574 patients, of whom 
1214 were charity jiatients. 

In 1846 the late Archbishop Hughes invited Sisters of Mercy to come 
from Ireland and establish a House of Mercy in New York. They 
came, and began their work in a small way at a temporary place of 
abode, No. 18 AVashington Place, confining their duties to visiting the 
sick, the poor, and the dying, and instructing the ignorant. There 
were seven of them. They enlarged their sphere of action, and in 
1850 a residence for them was built, and they have ever since earned 
on the benevolent work with efficiency and widespread usefulness. 
The institution was incoi'porated in 1854. 

Another benevolent institution — another organization of Sisters of 
Cliarity under the control of the Roman Catliolic Church— was founded 
in 1849. Early in that year a rehgious community of women was 
formed in New York, and was incorporated (January 23, 1849) undei- 
the legal title of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. ' Their 
pattern and design were similar institutions existing in Paris and Dubhn. 
Their primary object was the care of the sick and the abandoned 
])oor, administering to all their wants, corporeal and spiritual, as far as 
possible ; to soothe them in their sufferings, and to comfort them in all 
their sorrows. 

In November, 1840, these Sisters organized the Hospftax of St. Vin- 
cent DE Paul, at a three-story dwelling-house in Thirteenth Street, 
fitted up to accommodate thirty patients. Very soon patients flocked 
to it, not only from the city but from adjacent villages. The Sisters 
added the adjoining dwelling to the estabhshment, and tlius secured 
accommodations for seventy patients. They remained in this locahty 
until 1856, when they rented the building they now occupy. No. 195 
West Eleventh Street, wliich had l)een occupied by a Roman Cathohc 
Half-Orphan Asylum. 

The fii-st director of tlie Hospital of St. Alncent de Paul was the 
Rev. Wilhara Stari-s, Vicar-General of the Church in New York. Dr. 
Valentine Mott was the consulting surgeon and jjhysician, Di-s. W. H. 
Van Buren and Schmitz were visiting surgeons, and Drs. William 

that there should be erected thereon a hospital and free chapel for British emigrants. 
That church conveyed the property to the corporation of St. Luke's Hospital on the con- 
ditions named. 




^^'^^^f. 



C^-^-c^^tJ 



SE<'t)NI) DKCAKK, lS10-lft.iO. Ml 

^fiiiTiiy and William I'o\v««r were visiting' pliysicians. Dr. Mott t<Hik 
II lively inU'ic.'st in the institution, and lield tlic |)ositi(in lie lii-st assumed 
until iiis (leatii, a period of sixteen yeai"s.* 

Ailditions iiave been made to the liuildinj,', until now (1ns:1) it has 
accon>m(«hiti(ms for at least two hundred ])atients, havinj; that numher 
of beils. It also has private rooms wherein persons of either sex tem- 
porarily in the city and stricken with sickness may lind accomnnMlii- 
tions. Its princii)al means of supi)ort is the revenue ilerived from 
]»ayin^ j)atients. Its (Umh-s are open to the atllicted of every cix^'d and 
country, the only cause foi- exclusion being eases of violently contagious 
diseases. Patients sulferini;: from severe accidents may be admitted at 
any hour during the day t>r night. 

Liite in this decade an impoitant institution of learning was estab- 
lished in the city of New York which has ])erformed service of incalcu- 
lable value in the promotion of pui)hc instruction of a higher order. It 
is the CoLLK(iK OK THK Crrv ok Xi;w Y<>i:k. of which (ii'iui-il Alix.indcr 
S. AW'bb, LL. D., is president. + 

* Viilentine Mott, M.D., LL.D., wns bom at Glen Cove, L. I., Angast 20, 178.5, nnd died 
in Ken- York City .\pril 20, 18R5. He gnulnnted in medicine at Colnmbin Collet!e in 1806, 
and afterward studied in London and Edinburgh. His father wa.s a distinguished phy- 
sician. Soon after his return from Europe he was ajtpointed professor of sur^crj- in 
Columbia College, which chair he filled with eminent ability until the medical department 
of that institution was united with the College of Physicians and SurgcDns in ISIU, and 
from that time until 18'2(), when, with others, he foundeil the new Rutgers Sledical Col- 
lege. At its demise, four years afterward, he became a lecturer in the College of l*hy- 
siciiuis and Surgeons and professor of surgery and relative anatomy in the medicjil 
department of the University of the City of New York, of which he was president for 
many years. 

Dr. Slott became noted in his early manhood for his surgery. So early as 1818, when 
he was thirty-three years of age, ho performed the bold surgical operation of placing a 
ligature around an artery within two inches of the heart, for aneurism. Not long after- 
ward he exsected the entire right collar- bone for a malignant disease of that bone, apply- 
ing forty ligatures -the most difficult and dangerous operation that can be performed on 
the human frame. In all branches of operative surgery he was most skilful and success- 
ful. He was the first surgeon who tied the primitive iliac artery for aneurism, and the 
first who removed the lower jaw for necrosis. He performed the operation of lithotomy 
one hundred and sixty-five times, and amputated more than one thousand limbs. The 
great English surgeon. Sir Astley Cooper, said Dr. Mott had performed more of the great 
operations than any man, living or dead. 

In 183.5 Dr. Mott went abroad, and travelled in England, on the Continent, and in the 
East. In 1842 he published in one volume an account of this trip, entitled, " Travels in 
Europe and the East." He translated Vclpeau's " Operative .Surgi>ry." in four vfilumcs. 
Dr. Mott was not a voluminous writer. His " Cliniques" were reported by Dr. .Samuel 
W. Francis, now of Newport, R. I. 

f .Vlexander S. Webb, LL.D., is a son of Genenil James Watson Webb. He was edu- 
cated at the Military Academy at West Point, graduating' in inrj.") as a lieutenant of artil- 



.">92 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Early in 1847 a committee of the board of education recommended 
that body to apply to the Legislature for a laxv authorizing the found- 
ing in the city of Xew York of a free college or academy for the 
benefit of pujjils who liad been educated in the common schools. The 
apphcation was made, and on May 7, 1847, the Legislature passed an 
act as desired, to be submitted to the voice of the electoi-s of the city. 
That submission was made on June 9th. The result was 19,404 votes 
in favor of a free academy, to 3409 against it. Under that title it was 
incorporated. 

A spacious building of brick, four stories in height, a peaked roof 
mth dormer windows, and admirable internal arrangements, was 
erected on Twenty-third Street, comer of Lexington Avenue. It was 
openetl and the fii-st class entered in January, 1849, which completed 
its com-se in 1853 with such satisfactorj'^ results that thousands of citi- 
zens who had heretofore held aloof from all pubUc schools now sent 
their children to them. Yery soon it was found necessary to erect 
three new pubhc-school buildings, on a new order of stracture and 
much greater in size than before. They were made to accommodate 
two thousand children in each. 

The requisites for admission to the Free Academy were : that an 
applicant must be fourteen years of age and a resident of the city, 
should have attended the common schools in the city twelve months, 
and should pass a good examination in spelling, reatling, writing, Eng- 
lish gi-amraar, arithmetic, algebra, geography, history of the United 
States, Constitution of the United States, and elementary book- 
keeping. The jjupils of the Free Academy had the advantages of 
instruction of the highest order in various branches of learning ajiph- 

lery. He served agiiinst the Seminoles in Florida and on the frontier, and for four 
years (18.57-61) he was assistant professor of mathematics at West Point. In Hay, 18G1, 
he received the commission of captain in the Eleventh Infantry. He had reached the 
rank of brigadier-general of volunteers in 1863. At the beginning of the war he gave 
efficient aid in the defence of Fort Pickens, and served -n-ith distinction in the battle of 
Ball Run, in the Peninsula campaign of 1862, and was chief of staff in the battles of 
South Mountain and .\ntietam. He was also in the battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. 
He led a brigade in the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded. In 1861 General 
Webb commanded a brigade in the battle of the Wilderness, where he was dangerously 
wounded. Returning to the service early in 1865, General Webb was made General 
Meade's chief of staff, and held that position until the close of the war. In March, 1865, 
he was breveted brigadier.gencral and major-general United States Army, and was dis- 
charged from service in December following. 

In 1869 General Webb was appointed president of the College of the City of New York. 
Under his management it has attained a high rank as one of the most important semi- 
naries of learning in the country. 



SKfO.Nl) DKCAUK, IMW IsriO. "i!)."? 

calili' li> tlio iiinst impnrtaiit airairs in life, omiltcd altogt'tlicr ui- iioL 
inac-ticiilly tau-^'lit in tlie colleges. 

In tlie year KA tlie Legislature passed a law endowing the Vrw 
Academy with collegiate |(owei-s and privileges, so far as pertained tu 
the conferring upon its gr.iduates the usu:d collegiate tlegrees and 
diplomas in thi! arts and sciences. Another step forward was made liy 
the institution in ISCC, when, on the rcconunendation of tlie hoard of 
education, the Lcgislatuit' changed the name to that of the College of 
the City of New York, and coid'erred vn th(' institution all the ])owers 
and i)rivileges of a college pui-suant to the Revised Statutes of the 
State, making it subject to the visitation of the regents of tin; I'niver- 
sity in like manner with other colleges of the State, and making the 
meiul>ei-s of the hoard of education ,'.i--i,Jjir!,) the trustees of the college. 
Finally the Legislature in lsS2 repealed so much of the statutes relat- 
ing to the college as had nuule one year's attendance at the public 
schools of the city a requisite for admission, thus o])ening the colicge to 
all young men of the city of proper age ami .sulficient preparation. 
Instruction is free, so is the use of te.\t-lx>oks, ami there is no expense 
whatever to be borne by the students. There is a i)ost-graduate coui-se 
in engineering, occupying two atlditional years. 

The College of Xew York possesses about 2ii,(i(iO volumes of selected 
works, valued at $45,(1(10, and is the reixjsittjry of l.'>,4(t(> volumes for 
issue, and llMio not issued, valued at $18,r)(to. It has a line cabinet of 
natural history, and the scientilic department is efjuipped with appa- 
ratus valued at about ^is.ood. The value of the buildings is estimated 
at §1 !)(•,( >(•(>. The institution is maintainetl at an annual cost to the 
city of SU(t,0(Mi. 

The wise and liberal designs of the sagacious foundere of the Free 
Acailemy are carried out in its curricuUnn and practices to-day more 
broadly, liljendly, and efficiently than at the beginning, and the 
College of New York exhil)its the matured strength and puissance of 
the young institution started on its coui-se thirty-six ye^ii-s ago in the 
])resence of flavor Ilavemeyer and under the care, goveniment, and 
management of some of the best men of the city.* 

• The board nt tnisteca for 1882-83 lire : Stephen A. Walker, LL.D., chaimiau ; Ittifiis 
O. Bennlslcc, Williiim AVooil, LL.D., Jnme.s Flyiiii, licrniirct .\juieinl. Henn,- P. West, 
Freilerick R. Condert. Oilbert H. frnwfortl, Isaac Hell. Eilwanl Patterson, Jacob IL 
Schiff, Eugene Kelly, Hnbbanl fi. Stone. .loseph W. Prexel, David Wetniore, Fcrainanil 
Trand, Frederick W. Devoe, William Dowd, William Kelden, J. Edward .Simmons, W. J. 
Welch, and Alexander S. Webb, LL.D. (ex-rfficio). Lawrence D. Kiernan, A.M., LL.B., is 
secretary. Dr. Webb is the president of the faculty or officers of instruction and govern- 



594 lllSTUHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

At about the time of tli(3 founding of tlie Free Academy in Isew 
York the fii-st pul)lisliing house devoted exclusively to the issue of 
school-books was establisiied in that city, and is now (1883) one of the 
most extensive establishments of the kind in the workl. Its publica- 
tions are sold by the million, and in eveiy State and Territory in the 
Union, in the Dominion of Canada, and even in China and Japan. 
Reference is made to the house of Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., of 
New York and Chicago. 

This great school-book pul)hshing house was founded essentially by 
Henry Ivison,* who retired from business in January, 1883, leaving 
his name in the firm in the person of his son, David B. Ivison. Be- 
ginning in a small way at No. 199 Broadway, in 1847, the firm now 
occupies two stores in one (753-755) on Broadway, and two stores in one 
(117-119) in State Street, Chicago. Their catalogue contains the titles 
of one hundred and eighty-seven distinct elementary books published 
liy them for use in scliools. 

ment, assisted by fourteen professors ami sixteen tutors. The wliole number of students 
was five hundred and ninety-four. 

* Mr. Ivison is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, where he was born in 1808. Receiving 
an academic education, he came to this country in early life (1820), learned the business 
of a bookseller with William V.'illiams in Utica, N. Y., and at the age of twenty-two began 
that business on his own account in Auburn, K Y., in 1830. Honest, industrious, 
plodding, of keen judgment and vigorous physical constitution, he began business life 
without a dollar of his own, but was successful from the beginning, for he deserved and 
never lacked friends. 

llr. Ivison was in business in the interior of the State, before railways and expresses 
were established, and he visited the city of New York twice a year for the pui-jiose of 
purchasing goods. Tliere he made the acquaintance of Mark H. Newman, a bookseller 
at No. 199 Broadway, and a most estimable man. He was the lirst publisher who suc- 
ceeded in making a connected and graded series of school-books. Mr. Ivison made his 
store a depository and paoking-place for his goods for several years. To it he carried 
his parcels, generally with his own hands. In 1846 Mr. Newman's health began to fail, 
and he said to Mr. Ivison : 

" I have noticed that you are not ashamed to carry your own bundles. Now I want 
you to come and take part in my business ; the opportiinity is a good one. " 

Mr. Ivison went home and laid the matter before his family and friends. The result 
was the acceptance of Mr. Newman's proposal, and they became business partners, the 
connection ending only with the life of the latter, seven years afte^•^^•ard. Mr. Ivison 
formed other business connections afterward, and was always blessed in having excellent 
men as partners. To these and the employes ho was like the head of a family, always 
sunny in temper. Indeed, ho was never known to speak harshly to a partner ; he was 
never sued by or sued any one, and always paid one hundred cents on the dollar. In a 
word he was always a model biisiness man. 

Mr. Ivison has been twice married-first to Miss Sarah B. Brinckerhoff, and second to 
Miss Harriet E. Seymour— and has been blessed with six children. He spends a greater 
portion of the year at his beantifnl country-seat at Stockbridge, Mass., where he is sur- 
rounded by a charming domestic and social circle. 



SKtXt.M) KKCADi:. IS40 l».-,0. 595 

A lew ycaiN liclorc tlic rstiililisliim'iit nf tli(< Froo ,\.c;i(li'iiiv ia JSi'W 
York — ii |)fi)|)lc".s r()ll('f>;(;— IJislioj) Uuglics luul phmtnl tlio seed of tli<3 
fiimous KoiiiaiiCiitliolic St. .loliirs ('olk'<,n' at IWdiiaiii, now williiii the 
lity limits, ile sjiw and was pk'a.sfd witli an e.stato known as Ii(jsi3 
Jlill, on wiiirii wciv an nnlinislicd stone liousc and an old wooden iarni- 
lionsc. ]!cliin<l tlicso was a ])roductive f;u'ni, and through a wood hade 
of that th)Wi'd thi' Uttlo river limnx. In front of tiie hoases was a 
hcantiful slope of ncjuiy twenty acres, fringed with elms. The bislioi) 
haigained for the estate. The ]triee was 63U,0<»(>, and t<j fit the huild- 
ings for students would cost >;li».n(Mi niore. lie had not a dollar of the 
])urchaso money, l)Ut he knew his con.stituency and had strong faith in 
tiieir zeal. He was not tlisjip|)ointed. The money wa:; xtxm raised bv 
sul)sc"rii)tions, at home and abroad, and liv loans. 

The college was oi)ened in the stone building in Juno, 1841, with 
the Rev. John ^IcCloskey (now cardinal) as prt'sident. A large Ijuilding, 
the fii-st of the structures which now constitute the college; edifices, and 
the church were begun in ls4.">. The buildings of the college are not 
yet con\pleted on the extensive scale contemplated, but even now 
j)re.sent an elegant and imiwising appearance.* 

Only two clubs besides the Century and two scientific associations 
were formed in New York during the second decade. The dulis were 
the New York Yacht and the Amciicus clubs. Hoth ap|K»ar conspicu- 
ous in the social history of the city of New York, and both are still in 
existence. The scientific associations iire the American Ethnological 
Society and the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society. 

TiiK Nr:w Youk Yacmt (ii n was formed in 1>«44. On the ?.Oth of 
July the following gentlemen met on board the schooner G'niifrii,-h for 
the |)urpose : John C. Stevens, IIamilt(jn Wilkes, William Edgar. John 
('. Jay, George L. Schuyler, Louis A. P. Depau. (ieorgo 15. Kollins. 
James M. Waterbury, and James Ilogei-s. The club was organized 
and the following gentlemen were elected its olficei-s, at a meeting at 
AVindust's, on Mardi 17, 1S+.-, : John C. Stevens, commodore ; Ham- 
ilton Wilkes, vice-commodore ; George B. Rollins, correspoiiding 
secretary ; John ('. Jay, recoi-ding secretary, and "William Edgar, 
treasun'r. 

The fii-st regular regatta in the I'nite'd States took jilace on the 17th 
of July, Ks4."). in which the following yachts ])artici])ated : <'i/ijnit, 45 

* The officers in 1882-«3 were : Rev. Patrick F. Denle.v, president ; Eev. Patrick .\. 
Halpin, vice-president ; Rev. Nicholna Hnnnihan, treasurer. There are ten professors 
and fonrteen teachers. .Ml of the forni.r iin.l most of the latt.r belong tn the order of 
Jesuits. 



596 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tons ; Sibyl, 42 ; Sj»'a>/, 37 ; Za Coquille, 27 ; Minna, 30 ; Newhvry, 
33 ; Givicrach, 25 ; Lancet, 20 ; Ada, 17. 

Fro.m that time until the present a regatta has been sailed every 
year, with the exception of 1S61, and for the last twenty-six years 
there has been a squadron cniise to neighboring ports. 

Men of wealth and leisure having a taste for out-door sports were 
not then, as now, numerous in the city of Xew York, and the club 
struggled for popularity a long time before it won the prize. Its 
vessels were models of elegant naval architecture, and attracted the 
notice of public men, and in 1848 Congress instructed the Secretary of 
the Navv" to permit these vessels to be hcensed in terms allowing them 
to proceed from port to port, provided they should not transport goods 
and passengei-s for pay. The Secretary was also instructed to prescribe 
the colors of the flags and signals of the yacht fleet, which in 1850 did 
not much exceed a dozen vessels. 

It was several years before the regattas attracted much public atten- 
tion. Finally reporters of the newspapej's made these occasions sub- 
jects for quite long and attractive notices, and at length the regattas 
became very pojiular, and have remained so. 

The most notable event in the history of the New York Yacht Club 
occurred in 1SC7, when an ocean race took place between three vessels 
of the fleet — namely, the Henrietta, belonging to James Gordon 
Bennett, Jr. (who entered the club ten years before, when he was a 
lad) ; the Vesta, owned by Pierre Lorillard, and the Fleetwing, be- 
longing to George Osgood. They were saUed by their respective 
owners. They crossed the Atlantic in the race. The Henrietta was 
the winner, making Bennett famous in two hemispheres. Prophets of 
evil had predicted that these comparatively tiny craft would go to the 
bottom of the sea instead of saihng to the coast of England. 

Mr. Bennett was beaten in a similar race in 1870. His vessel was 
the Daimtless, and his competitor was Mr. Ashburj', of the Royal 
London Club. Mr. Bennett, for certain reasons, took the longer route, 
and outsailed his competitor by several hundred miles, it is said, but 
Mr. Ashbury first passed the stake-boat and won the race, ^i one 
time the racers wen; tiu-ee hundred mQes apart. 

The association became possessor of a handsome club-house at 
Clifton, Staten Islan<l, in ISGS, where it has a restaurant and biUiard- 
room. 

The Xew York Yacht Club is the pioneer of yachting in America, 
and nearly all, if not all, the notable achievements of American yachts 
have been performed under its ausiiic(!s and by the yachts of the club. 



SKCUNl) I)i:CAI>K, 1840 18.10. 597 

In 1855 CniriiiKiiliirc Stevens resigned liecaiise of ill-licalth. old iij:(', ami 
tlui wear ol" serviee lor more tlian lialf a centiirv. So early as ls(»2 he 
was tlie Imilder, eaptain, e<H)k, and "all iiands" of the little .yacht 
JUrir ; he ended as eoninKxloiv of a lleet whose lla>rship, the J/i///(/, 
carried her pennant one hundred anti fifty feet above the surface of the 
sea. 

Tiie iniinl)er of nieiiii»ei-s of the New Voik Vaclit ('lull since its 
organization is ahont l.sitii, and the list of niendwi-s in iss:'. numbered 
350. The Meet nundjei-s al>out l."i'» vessels, steam and siiil.* 

Quite different hits been the history of the other famous club, tin' 
Amkuiiis. It was organized in ls41t for a purpose similar to that of 
the Xew York Yacht Club. It finally became mm-o of a social, con- 
vivial, and iM)litical club, swaying, at one time, viust inttuenco in the 
politics of tlie city of Xew York and of the State. It was modelled 
after the olil English clubs, and sought its enjoyments chiefly in 
sumnier. The members finally fixed their hea<li]uarters at Indian 
llarltor. Long IshintI, on the shore of the Sound, where in time a mag- 
nificent club-house was Iniilt. There they held their annual camps 
from July until September. 

The Ainericus Club owned all the vessels of its fleet in common ; 
none were owned by individuals. At one time it possessed many s;iil- 
ing vessels and several steamboats. The latter were emidoyed in con- 
veying raembei-s and guests between Xew York and the camping- 
gi-ound. In the winter the club gave a ball or two in the city, l)ut 
found their chief fraternal enjoyment at the meetings of the Blossom 
Club, fonned in isc^, and composed of congenial spirits. 

The Americus Club was at the culmination of its glory in 1870-71, 
when "William ^I. Tweed, the notorious ])lunderer of the city trejisury, 
wa.s its president and treasurer. It was at that time the magnificent 
club-hou.se was built, at a co.^^t of §:?oo,n{io, and which was by far the 
finest of its kind in the country. It was constructed of wcxxl, in 
Gothic stylo. The grand jiarlor Wiis 72 feet long and 30 feet wide, 
anil the receiition-room. known as the Tweed Koom. was gorgeously 
furnished. 

TIk^ entertainment.^ at tlic club-house were on a scale of princely 
munificence. The cost of such entertainments Wius not less than 
$40,000 a season. Some called the club-house "'Hotel de Tweed." 
The average number of guests eiich day — "elegant loungei-s," politi- 

♦ The officers for 1S.S3 were : .Taiiifs D. Suiilh, cominodoro ; Anson Phelps Stokes, vio©- 
oommodore : F.. >I. IlrDwn, nsir-coninuxloro. 



598 mSIORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

cians and retainers — was one hundred and iifty, all ])artaking gratui- 
tously of the hospitalities of the club. 

But there soon " came a frost, a killing frost." The Tweed Ring, 
so called, was broken into fragments and scattered in dishonorable 
exile. " To discuss the Americus," says Mr. Fairfield, " is to discuss 
"William M. Tweed, socially and pohtically. He made the organization 
what it was in the days of its prosperity, when governors, mayors, 
legislators for the -whole State of New York, were elected at Indian 
Harbor. "When he fell, it fell." * 

The Amekican Etuxological Society was formed in the city of New 
York in 1 S-i2, and this city is its pemianent headtiuartere. Its founders 
were Albert Gallatin, John Russell Bartlett, George Folsom, Alexander 
I. Cotheal, the Rev. Francis L. Hawks, Theodore Dwight, the Rev. 
Edward Robinson, Charles Welford, Dr. William W. Turner, Hemy 
R. Schoolcraft, Alexander "W. Bradford, John L. Stephens, and 
Frederick Catherwood. The two gentlemen last named had just com- 
pleted their second exploration in Central America. Their explora- 
tions suggested the society. 

Mr. Gallatin was chosen the first president of the society, and 
continued in that office until his death in 1819. Mr. Alexander I. 
Cotheal was its president in 1883. Mr. Henry T. Drowne has been its 
secretary and librarian for several years. 

A kindred association is the American Numismatic and Archasologi- 
cal Society, founded in 1858 and incorporated in May, 1805. f The 
prime objects of the society are the cultivation of the science of numis- 
matology, the promotion of the study of American archaeology, and the 
collection of coins and medals and specimens of ai'chaic remains. The 
society has had a steady and healthful growth from the beginning. 
That growth has been rapid for two or three years, and the society is 
assuming, in the character and number of its membci'ship, its rightful 
place among the most honored scientific associations of the day. 

One of the veiy important institutions working for the benefit of the 

* " The Clnbs of New York," by Francis Gerry Fairfield, p. 210. 

f The founders were Edward Grob, James Oliver. Dr. Isaac H. Gibbs, Henry Wliitmore, 
James D. Fosketti, Alfred Bou^bton, Ezra Hill, Angnstus B. Sage, .A.sber D. .\tkinson, M.D., 
John Cooper Vail, W. H. Morgan, Thomas Dunn English, M.D., LL.D., and Theopbilus 
W. Lawrence. The corporators were Frank H. Norton, Isaac J. Greenwood, John 
Hannah, James Oliver, F. Aagnstus Wood, Frank Leathe, Edward Groh, Daniel Parish, 
Jr., and William Wood Seymour. The officers for 1883 were : Daniel Parish, president ; 
Robert Hewitt, Jr., A. C. Zabriskie, and .\lgemon S. Sullivan, vice-presidents ; William 
Poillon, secretary ; Benjamin Belts, treasurer ; Kichard Hoe Lawrence, librarian ; 
Charles H. Wright, curator. 



SIXUM) l>KtAI»i;. 1840-1850. .'>!l!) 

ti'adiii;,' classes is the M i;rii aniii.I': AiiKNfv. Willi tlic lisc of ilu- ciiMlit 
system iis a|)|ilif(l to tlic salt" and (listrilmtion of im-rcliamliso, it early 
Vu'caiiu' ovitli'iit tliat in order to ^xn'm information reganlin^ the Imsiness 
standinj^ of ilealei-s at points remote from the <j:reat centres it wonld he 
neeessai-y to earry the division of laiior still further. It was seen that 
one man fi;ivin>^ his entire time to tiie woi-k of IiHjkin;^ after the stand- 
ing of di'alei-s could accom]>lish moif with »ri"Ciiter economy and thor- 
onjrhness than was possilile for any numi)cr of merciiants to do each for 
himself. 

The panic of ls:i7 resulted in the shattering of the credit system, 
and tiie necMl of a mercantile agency such as ha<l heen estahlished in 
England was pressingly felt. The unilerlying ])i-inciple of sucli an 
agency may he e.xpi-essed in live words — to |)romot(! and jmitect trade. 
Hy its adniirahh' machinery it olitains marvellously corivct information 
of the status of husiness men everywhere, anil imparts this information 
to all proper iiniuirers. By this means the healthiness of tlie credit 
system is promoted, and protection against fraud and loss is alTorded. 

In i"es|Hinse to this new demand, the work of procuring information 
as to tlie standing of dealers came to be a distinct husiness. an<l in the 
United States alone ha.s the mercantile agency readied a full develop- 
ment, conse(pient u])on the wide extent of the country. Lewis Tappan, 
of New York, was the fii-st man who carrietl this idea into practice. 
His experience as a dispenser of credits in the house of Arthur Ta|)pan 
it Co., silk merciiants, did much to (it him with information concerning 
the status of merchants far and near. lie established a mercantile 
agency in ls41, and was a pioneer in the l)usines.s. 

In the coui-se of time Afr. Tajipan .usscxiateil with himself in the 
bu.siness, as a partner, I'en jamin Douglass, a most energetic and 
sjigacious man, and a few yeai"s later Roijert (t. Dun entered the linn, 
fii-st as a clerk and then as a partner, giving it great additional 
strength. Tiie business and jwwer of this iigency, working for good 
in the mercantile world, was rapidly develo|ie<l into vast proportions. 
The house of Tappan it Douglass was succeeded by that of Tloliert Vr. 
Dun it Co. This house is still favored with the controlling wisdom, 
skill, and high personal character of Mr. Dun,* who has lieen at its 
head nearly a tpiarter of a century. 

* RoliPrt Grnhnm Dim is n native of Cliillicotho, Ohio, where he was bom in 1826. He 
is of Scotch descent. His education wi\s as libeml ns the locnlity in which his youth wns 
spent could afford. He was engn(;ed for a few years in a general store. About 18.51 he 
went to New York and became n clerk in the mercantile agency of Tappan A Donglii-ss, to 
the latter of whom he was related. Verv soon Mr. Dun's ability and influence in the 



600 mSTORV Ol-' NEW YORK CITY. 

Several years after ^h: Tappan establislied his mercantile agency, 
John M. Bradstreet, a lawyer of Cincinnati, came to 'Sew York, and 
engaged in tlie same business. At first his establishment simply gave 
opinions concerning tlie business standing of persons inquired about, 
and its reports were, a comparatively few years ago, comprised in a 
circular sheet of three or four pages. These reports in 1883 occupied a 
book of over seventeen hundred pages. Soon after the establishment 
of this agencj% 3Ir. Bradstreet admitted his son to an interest in it. 
The elder Bradstreet died in 1863. In 1876 the business Avas incorpo- 
rated, and soon afterward Charles F. Clark was called to the presidency 
of the new organization, which position he yet held in 1883. The 
company occupies spacious apartments on Broadway, near Chambers 
Street. 

affairs of the concern were felt and recognized, and in 185-i, on the succession of 
B. Douglass & Co. to the proprietorship, he became a member of the firm. On the retire- 
ment of Mr. Douglass in 18.^9 the firm name became K. G. Dun & Co., and so remains. 

During the period from 1860 until now, the progress of the business has been most 
remarkable. It has kept pace with the growth of the trade of the country. There is no 
city in the Republic of any importance in which a branch establishment of Dun & Co.'s 
agency may not be found, and everywhere confided in by the best merchants and 
bankers. There is no hamlet so remote as not to furnish sources of information, or from 
which to derive guidance as to whom it is safe to trust or wise to avoid. 

Facts given to the writer concerning the operations of the house of R. G. Dun & Co. 
■will illustrate the vast increase and extent of the mercantile agency business. It is stated 
that the patronage of this famous house has grown from a subscription of less than 1000 
in 1853 to 20,000 in 1883, and the value of its services are so appreciated that individual 
firms pay from $100 to $5000 a year. Tho latter amount is paid by firms having enor- 
mous business, and largely dependent for guidance in their transactions upon the infor- 
mation derived from this agency. It is also stated that the names reported by the 
agency, inserted in a book and published four times a year, " in solid column of agate 
type would measure over a mile and a half.'' Also that the postal account has hitherto 
averaged SIOO.OOO a year, the telegraph account $40,000 to $50,000 a year, and the 
number of employes and correspondents directly engaged in contributing to the compila- 
tion of tho reports is not less than 25,000. Also that the inquiries of a single day 
answered by mail or telegraph are frequently not less than 10,000. These facts show 
how powerful is this institution in the business world. They tell also of a master mind 
controlling this vast machinery. It is accomplished by a man of method and great 
executive ability continually e.'cercising the virtues of patience, right-doing, fidelity to 
engagements, strict integrity, persistence, and frankness and manliness in all things. 




^■f /- 



^^ ^"-^ T "OOsAA^Ayw 



TIIIKD DECADE, 1S50-1S60. 



( llAl'TEU I. 

ri'^IlK city of Now York at tlio l)t'giiining of tlic Third Dcc-iuli" 
-*- (1650-1800) luul a population of ol.">,.j47, an increa.se of about 
200,000 in ten yeai-s. Tlie population had consider.ibly more than 
doubled in twenty yeai-s. 

The compact ])art of the city had jn^atly extended northward in the 
spiice of ten yeai-s, the buil(linjj:s being ])i'etty closely packed as far 
north as Thirty-fourth Street, or throe and three quarter miles from the 
Battery. The old country road that ])assed over ^lun-.iy Hill from 
Fourth Avenue and Twenty-ninth Street to Fifth Avenue at Fortieth 
Street was not yet closed. The writer remembers walking up that 
rojul in 18-1:5 with some friends from the country, to show them the 
distributing reservoir at Fortieth Street (then the " lion'' of the city), 
and picking blackberries growing by the side of the highway at about 
the intereection of (present) Thirty-fifth Street and Madison Avenue. 
Nearly opposite the reservoir was a small country hou.se built of wood, 
painted yellow, and suri-ounded by trees and shrubbery, wliere ice- 
cream and other refreshments were furnished to visitors of the reser- 
voir. A little farther south, on the west side of Fifth Avenue, st(X)(l 
the gnmd house of W. Coventry AVaddell, solitary and alone, in the 
midst of fields, and attracting much attention because of its {Mjculiar 
style of architecture. 

In 1850 constant comnmnication wsis kept up Vjetween the business 
portion of the city and its jiicturesque suburbs by steam ferry-l)oats, 
over four hundred omnibuses, and the city section of the Xew York 
and Harlem Railroad, which extended to the City Hall Park. One 
line of omnibuses to(jk passengei-s to near the Astoria FeiTV on the 
East River, and another to Bloomingdale and Manhattanville on the 
Hudson River. Bloomingdale was then ;i plea.siint little viUage about 
five miles from the City Hall, and ^fanhattanville was two miles 
farther north. East from Bloomingdale, n(>ar the centre of the island, 
was the viUage of Yorkville, aTid lu'ar it was the receiving resei'V(»ir of 
the Croton water-works, in the midst of a rough, spai-sely populated 
ivgion. 



604 HISTORV OF XKW YORK CITY. 

At tliis period the railways of the country had greatly multiplied 
and expanded, and were then traversing aljout 20, (too miles in various 
directions, o]jening vast tracts of isolated regions to the influence of 
traffic. Of these roads there were great Unes converging to Xew York 
City, which were either constructed or were rapidly a-building. These 
were the Xew York and Xew Haven Kailroad, then recently opened 
and uniting Avith the New England railways ; the Hudson River and 
Hai'lem railroads, not yet extended to Albany, wliich was their final 
destination, there to connect with the Central Eailroad penetrating the 
West. There was also the Xew York and Erie Eaih-oad, completed 
to Port Jervis, and beyond which would tap the coal-fields of Pennsyl- 
vania and touch the borders of Lake Erie ; also the Pennsylvania, the 
Camden and Amboy, and the Somerville and Easton raih-oads, all cross- 
ing Xew Jei-sey into Pennsylvania fi-om the city of Xew Y'oi-k. 

These railroads were already poui'ing immense wealth into the lap of 
the great city on JNIanhattan Island, increasing enormously its trade 
and commerce and social advancement. In the course of this decade 
its population was increased nearly 300,000. At the middle of the 
decade (1S.55) it had reached nearly 630,000. Its foreign commerce 
had amazingly increased. The total value of the exports and imports 
of the district to and from foreign countries, which was a little more 
than Sll-t,O0O,000 in ISll, amounted in 1851 to §260,000,000. At the 
middle of this decade it amounted to $323,000,000. 

In 1850 there were numerous steamboats plying between Xew York 
and other places in all directions, and lines of ocean steamships con- 
necting Xew York with many foreign ports by a strong social and 
commercial tie. Steamboats ascended the Hudson to the head of tide- 
water and intermediate places, went eastward as far as Fall River and 
to all tlie intermediate Xew England ports ; also to points on the Xew 
Jersey coast and into the Delaware River. At the same time squad- 
rons of sailing vessels, l)arges, and canal-boats were thronging in the 
slips of the city, and beside its wharves were forests of masts and spai'S 
of vessels of every kind and nationality intent on trade of every con- 
ceivable variety. The harbor meanwhile was alive with water-craft, 
and there was a continual ebl) and flow of a tide of vessels at the strait 
known as the Xarrows, lietween Long and Staten islands, the open 
gate between the harbor antl the ocean, eight miles south of the city. 
This strait is guarded by fortifications on each side and a fort (Lafaj''- 
ette) in tlie middle of the jjassage, while " watch and ward " is kept 
over the hai'bor witliin by fortifications on tiiree islands — Governor's, 
Ellis's, and Hedloe's. The luu-lwr is twentv-fivc miles in circum- 



TIIIKI) PKCADE. 1850-1800. '^"3 

fert'iice. Entniiico to it l)y way i)f tlic K:ist IJiviT is alsD giianlftl hy 
fortilicatioiis. 

With its woiidfrriil «,n'n\\tli jiikI iiurcasc of iiiisiiicss tin- c-ity lisul 
furnislu'd aiiiplo facilities for lariyinj,^ on tnulo liy iiu'ans of water- 
craft. In IS.'iO it posses.-ieil one iuinilre<l and tliirteen piers— lifty-eigiit 
on the East IJiver and fifty-live on tlie Hudson River. Tlie piei-s and 
shipping on the; twt) rivers are separated liy the long stretch of the I5at- 
tory, at the southern end of the city and the island. To acconmuxlato 
tiie rai<idly augmenting pojuilation, Hils laiildings were erected in the 
citv in 1S4'.». That was 11'mi more than in is:il>. The largest numijer 
of huildings erected in one year previous to that time was in lS;5ti, the 
vear after the great lire, when iss:.' buiUUngs were i)Ut up. a large 
propoition of them in the " hui-nt district."' 

In hs.jfi the city possessed fifteen public nitukets for the distribution 
of food among the inhabitants, l>esides almost innuni(M-able private 
'* stalls"" all over the city. These markets were : the Catharine, at 
Catharine Slip, foot of Catharine Street, founded in ITSf! ; Washington, 
in Washington Street, l)etween Vesoy <and Fulton sti-eets ; (iouverneur, 
corner of (iouverneur and Water streets, East River, and (ii-eenwich, 
corner of Christopher ami West streets, all founded in 1M2 ; Centre, 
in Centre Street, between Grand and Broome streets, 1817 ; Essex, in 
(ii-and, l)etween Essex and Ludlow streets, 1S18 ; Fult<in, at the foot 
of Fulton Street, East River, and Franklin, at Old Sli]), Eiist River, 
isil ; Clinton, between Washington, West, Spring, and Canal streets, 
and Manhattan, in Houston, corner of Fii-st Street, 1821 ; CheLs<'a, on 
Ninth Avenue, at Eighteenth Street ; Tompkias, on Third Avenue, 
between Sixth and Seventh streets, founded in 1828 ; Jeffei-son, on 
Sixth Avenue, corner of Greenwich Avenue, 1S32 ; Union, junction of 
Houston and Second streets, 183<; ; and Monroe, junction of Monnjo 
and tirand streets, established in Is^^'!.* 

l'>>' means of the coml»ined agencies of raih-otuls, steamboats, the 
tanal, express com])ai\ies, and the electro-magnetic telegniph — all 

• For a minato and most interesting history of the pnblio markets of the city down to 
1H(K), see " Tbo Market Kook," by Thomas F. Devoe, now (1883) and for many years the 
snpcrinteudent of uittrkets. Mr. Devoo was bom at Yonkers, N. T., in 1811. In 1815 
his father removed to New York City. After rceeiving a common-school odacntion he 
was a|)|>renticed to a bntcher, and fur niiiny years lie was a leading business man of New 
York in tliat line, beginning for hiiiisi'lf in 183;). Fond of the military profession, he 
became colonel of one of the New York City regiments. Paring the Civil War he was an 
earnest snpporter of the government in every way in his power. Colonel Devoe's 
" Market Book" will ever rank among the most important literary contributions to the 
social history of Ni'W York Citv. 



606 HISTORY OK NEW YOKK CITY. 

recent products of restless enterprise — the inland trade of the cit}'^ of 
Kew York had enormously increased in 1850, at which time it was 
estimated the expresses travelled 20,000 miles daily in discharge of 
orders. The telegraph, speaking from distant villages and cities, 
ordered goods wliich were swiftly carried by express, steamboat, or 
railroad from the seller to the buyer. The merchant of Cincinnati 
who, before these facilities existed, consumed many weeks in travelling 
to and from Xew York twice a year for the purchase of goods, could 
now be supphed in the course of a few days without the fatigues of a 
long journey. With equal facihties the products of the great West 
were brought to the seaboard for consumption there or for exportation 
beyond the seas, and so the West was enriched and became a more 
valuable customer to New York. 

With these new conditions the methods of trade in New York were 
changed. Fonnerly the drj" -goods merchant, for example, kept a full 
assortment of goods in that line, and it required much business tact to 
keep each line full. In the third decade the change alluded to began. 
One house was engaged in trade in woollens exclusively, another in 
cottons, another in silks, and another in fancy goods. There speedily 
appeared another subdivision of the dry -goods business. For exam])le, 
one merchant dealing in woollens kejit only tailors' goods, another 
goods for women's wear ; in cotton, one confined himself to prints, 
another to white goods ; and in silks, one dealt only in piece goods, and 
another in ribbons and smaller articles. Then came a more minute 
subdivision — a dealer in hosiery, a dealer in lace, in pockethandker- 
chiefs, and shawls. And such is the state of trade in TSTew York to-day. 
In trade and in the professions specialties are the order of the day. 

At this period (1850) New York City had become a largely manu- 
facturing town. Almost every kind of mechanical and manufacturing 
industry had its active representatives there. According to the census 
of 1850, the total number of manufacturing estabhshments in the city 
was 3387, with §3-1,232,822 capital invested, and employing 83,620 
persons. The annual pi'oduct of these establishments was valued at 
$105,218,308. Of the persons employed, 29,917 were women and 
children. The section of the city containing the largest number of 
these establishments (1851), the largest amount of capital invested 
(S12,f>72,995), the greatest number of persons employed (35,704), and 
turning out products of tlu; greatest value ($31,310,042), was the Second 
Ward, the smallest in the cit3^ It is bounded on the east and west by 
the East Elver and Broadway, on the south by Maiden Lane and 
l.ilwrty Street, and on lli(> nnrtii by I'Vrry iiml Spruce streets. 



TIllUl) KKl'ADK, ISnO IHOll. CO? 

Tlio riti/.cns li.ul. Iiy wise furt'tliou',-!!! iukI ;:cncruiis ami jnilicious 
exi)cmliture, iwovitlctl tlii'insclvi's witli an ample supply <>f pure and 
wholesome water ; at the liefrinning of the third decade they were 
called upon to consider tiie exiwdiency, not to stiy necessity, of provid- 
ing themselves and their posterity with a spacious breathing-place, an 
iii-eii of heiUthi'ul enjoyment, physical and social, in the heart of the 
great city— its greatness no plainly discerned by the eye of faith and 
sure pi-ophecy in the near futui-e. 

The hint which led to efficient action in the directicju of jiroviding a 
great pubhc park for the city of New York was given by that devout 
worshipper of the beautiful in nature and in art, the late A. J. 
Downing. In 1850 he made a summer tour in England, lie visited 
some of its most attractive places, especially country scats, and 
inspected and studied the mediaeval architecture, and the landscape 
g-ardening so excpiisite in many places, and especially the great pailcs 
of London. In a letter written to the Hoftindturint in September, 
after describing the London parks, he remarked : "■ We fancy, not 
without reason, in New York that we have a great city, and that the 
introduction of Ci-oton water is so nuirvellous a luxury in the way of 
hetilth that nothing more need bo done for the comfort of half a million 
of jjeople. In crossing the Atlantic, a young New Yorker, who was 
rabidly patriotic, and who boasted of the sujieriority of our beloved 
commercial metropolis over every other city on the globe, was our 
most amusing companion. I chanced to meet him one aftern<x)n, a few 
days after we landed, in one of the great parks in London, in the 
midst of all the sylvan beauty and human enjoyment I have attempted 
to describe to you. lie tlirew up his arms as he recognizeil me, and 
exclaimed : 

" ' Gootl Heavens, what a scene ! And I took some Londonei-s U> 
the steps of the City Hall Last summer to show them the park of New 
York ! ' 

" I consoled him with the advice to be less conceited thereafter in 
his cockneyism, and to show foreigners the Hudson and Niagani, in- 
stead of the City Hall and the BowUng Green. But the question may 
well bo asked, ' Is New York really not rich enough, or is there al>s<}- 
lutely not land enough in America to give our citizens public jKvrks of 
more than ten acres ? ' " * 

• The London parks nt that time were six in number, containing 1442 acres — namely, 
St. James's, 87 acres ; Green, 5G acres ; llydo, 34!) acres ; Bcgenfs, 450 acres ; Green- 
wich, 200 acres, and Victoria, 300 acres. In addition to these were nnmerons " squares, " 
as large as the largest in New York, and near the city were uino spacious ganlens - 




Q^j 



■^i^ ^ 



//...,. 



THIRD DKCADE, 183()-ls(50. GO'J 

SI, <!.")7, ;■)'.»(» was ti» Ix* paid liy IIicowikts of lands adjacent to llio I'ark, 
in view of tlu; iKMiolit tlu'V would iveoivo fi-oni tJR'ir ni-ighlMnlKHMl to it. 

The .supcrlifial area proposi-d to lie inc-ludi'd in tin- Park was 7(!n 
acres. The plot is an cion;,Mt('d paniilclograni in form, alioiit two and 
ii half miles in length and lialf a mile in width. Within that space 
were the i-eceiving resenoir of 3.'? acres, the State Ai-sena! and its 
grounds, and the gmunds of the St. Vincent's Academy, 24 acres ; 
ground tiien owned Ity the coriwration, i:];". acres, and ground f(jr 
streets and avenues according to tiie city survey, leaving an area of '.i~>'> 
acres to be bought. 

At the beginning private interests ca*it obstacles in the way of 
accomplishing tiie design of establishing the Central Pai-k on a gi-and 
scale. Ownei-sof laud on the southern liordei-s of the ])ro])osed park 
made strenuous efforts to have its domains curtailed at tiiat end, but 
failed. In ilay, iJS.^iti, the couunon ct)uncil a))pointed the uuiyor and 
street commissionei-, conuuissionei-s of the C'enti-.d Park, with ample 
jKiwei-s. These officei-s invited "Washington Irnng, George Eanciijft, 
James E. Cooley, Charles V. liriggs, James Phalea, Charles A. Dana, 
and Stewart Brown to attend theii- meetings as a con.sulting l>oaiil. 
They accepted the invitation. "Washington Irving was chosen presi- 
dent of the Board, and after a long and critical examination of Hfteen 
]ihins that had been .submitted to them for the improvenu'nt of the 
Park, they unanimously ailopted the plan presented by Egbert L. 
Viele,* which, with slight modifications, has been carried out under 
successive administrations. 

The commissioners were dilatory. A new boai'd was appointed l)y the 
Legislature in ls.->7, and new plans for laying out the Park were solicited. 
On the lii-st of A))ril, l^.'is, thirty-three plans were submitted. One by 
Fretlerick Law Olmsted anil Calvert \'au.x was approveil, and the 

* Egbert L. Viel.', now (1883) one of the park commissioners, is a nntivo of Wiiterforil, 
N. Y., where he was bom June 17, 1825. Ho graduated at the West Point llUit.iry 
Academy in 1M47, and served through a portion of the war with Mexico. He resigned 
in 1853 and was appointed State Engineer of New .Jersey. He was appointed chief en- 
gineer to tlie Central Park (New York) commission in 1857, and in 18fi0 of Prospect Park, 
Brooklyn. .Joining the army in 1801, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers, and 
accompanied the first expedition to Port Royal Sonnd. In the siege of Fort Pulaski lie 
was in command of the investing land forces, and in the capture of Norfolk in lS(;-> ho 
led the advance. Ho wa-s appointed mihtarj- governor of that city in August, 18(i-2, and 
retained that position until his resignation in October, 1863. Since that time hi" has 
been a civil engineer in the city of New York. General Viele is the author of a " Hand- 
book for Active Service "•■ Ileports on the Central Park."" Top .graphical Survey of 
New Jersey," " Topography and Hydrography of the City of N.w York. '■• Ih.. Trim.*, 
vttl of New York," and numerous other papers. 



CIO UISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

■work w-liich produced such grand results in jn-esenting to the city of 
New York a magnificent park went vigorously on under the super- 
■vision of these gentlemen.* It has fulfilled the ]irophecy of Mayor 
KiniTslaud, that it would " prove a lasting monument to the wisdom, 
sagacity, and forethought of its founders." f 

The Central Park is now one of the most beautiful in the world. 
The work was fairly begun less than twenty-five years ago, and now it 
is a striking monument of engineering skill, laiulsca])e gardening, and 
wise expenditure of pubUc money. It is the pride and glory of New 
York. It has eighteen entrances, styled gates, not yet finished. :j: 
They are to be elegant arches of various styles of architectm'e and 

* Jlr. Olmsted is a native of Hartford, Connecticut, wliere he was born in 1822. He 
was educated for an engineer and scientific agriculturist, and became a farmer. He 
made a pedestrian tour in Engl.ind in 1850, and jjublislied a book entitled " Walks and 
Talks of an American larmer in England " He travelled extensively in the Southern 
States in 1852-53; and in 1856 published a book entitled " A Journey in the Seaboard 
Slave States." Afterward he published other volumes of travels in the region of the 
slave-labor States, and was appointed architect of the Central Park in 1859. 

llr. Va<ix is an Englishman by birth. He came to America in 1852 on the invitation 
of Mr. Downing, and became his partner at Newburgh, as architect and landscajie gar- 
dener. He succeeded to much of Mr. Downing's business on the death of that gentleman 
in the same year. At the time he joined Mr. Olmsted in prepai-ing plans of Central 
Park (which were approved by the Commissioners), Mr. Vaux had written and published 
a valuable book on domestic architectiu-e. He has ever since sustained the high pro- 
fessional reputation which his merits command. 

f In connection with this brief account of the origin of the Central Park, it seems 
appropriate here to notice the topographical atlas of the city of New York, prepared 
under the direction of General Egbert L.- Viele, exhibiting the elevations and de- 
pressions of the island and the old water-courses. This map was first exhibited and 
described in a paper read by Jlr. Viele before the Sanitary Association of the city 
in 1859. He stated that nearly one half the deaths occurring on the earth are caused by 
fevers in different forms, and that the principal cause of fever is a humid miasmatic 
state of the atmosphere, produced by the presence of an excess of moisture in the ground 
from which poisonous exhalations continually arise, vitiating the purer air. 

He gave a rapid account of many small streams which formerly existed in the lower 
part of Manhattan Island, but which had been filled up as the city grew. These, he 
said, had not been deprived of their power in sending up poisonous exhalations by being 
smothered, but, on the contrary, by the production of stagnant water under the surface, 
were more noxious than before. Many of these streams had produced swanii>y places, 
and he declared that five of the little parks in the city— St. John's, Washington, Tomp- 
kins, Madison, and Gramercy — were located entirely or in part in swamps created by 
these streams. Some of the streams which ran through Central Park have been util- 
ized or smothered. 

I These gates bear the names of the Scholar's, Artist's, Artisan's, Merchant's, Woman's, 
Hunter's, Mariner's, Gate of All Saints, Boy's, Stranger's, Children's, Miner's, Engineer's, 
Woodman's, Girl's, Pioneer's, Farmer's, and Warrior's gates. They are situated between 
Fifth and Seventh avennes and Fifty-ninth and One Hundred and Tenth streets. 



1IIII!1) DECADE, IMO-ISGU. <J11 

omainentatioii. It lias extensive ami litaiitilul drives and walks, mili- 
tary parade-grounds, places of aiiiuseiiieiit foi- the young, lakes and 
fountains, a niagnilicent mall, a lieautiful leri-ace at the northern end 
of the malt leiuling tlown to a lake which atiords water for boating and 
ice for skating, a nundier of statues* of eminent men, a i-estaurant. a 
zoological garden or menagerie, and an ancient (thelisk from Egypt. f 

Within and around tlu; Central Park are clustered the Imildings of 
ini])ortant institutions— the Arsenal, the Atetro])olitan ]\Iuseum of Art, 
the ^luseum of Natui~al History, the Lenox Library, the f'harlier 
Institute,:): etc. The surface of the Park is pleasingly divei*silicii and 
the drives and wallcs pi-esent agreeable surprises at every turn. AVithin 

* The Ramble is one of the most cbariniii{{ parts of the Central Park. It lies on the 
hillside, between the north shore of the Luke (ret^tining reservoir) and the old reservoir. 
The ciirriime-wnys or drives lire very extemled, the average width being .54 foot and the 
aggregate length about '.» miles. The 1u'idle-]>nths extend about .5^ miles, and the length 
of the walks or footpaths, having an average width of 13 feet, is about 28^ miles. 
There are about ;tO buildings of all kinds in the Park, and ontside of these seats are pro- 
Tided for about lO.OfH) persons. The wooded ground covers about 400 acres. Of this 
area of trees about .5(HI,0(XI have been set out since the opening of the Park. 

In the Park are 48 bridges, archways, and tunnels, li of them over transverse roads. 
Some of these are beautiful structures, the most notable of which arc the Terrace and the 
Marble Arch, at the southern approach to the Mall. At the foot of the Terrace and near 
the shore of a little lake, is Bethesda Fountain, the central ornament of the Park. The 
figure of an angel stands in the attitude of blessing the water, surrounded by various 
appropriate emblems, with four figures symbolizing the blessings of Temjierance, Health, 
Purity, and Peace. The XIall is a broad path lined with trees extending from the Xlurble 
Arch to the Terrace, a distance of about one third of a mile. The Arsenal is a castellated 
gray brick building, and is the location of the menagerie, which in winter contains the 
unininls of travelling shows. 

The statues in the Park comprise those of Burns, Columbus, Commerce (an ideal 
figure), Farmgut, Fitz-Cireene Ilalleck. .Mexander Hamilton, Humboldt. Indian Hunter 
(an ideal figure), Mazzini, Jlorse, Walter Scott, Shakespeare, and Webster. There is a 
bronze figure of a private soldier of the New York Seventh Regiment erected in com- 
memoration of those members who fell in battle during the late Civil War. 

f The obelisk was presented to the city of New York throu!;h the Department of State, 
in 1877. by Ismail Pacha, then khedive or plmraoh of Eg^iit. Its removal from its 
ancient foundation was intrusted to the skill and judgment of Lieutenant-Commander 
H. 11. Gorringe, United States Navy, who performed the task successfully. It is a mono, 
lith covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions which carrj' us back many centuries. Its 
companion is now erected in London. They were taken from their ancient station near 
.Alexamlria. The obelisk in New York stands on a knoll in Central Park near the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is the sixth in size of the known obelisks of Egypt. 

X The Charlier Institute was founded by Elie Charlier, son of a French Protestant 
clergyman, who, educated at the famous college of Ncuchatel, where Professors .\gas8iz 
and Guyot began their career as teachers, and, breaking away from the restraints of 
rigid systems, landed in New York in 18.52 with $36 in his pocket and a few letters of 
introduction. .Vniong the latter w.as one to the late Mayor Harper, who, when be had 



613 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

its borders are two reservoire of Croton water — the retaining reser- 
voir, capable of lioltling 1,030,0U0,0U0 gallons, and just below this the 
receiving reservoir, which holds 150,000,000 gallons more. There are 
foiu' other bodies of water in the Park, much smaller than these, the 
total area of all being -iol acres. The most romantic in scenery of all 
the watei"s of the Park is Harlem Meer, in the extreme north-eastern 
corner. The Central Park is visited and enjoyed by all classes of 
citizens, and is a peipetual blessing to their minds and bodies. 

The principal entrance to the Central Park is at the head of Fifth 
Avenue, the wonderful street of palaces and churches, club-houses and 
the aljodes of professional men. A pioneer of fashionable " settlere" 
on Fifth Aveimc was W. Coventry WaddeU, whose grand house — 
grand for the time — has been mentioned. Mr. WaddeU went into the 
" wilderness" to build it in 1845, for Fifth Avenue then was little more 
than a country road, with farm-fences here and there above Madison 
S(|uare. Mr. Waddell's house and grounds occupied a whole square 
between Fifth and Sixth avenues and Thirty-seventh and Thirty- 
eighth streets. 

read it, said to the bearer, " Young man, in this country we are all busy, and we all 
help oui-selves. Use my name as a reference, if you wish, and go ahead." 

The suggestions involved in this remark deeply impressed the j'oung Frenchman, who 
was only twenty-five years of age, and he resolved to follow the advice. He ob- 
tained employment as an instructor of his native tongue in a leading private school in 
the city. At tho end of three years he was enabled to open a small school for boarding 
and day scholars, which gradually expanded and became widely known as the " Charlier 
Institute." Mr. Charlier was thoroughly educated. He possessed an extraordinary 
aptitude for teaching and a personal attraction which drew everybody toward him. His 
success is probably without any parallel in the history of educational institutions. 
"Without any board of trustees or corporators, " wrote Dr. Prime, of the New York 
Observer, nine years ago, " with no funds from charity or the State, relying only on Provi- 
dence and his own exertions, Mr. Etie Charlier has pro.spered in his work, adding house 
to house for his purposes, preparing young men for business and college, and command- 
ing the attention of parents in the city and distant parts of the country. Nearly two 
years ago (1872) he determined to provide himself with a building adequate to his present 
and future wants. Upon the south front of the Central Park, having purchased lots 
running through from Fifty-ninth to Fifty-eighth Street, he has erected an edifice of 
gigantic proportions, great elegance, solidity, extent, and convenience, covering the whole 
ground, 50 by 200 feet, five stories in height, with an elegant chapel, spacious school- 
rooms, beautiful parlors and dormitories and refectory, with a completion of detail, 
security against fire, and regard to ventilation that include all that modern science and 
art have contributed for the perfection of domestic and public buildings. And this 
magnificent structure, an ornament to the Park and the city, he has reared without calling 
on the public for a dollar, and without making any noise. The cost of the house and 
lots is $400,000. We presume that no parallel to this enterprise and success can be 
found." 



TIIIIM* DKiADK. I8.-.0-18<i0. 013 

Wln-n Fil'tli Avenue was ^railed and llie altitiule ol' Murray Hill was 
(liiniiiisiied, tins nr)tablo inansioi\, tliis suliuriian villa, was loft in the 
air several feet almve the street, to which the lot shiped in a series of 
;,n-assy hanks. \ot long afterward the Imilding was taken d(jwn, when 
it was not more tlia?i a dozen yeai-s oiil, and on its site was erected the 
massive ediliee known as Dr. Spring's, or tiie Ih'iek t'hurch.* 

* It is sjiiil (liiit wlii'ii Mr. WmlJi-ll went to buy tho ground on wliicli he bnilt, Mrs. 
WiuUlcU went with him, and siit uudrr an iipiile-treu in iiu orchard while tho bargain was 
in progress. When the niansion was couipU'led lie took his brother to see it, and nsked 
him, " What shiill I call my houso?" " Waddell's CiiKfor,'" was tho prompt rcjdy. 
" There is a mustard-pot, hero is a pcpper-botHe, and there is n vinegar-cmet," he con- 
tinned, pointing at several towers, large and small, that arose .-ibovc the eaves on nil sides. 
It had oriels and gables and a spacious comiervatory of plants, native and exotic. 

Mr. anil ilrs. WadiUll were leaders in fashionable society in New York. He was a 
brilliant man and a eoutidenlial friend of President Jackson, who gave him public employ- 
ments that made him rich. lie was track and generous, and always displayed a princely 
hospitality. His house was the scene of notable entortainmcnts. At Mrs. Waddell's 
parties one was sure to meet every celel)rity. American and foreign, who chanced to be in 
the city at the time. The house was sumptuously furnished. It had a broad marble 
hall and elegant winding stairs. 



CHAPTER II. 

AT the earlier period of the third decade tlie famous Crystal Palace 
was erected near the distributing reservoir, between that struct- 
ure and Sixth Avenue. It was built of iron and glass. There were 
in it twelve hundred and fifty tons of iron and thirty -nine thousand 
square feet of glass. It was erected for the ]iurpose of an exhibition cf 
the industry of all nations. It was a beautiful edifice, craciform, with 
lofty galleries and a sjiacious translucent dome in the centre. In it a 
World's Fair was opened, with appropriate ceremonies, on the 4-th of 
July, 1853. The President of the United States (Franklin Pierce) 
Avas the chief celebrant. 

In that Crystal Palace was seen the lai-gest and finest collection of 
sculpture ever gathered in New York ; and there, too, was presented 
the most notable exhibition of paintings to which the citizens had ever 
been invited. The works of art numbered over seven hundi-ed, 
executed by about six hundred artists, native and foreign. 

The Palace was thronged with admii-ing people from near and far for 
several months, and on May 14, 1854, it was reopened with impressive 
ceremonies as a perpetual exhibition. The attempt failed, and on 
October 5, 1858, the beautiful structure was totally destroyed by fire 
while the American Institute was holding its annual fair there. The 
entire loss was estimated at $2,000,000. 

The exhibition of sculpture and paintings in the Palace gave a sjiecial 
impetus to a growing taste and cultivation of the fine arts in the city 
of Xew York. Already men of wealth and refinement had begun to 
make collections of valuable and costly paintings and to fona choice 
private galleries. Among the earlier and most conspicuous of these 
connoisseurs was Luraan Eeed, a wealthy merchant in the grocery 
hne, who had built a fine house at Xo. 13 Greenwich Street, and in it 
had a picture-gallery more extensive and valuable than any in the city, 
which Avas open to ])ublic view one day in each week. 

Mr. Reed's house, which was adjoining the famous Atlantic Garden, 
a fashionable resort for nearly a century, was a wonder at that day. 
It was considered the finest dwelling in the city. Its doors were of 



iiiiiji) DFAAUE. ia'.o-iwio. ';i:> 

solid, costly dark Santo l)oiiiiii;.f<) inaliogany, so rarely srrii now. Ilis 
picturc-giilk-ry was in tlic upper part of tlio house. Tiiu <^vvut llay- 
stones of tlie sidewalk in front of liis house were also marvels on 
account of their dimensions. They cost $2.")0 each. Tiiat fj;;rand 
dwelling is now (l!SS;!j a (Jernian emigrant boarding-house. 

ifr. lieed was, as AVashington AUston wrote to Dunlap, " a munili- 
cent patron of art." He was a valuable customer of Patf, an eminent 
dealer in pictures by the old mastei-s lifty or sixty yeai-s ago, whoso 
place of business was on tiie site of the Astor House. ]^Ir. Reed was a 
still more generous pation of American artists, a.s his gallery fully 
attested. IIo sent both Thomas Cole ami tJeorge Klagg to Europe to 
complete their art education, l>aying all theii- expenses. He w;ls a 
constant patron of Cole, and possesse<l some of his linest landscapes. 
He commissiont.'d that artist to paint the famous series of live pictures 
entitled " The Course of Empire,'' which are now in the gallei-y of the 
New York Historical Society. 

Of ilr. Heed, iJunlaj) wrote, .so early as l.S;U : 

" I have spoken of tlio immificent piitromige Luman Beed, of New York, Ims be- 
stowud on the tine arts, iinil his friendship for our distinguished urtists. Mr. Cole has 
felt lis if he were prohibited from speaking of this gentlemnu's liberality. I am free to 
say that I consider hiiu as standing among the greatest benefactors to the fine arts, and 
the most purely disinterested, our country can boast. I visited Jlr. Keed"a gidJery some 
months ago auil saw the i)icture of Italian scenery which Mr. Cole painted for him. When 
it was finished Mr. Iteed asked the painter what price he pat upon it. 

" ' I shall be satisfied,' said Cole, ' if I receive $;100, but I should be gratified if the 
price is fixed at $.51)0.' 

" ' You shall be gratified," said the liberal enconmgfr of art, and hecnmmiN.sioned him 
to paint five more pictures of the same size at the same price for his gallerj-." 

At his death, in Is.'Jti, .Mi-. Keed left a most valuable collection of 
jKiintings, princii)ally th(» works of American artists, and* ])articularlv 
of residents of \ew York City.* .V few years afterward a society was 

* Luman Reed was b irn ot .Vusterlilz. Cnlumbia County, X. Y., .lanuary 4, 1787. His 
parents were both natives of Norwalk. Conn. Both his father and grandfather were labori- 
ous, frugal, and intelligent farmers, possessing more than common energy, sjigacity, and 
perseverance, and subject to all the hardships which the early settlers were called upon 
to endure. Luman received only a moderate degree of education at o district school. 
He inherited the upright and energetic character of his ancestors, and possessed in n 
remarkable degree the qualities of self-reliance and self-denial to which circumstances 
subjected him. .\t a very early age he began to work at anything and everything that 
presenteil itself--sometimes on the farm, .sometimes helping to clear new lands. His 
family moved to Coxsackie, on the Hudson, where his father engaged in merchandising 
and was kindly called " silver-head." 

Wlien young Reed was twenty years of age he went to Oswegn, on Lake Ontario, where 
he made a venture in the lumber business for himself. He had been for two or three 



Glfi IlISTOKV OF NEW YOHK flTY. 

formed for tlie purpose of purchasing this collection and estabhshing in 
the cit}'^ a permanent gallery of fine arts. This was accomphshed by 
means of small subscriptions, the constitution of the society declaring 
that " every person jxiying $1 shall become a member of the associa- 
tion and shall receive a certificate of membership which shall entitle 
him to free admission to the gallerj'' for life." The fii-st board of 
trustees of this Xew York Gallery of Fine Aits consisted of well- 
known citizens.* 

The association was incori)orated in 184.5. For a while its pictures 
were exhibited in the Rotunda, in the Park, which had been granted 
by the corporation with a view to the establishment of a permanent 
public gallery of fine arts, but it did not i-eceive sufficient support to 
insure its continuance. Finally, through the hberality and untiring 
exertions of IMr. Sturges, the business partner and friend of Mr. Eeed, 
these })ictures found a j^ermanent home in the gallery of the New York 
Historical Society. Mr. Sturges had been chiefly instrumental in 
securing their preservation as a unit. 

Mr. Sturges, like Mr. Reed, was a most generous friend and patron 
of artists and the fine arts. He was a member of the Sketch Club in 

years a clerk in a store in Cossackie. He soon returned to that village and became a 
clerk in his father's store, but this limited sphere of action did not satisfy the ambition 
of the yonng man. He hired out on a sloop that traded up and down the river, and in 
New York he attracted the special attention of his uncle, Koswell Keed, a grocer, and 
became his clerk. He was bright, energetic, active, and a good judge of character ; he 
was also industrious, economical, persevering, and truthfiil. 

In 1815 Mr. Keed formed a partnership with his uncle, at Coenties Slip. In 18iil R. 
& L. Keed moved to Front Street, above Wall Street. It was considered a bold move for 
a grocer, for it was believed a grocer could not do business away from Coenties Slip. 

The next year Koswell Reed withdrew from the business, and Luman took in David 
Lee. In 1828 he had Mr. Hempstead and .Jonathan Sturges (the latter had been a clerk 
with him) as partners. Mr. Hempstead died in 1829, and at the time of Mr. Reed's death, 
on June 2, 1836, at the age of not quite fifty years, the firm name was Reed & Sturges. 
The latter then became the head of the house, and so remained until his retirement from 
business, on -January 1, 18G8. Mr. Reed left three children, a son and two daughters. 

* William H. Appleton, Horatio .Vllen, John H. Austin, James Brown, William C. 
Bryant, William B. Crosby, Thomas S. Curamings, William S. Conely, Stephen M. 
Chester, Peter Cooper, -J. .V. Clark, Orville Dewey, Charles Denison, Frederic Depeyster, 
Nicholas Dean. Francis W. Edmonds. Robert Elder, Thomas H. Faile, Walter C. Green, 
George Grundy, Richard Irvin, William H. Johnson, William Kent, James G. King, 
Shepherd Knapp, Charles M. Lenpp, R. E. Lockwood, .Joseph N. Lord, Charles E. 
.■Minor, William B. Minturn, Henn- S. Mulligan, Stewart C. Marsh, Hamilton Murray, 
James McCuUough, Lora Nash, Alfred Pell, Eleazer Parmly, J. Smyth Rogers, Peter A. 
Schermerhom, Jonathan Sturges, William L. Stone, Benjamin D. Silliman, Francis 
Skiddy, Charles A. Stetson, Moses Taylor, Thomas Tileston, James Warren, Jr., 
Frederick A. Wolcott, .John Wiley, Jacob A.. Westervelt. 



TIIIUI) DECADE, 1850-1860. '"'17 

its viivioiis ]>li:i.sos of ('xisteiicc, and of tlic ('cntiirv, its successor. Tho 
last ri'Uiiiou of tlie lueiiiljuis of tiie fi>riiicr assofiation was at his iimisc, 
about two ycai-s before liis iluatii. lie was also u most active and 
clKcieut uieiubor of tiie Naticjual Academy of the Ai-ts of Design, and 
with hl)erul hand and sound judgnicnt as one of its trustees gave it 
generous assistance in seasons of linaucial trouble. So thoroughly 
were his services ajjpreciated that on his i-etirement from the trustee- 
ship in lSt'>3, the council of tiio Academy adopted a resolution retjuest- 
ing him to sit for his portrait, to lie painted In' any Academician ho 
might choose, " to l>e ])i"eserved in the gallery of the Academy as a, 
lasting testimony of [ourj respect for his cliaracter, and gratitude for 
his services." Ilis private gallery <jf jiaintings, at his decease, was 
one of the choicest in the city. 

For forty yeai-s Jonathan Sturges was a model Xevr York merchant, 
possessing all the virtues of Jlr. Reed. On his retirement from 
business in Januarj', lSt!S, he was invited by about sixty of the leading 
merchants in New York to join them at a dinner to be given at 
Delmonico's in his honor. In their Invitation they said : " Your life 
among us of nearly half a century, in the same locahty in Front Street, 
we can truly s;iy has been such ;is commends itself to every one, both 
old aiul young, who regard that which is true, just, and noble in 
mercantile diameter." 

Mr. Sturges accepted the invitation. At the sumptuous banquet, 
A. A. Low,* a leading merchant, presided. In his response to com- 

* Abiel A. Low, one of the " merchant princes" of New York, was bom in Salem, Mass., 
in February, 1811. Ho is one of tho twelve children of Seth Low, whose wife was Mary 
Porter, a descendant of John Porter, one of the original settlers of Salem. Ho received 
his education mainly at pnlilir schools, and at an early age became a clerk in the 
mercantile hnnse of Joseph Howard, who was largely engaged in the South .\nierican 
trade, in Salem. Manifesting remarkable aptness for business, he soon won tho con- 
fidence and esteem of his employers. His father removed to New York in 1828 and com- 
menced business as a drug merchant. Mr. Low remained with 5Ir. Howard and bis suc- 
cessor, Mr. James Brown, of Danvers, till 1820, when he followe<l his father to New Y'ork, 
ond entered his store as o clerk. Four yrars tliereafter, in 1833, Jlr. Daniel Low afforded 
him an opportunity to go to China, and, at Canton, ho entered tho service of liussell & 
Co. In 1837 he was made a i)urtner of that house, and soon laid the foundation of an 
ample fortune, which ho enjoys in his later years. 

liefore ho wos thirty years of age Mr. Low returned to America and established himself 
in business in Fletcher Street, New York, making Hrnoklyn his home, where his parents 
were living. Soon after his return ho married Jliss Ellen Alniira Dow, a daughter of 
Josiah Dow. In IS.'O he was permanently located in Burling Slip. His brother Josiah 
had become his partner about five years before, and in 18.52 his brother-in-law, E. H. K. 
Lyman, became a partner. Afterward sons and nephews entered the firm. They 
employed many ships in the East India trade, and tho firm of A. A. Low A Brothers, 



618 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

plimentary words of the chairman in introducing him to the company 
as their chief guest, Mr. Sturges very liappily related some incidents 
in his life which embodied in their lessons cardinal A-irtues of a success- 
ful business career.* 

importers of tea, maintains the high reputation for strictest integrity and for the largest 
and most enlightened methods of mercantile pursuit and dealing established by the 
founder of the house. Amid all the reverses and fluctuations of the commercial com- 
munity for more than a generation, it has been a tower of strength in maintaining 
the good name of the city of New York. During the Civil War Mr. Low did his full 
share in assisting in the defence of the Republic and in sustaining the national credit. 
Two of the ships of the firm were burned by Confederate privateers. 

For more than a generation Mr. Low has held a deservedly high position among the 
merchants of the metropolis. He was ever a conspicuous member of the Chamber of Com. 
merce, and was invested with its presidency for several years. This position he resigned in 
1866, when with some of his family he started on a tour around the world. On his return 
he was complimented with a dinner given by representative merchants of New York. 

Mr. Low has ever steadily refused political office, and even the presidency of financial 
institutions of which he is a director. His statesmanlike mind and his broad views, 
especially on commercial matters, have caused him to be frequently summoned to con- 
ferences with Congressional committees at "Washington. Always a wise counsellor and 
forcible speaker, he has been frequently called upon to address public bodies. He has 
always been a liberal promoter of education and patron of every good enterprise and 
institution appealing for aid. For many years he Las been president of the Packer 
Institute, in Brooklyn. Losing his wife many years ago, he married Mrs. Anne D. B. Low, 
nee Bedell, and has four children, two by each wife. His youngest is Seth Low, now (1883) 
the popular mayor of Brookl.yn. In religion Mr. Low is a Unitarian. By his gentle and 
aCcctionate dispo.sition, his stainless purity of character, and his fidelity to principle in 
all the relations of life, he is endeared to all, and greatly beloved by his family and friends. 
♦Jonathan Sturges was born in Southport, Conn., March ■24, 1802. His father was 
Captain B. L. Sturges, of Southport, adjoining Fairfield. Jonathan Sturges, his grandfather, 
was a judge, and was a member of the Continental Congress, also of the National Congress 
from 1789 to 1793. His uncle, Lewis Burr Sturges, was a w ell-known member of Congress 
from Connecticut, early in the present century. The subject of this sketch came to New 
York in 1821 and entered the grocery store of Reed & Lee as a clerk. In 1828 he became 
a partner with Mr. Keed, and at that gentleman's death, in 1836, as we have observed, he 
became the head of the house, in which position he continued with diflferent partners un- 
til his retirement from business in 1808. 

Mr. Sturges was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce when quite young. 
He was one of the directors of the Bank of Commerce at its foundation. Through Mr. 
Eeed ho was early associated with the artists of New York. His friendship for Cole, 
Durand, Ingham, Huntington and a few others was warm and enduring, and his inter- 
est in the National .\cademy of the Arts of Design never abated. His love of music was 
equal to his love of the arts of design. In IS-H he became a member of the New Y'ork 
Historical Society, and in 1850 was appointed upon its committee on fine arts, and 
ser\-ed as its chairman until his death. He was president of the New Y^ork Gallery of 
Fine Arts, and, as wo have observed, secured it a place in tlie art collections of the 
Historical Society. For some time he was a director of the Harlem Railroad Company, 
was one of the projectors of the New York and New Haven Railroad, and was one of the 
first board of directors of the Illinois Central Railroad. He was also one of the original 




)^ry7T^ /t: ci.-^ 



TllIIlL) DKl'ADi:, iy.JO-1800. "1» 

During,' tlic second aiul tliird dociuks inucli more activi; interest in 
the subject of tlio lino arts was exhibited in Now York than iiad ever 
before been seen. Alany fjentlenicn of wealth and tiislc gathered 
tlioico picture galleries, and all the exhibitions, as a rule, were well 
atteudeil. 

It was during the second decade that the association known as Thk 
Amkkkan- Akt r.NioN was established. It was designed for the benefit 
of artists.bv establishing for thcni a sort of exchange, and to cultivate 
the puijlic taste for the fine arts by a perpetual and free exhibition of 
liaintiiigs, statuary, and engravings. This assijciation was the legiti- 
mate offspring and successor of the Apollo (Nailery, established by 
James Ileriing, an artist, at Xo. 410 Broadwiiy, in is;]it, for the same 
avowed objects. Of that institution Dr. John W. Francis was presi- 
dent. Pecuniary embarrassments soon crip|)le!l it, the location was 
abandoned, and the association was reorganized under the title of the 
American Art Union. It had spacious accommodations— a gallery 150 
feet long — at Xo. 4'.)T Broadway, above Broome Street, where might 
be seen, day and evening, a large collection of paintings antl statuary, 
free of charge. On paying an amiual sid)scription a person might 
become a member. The income thus derived, after paying all neces- 
sary expenses, was devoted to the purchase of paintings and sculpture, 
and to the production of fine engravings. Of the latter each mem- 
ber was entitled to a copy. The paintings were publicly distributed 
among the membei-s by lot about the 22d of December each year, the 
meeting for the drawing being usually held in the Tabernacle, on 
Broadway. 

The Art Union was successful for several yeai-s, and did much to 
improve the public taste. At the same time, by its system of sales, 
purchase, and distribution, it held the art j)atrouage in its own 
hands, creating the demand and furnishing tlie su[)ply. Its inten- 
tions were untloubtedly good, but the results were questionable, as to 

corijonitora of the Society for the Rolict of. the Ruptnred and CrippleJ, Wfts its tre.is- 
iirer, nml one of the most lilienil siiliscribera to the fund for the erection of a hospital 
for this class of invalids. Indeed, the liberal hand and personal interest of Mr. Stnrges 
were given and folt in all the leading charities of the city. 

Dnring the Civil War Xlr. Stnrges was a stanch supporter of the government at all 
times, and gave to that support the whole weight of his character and the liberal use of 
his pnrse. He was an active and efficient founder and member of the Union Leaguo 
Clul). Ho was also a prominent member of, and during the last twelve years of 
his life an elder in the Collegiate Dutch Ueformed Church. His most conspicuous 
personal quality was a persistent and untiring devotion to the accomplishment of any 
object ho undertook. Itr. Sturges died of i>neumoiiiii, at his residence in New York, 
OD November 28, 1874. 



620 HISTORY OK XEW YOKK t'lTY. 

benefit, if not positively injurious to art. (Overstimulation is not in 
acconlance with the spirit of art. It must have a normal growth to be 
truly successful. Because of this stimulation there came, logically, a 
reaction. The artists began to feel that their independence was in- 
fringed upon — that the Union ruled them. The feeling of dissatisfac- 
tion was voiced by a leading morning newspaper, which assailed the 
ITnion as a lottery and therefore illegal. A judgment against it under 
this charge was procured in one of the inferior courts. The managers 
smiled at the decision. It was confirmed by a higher court, and the 
American Art Union fell, to rise no more, at the close of the second 
decade. Its demise was honorable. The last remnant of its funds — 
proceeds of sales of its works of art— for which there were no claim- 
ants, was transferred to the use of the ISTew Yoi-k GaUery of Fine Arts. 

Among the later distributions of the Art Union was the series of 
pictures painted by Cole known as " The Voyage of Life." They 
were painted for Samuel AVard. On the settlement of that gentle- 
man's estate they were bought by the Art Union and offered as a 
prize, in 1848. Half a milhon visitors were attracted to the rooms of 
the Art Union to see these pictm-es, and the subscriptions were 
increased to 16,000. The pictures were drawn by a Bingharaton 
editor, and were afterward bought for S^OOO by Gorham D. Abbott, 
LL.D., for the gallery of his school for young women, known as the 
Spingler Institute. 

At the beginning of the tliird decade (1850) a newsjiapor enterprise 
of a new and peculiar character, which had been inaugurated a few 
years before, had been established upon a solid foundation by the tact, 
skill, and industry of two very young men, who now (1883) carry it on, 
after its early plan, with great success and unabated energy. Tlu-ough 
it they have earned aiul acquired fame and fortune. The enterprise 
alluded to Avas a weeldy newspaper caUed the Scientific Arnerican, 
devoted exclusively to science, inventions, the mechanic arts, manu- 
factures, and cognate subjects. As a repertory of current scientific 
discoveries, inventions, and improvements in every department of en- 
gineering and mechanics, it forms an uiteresting feature in the history 
of the activities in the city of New York. 

The Scientific American was founded by Rufus Porter, lie did not 
succeed, and the establishment was purchased of him by Messi-s. Munn 
&c Co. (Oi-son D. Munn and Alfred E. Beach), young men who had been 
sclioohnates, the former just twenty-one j'^eai's of age, and the latter 
only nineteen years old. There was not much to buj'- (for the circula- 
tion of the paper was less than three hunch-ed each week), and the boys 



TIIIUK nKiAiii:, iKrid-iHOO. 621 

liiiil not imicli t(. Iiuv w itii. Voiiiij,' JJfiieli wasa son of Moses Y. lioach, 
tlioii tilt' itroprifttir of tli«^ Xcw York Sii„, and liail been employed by 
Ills father in taking in advertisements and selling newspapei-s over the 
counter.* 

The energy and sagacity of these young men soon began to make the 
Si-Hiit!fi> AiiKrii-iin establishment noticeable. Soon after they took 
jxjssession of it they advertised that they had estaiilished an agency 
at their jiuiilieation otHee, and were i)rei)ared to transiat all business 
between inventors and the Patent OHiee at Washington. Thus was 
tii-st estaljlished in the city of New York this inii>ortant branch of 
business, which they speedily extended to various other countries. 
Eefore the clo.se of the third decade (1S50-«<I) they had spacious 
offices for carrying on the business, occupied by a large corps of engi- 
neei-s and draughtsmen, all engaged in preparing siM?cifications and 
drawings for the patent offices of the United States, f J ivat IJritain, 
France, Austria, Russia, and other foreign countries. They had their 
offices in Washington, Loudon, I'aris, and Brussels. Year after year 

* Orson D«s;iix Muiin is n niitivo of Monsou, Hnmpilcn County, Mnss., whoso nnccstors 
■were nnioiij- llie first settlcra in thiit region and f'lve the nuuic to the towuship. His 
fiitber, a thrift.v luriuer, gi\vo his son a good education at the academy in his native 
town, which in yet noted in that refiion for its exccUenco. He left school at sixteen 
years of age, and entered a bookstore in Springfield, the county seat, as an under 
clerk. Industrious and trustworthy, he very soon won tho confidence and respect 
of his employer, wlio always loft the business in young Munn's charge when he was 
absent. The business having changed owners, he returned to his native town, and at 
the ago of eighteen years became a clerk in a general oonntrj' store as salesman and book- 
keejior. He was ambitious to enter a wider field of labor. He had asked a school- 
fellow (his present partner) to look out for a situation for him in New York. To that 
schoolfellow he was wamily attached, for they were congenial spirits, and had been 
always together on holidays and Satunlay afternoons, in their school days. 

AVithin a mouth after he had reached Ihe lawful age of manhood, yonng Munn received 
a letter from his friend informing him that there was an opportunity for him to under- 
take what young Beach predicted would bo a profitable venture in the city. He went 
immediately to Now York, formed a copartnership with young Beach, and purchased the 
Hcieiilijii- Aiitrriniii, when it had been published less than one year. 

The prediction of young Beach, that the business he had invited his friend to join him 
in could be successful, was speedily fulfilled. They made that fulfilment possible from 
tho start, by means of their own good judgment, industry, and indomit.ible perse- 
verance in a fixed purpose. Saleui U. Wales Viecame a member of the firm at an early 
period, and so remained until 1871. Their success has exceeded their expectations, and 
the name of Munn A Co. obtaineil an enviable reputation at home and abroad. 

Mr. Mnnn is a gentleman of fine taste. In his dwelling in the city he has a col- 
lection of pictures of the highest order. They have been selected by himself, at a cost of 
many thousand dollars. There is probably no private gallery in the city comprising the 
same number of pictures which contains more costly and exipii.site works of art. Mr. 
Munn has n beautiful summer residence in Llewellyn Park, Orange Mountain, N. J. 



622 HisroHY OF XKVV yoKK CITY. 

the illustrations in tlie Scientific American of new machineiy, inven- 
tions, and subjects pertaining to the arts, sciences, and new discoveries, 
increasetl in number and beaut3\ The influence of the Scientific Amer- 
ican upon the various industries of our country has been powerful and 
salutary. It has a ver}' large circulation abroad as well as at home. 
The publishers also issue a weeldy journal called the Scientific Ameri- 
can Siij.>j>h'ment, of the same fonii and size as the regailar edition ; 
also an Export Edition, which is issued monthly, for foreign circulation. 

Since the publishing firm of Munn & Co. was begun, in ISio, the 
number of applications for patents prepared by that establishment and 
tiled in the United States Patent Office and sent abroad and filed in 
foreign patent offices had aggregated ninety thousand at the beginning 
of 1883. 

Early in this decade the largest lire-insurance company in Xew York 
was formed. The fires of 1835 and 1845 had created an indisposition 
to risk much capital in insurance enterprises, as we have observed, and 
New York was behind several cities in this respect, where companies 
were existing with capitals of §500,000. But in 1852 a nmnber of 
leading merchants on comparing \'iews came to the conclusion that the 
gi-owth and enterprise of the city demanded something more substantial 
in the line of indcnmity than the small local insurance companies were 
able to furnish. The result was the formation, in January, 1853, of a 
company with §500,000 capital. There was, however, a seeming reluc- 
tance on the part of the new company's managers to enter bokUy upon 
the general insurance field, and the object originally aimed at, as 
regarded a widely scattered business and a Uberal underwriting policj', 
appeared to have failed of accomplishment. 

To meet what was manifestly required, another company of large 
capital witli more progressive scope was projected, and on the 13th of 
April, 1S53, the Home Insuraxce Compaxy, with §500,000 capital, all 
paid, in, entered upon its career of honor and success. It was wisely 
assumed, at the outset, that a New York company, with ample capital, 
with a proper spirit of enterprise for such a work, if conducted judi- 
ciously, ought to and must succeed in a general agency business. It 
Wiis in this spirit and with this aim that the projectors of the Home 
begtm to lay the foimdations of an institution which has become the 
largest and most successful insurance company on this continent doing 
an exclusively fire business. 

When the Home began its work only one New York company was 
professing to do any agency business whatever. By many, if not 
most, of the local underwriter's the new enterprise was looked upon as 



riiHJn nix'ADE, is50-is«o. G23 

a somewhat dariii;: and dociilfilly dniilitful cxpcriiiicnt. Tlie inanagei-s 
of tlio Ilniiif, howi'Ver, jn'ocwdi'd |trt)m]itly to tlio cstahlishiiieut of 
agencies iit jn-oniiiient points in the New Enghmd, Midille, and West- 
ern States. Witiiin the fii-st year and a half 14n agents were a<tively 
engaged in cultivating tlie field. The entire working force of <ilHccrs 
and employes of all the New York and lironklyn in.surance companies 
fifty yeai-s ago did not outnumher the present working force of the 
head office of the ITome alone. The I4o agents of is:,') have become 
an army of more than 4noo, inclusive of sub-agents and partners in 
airency linns. 

>[eanwhilo the capital of the company has been several times in- 
crea.sed, to keep p.ace with the growing demand for its jKdicies, until in 
187") it reached $;:'>, ooo.ddO. The premium income n>se ste;ulily from 
about .*(2r)(i,000 the first year to g!-2,T4."),<!<',2 in is^-J. The total income 
of the Homo in the latter year was $.J,nsC>,sl7, and the total a.ssets of 
the company at the clo.se of that year reached the amount of $".-'"^-489 
— a sum one fifth larger than the combined ca|)ital of all the fire-in-sur- 
ance companies of New York and P)r(H)klyn fifty yeai-s ago. Of this 
aggreg-ate of as.scts, no less than Sl,7T4,o(;i rejiresented the reserved 
])rofit or net surjilus over capital and all liabilities, including among 
such lial)ilities an ample reinsurance fund (*'2,ll»i,832) to meet the 
contingent claims upon unexpired jiolicies. 

During the thirty yeare of the existence of this great cor[K)ra- 
tion down to April, ISSrj, its total premiums received have been 
$.57,204,1(18 ; amount of interest received, §><>,12.1.111 ; amount of 
losses paid, 8"34,7<j0,2f>i> ; number of losses, Oo.lMU ; amount of 
tlividends paid (including two stock dividends of $.jOO,ooo each), 
Sr.,it>;.j,(iOO. The total amount covered by the policies of the company 
on all kinds of ])ropc'rty during these thirty yeai-s has been something 
more than S'n'"*",<mio,0(mi, a, sum almost .startling of it.self, and indicat- 
ing i)lainly the energetic character of the management and the 
unlimited confidence of projjerty-holdei's all over the country in the 
Home's contracts of indenmity. To accomplish such results despite 
the many largo fires that have occurrcd during the last thirty years, 
including the phenomenal conflagi-ations of Chicago in 1871 and of 
Boston in l'^72, indicates the exerci.se of peculiar managerial skill. 

The Home entered U]K)n its work of prosecuting an agency business 
fully ef|uipped with officers who believed underwriting to be a ])rofes- 
sion, and who were experts in its practice. To its progressive and yet 
conservative methods of man;igement the insurance busines.s of the 
country owes much of its honorable position. 



G2-1 HISTORY OF NKW YORK CITY. 

The presulent of the Home Insurance Company is Charles J. ^Martin,* 
who has been with it from its foundation, fii-st as its secretary, and 
then as its presiding otiicer. Its vice-])resident is D. A. Ileald ; its 
secretary is J. H. Washburn, and T. B. Greene and William L. Bigelow 
ai-e assistant secretaries. 

* Charles J. Martin is a native of Middlesex County, N. J., wliere he \ras born in 
November, 1815. He came to New York with his parents when between five and six 
years of age, and was a resident of this city during his childhood and youth and until 
about twentv-six years ago, when he transferred his residence to the mountain-sido at 
Orange, in his native State. He received his education at one of the common schools in 
the Ei"hth Ward, known to the elder residents of that ward as the Village Academy, 
his father being its honored and respected principal for more than a quarter of a 
century. 

Leavin" school at the age of fourteen, with a creditable record in reading, writing, and 
arithmetic, ho entered the employ of a respectable retail dry-goods hotise on Hudson 
Street, in the Fifth Ward, that street being then one of the principal retail dry-goods 
marts of the city. There he remained nearly three years, when, through the influence of 
a relative who was an officer of the company, a clerkship was tendered him in the office 
of the Contiibutionship Fire Insurance Company, then occupying rooms at No. 44 (now 
No. .'jC) Wall Street. His main object in making the change was to escape the long 
hours from early morning until late at night and the drudgery of opening and sv.-eeping 
out the store, making the fires in winter, carrying out packages of goods sold, etc., to 
which the younger clerks in such establishments were subjected in those days. This was 
in January, 1833. In this office during the six years following he received his first 
training as an iinderwriter, and was an eye-witness, during all that terrible night of the 
great fire of December 16, 1835. 

In the early part of 1839 young Martin left his clerkship to take the position of secre- 
tary of a new company then being organized, which had been tendered him, but the 
enterprise proved an injudicious one at the time, from the fact of the deiaressed condition 
of business in the city and of the w-hole country, which had not yet recovered from the 
effects of the general revulsion and bankruptcy of 1837. After a brief existence the 
company went into liquidation and wound up its affairs, retui-ning to the stockholders 
the capital which had been paid in, with the loss of only about three per cent. He had 
the charge, under a committee of the directors, of winding up the affairs of the institu- 
tion, after which for a short period he had partial employment only in his profession 
until the winter of 1843-44, when he went to New Orleans, and was the first agent 
api)ointed by the company in whose service had been his clerkship of six years. Return- 
ing to New York in the spring of 1845. Mr. Martin was appointed general agent of that 
company, with authority and powers such as had probably never before been given to an 
employ^ in a similar position. 

The great fire o£ July, 1845, which ruined many companies in this city and sadly 
crippled many others, brought the necessity for discontinuing business in .\pril, 1S4G, 
and winding up its affairs, the charge of which also fell into Mr. Martin's hands uuder a 
receiver. 'WTien nearly through with these duties he became associated with the agent in 
this city of the Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and after a few months 
was appointed sole agent. Not agreeing with the then head of the company in regard to 
the management of the business of its Now Y'ork agency, he resigned the position in 
February, 1850, and within thirty days thereafter was offered the secretaryship of the 




^,^V/-^////./^ 



TIIIUI) DKCADK. lM,-.0 iHflO. 025 

Commercial Insnmnoc Compnny, then nliont orcnnizioR. Ho nccpptoil the position, nnd 
Boon plticcil tho roni|)jiny anions tlio first of its clnss iit tlmt tiiin- in tliis city. Kjirlv 
in the sprint; of 1^5'' I'O noccptcd the seoretnryshii) of the Hume Insurance Conipnny, 
which WHS tlion orgnui/.eil for tlie purpose of doiu^ iin n^ency tmsiness throngliont the 
country in nildition to the ordlniiry businesH of tiro insurance in the city and viiMnity. 

The Tiiried experience thus obtained had eminently fitted Mr. Martin for the duties of 
this new, and as wiw thonnht l>y uiiiuy at that time doubtful, entcrjmse. Filling the 
position of secretary for about twenty months, he had so won the confidence of the board 
of directors during that time tlmt upon the retirement of the chief officer he was called 
to the presidential chair, which he has since filled with the result which is shown in the 
brief history of the company given in the text. 

Mr. Martin is one of the veterans in fire insurance, not only in this city but in the 
country, having just completed bis half century as a fire nnderwriter since he commenced 
his clerkship in an insurance oflico in Wall Street. There are only two others in the 
business who antedate him, one of whom is the venerable president of the North Kivcr 
Insurance Company of this city, who commenced his career in that company in ly2°i, and 
has been connected with it until the present time. 



CHAPTEE III. 

EAELY in the third decade a heroic efiFort was made to purge the 
city of one of its most corrupt sinks of moral impurity and crime, 
famiharly known as tlie Five Points. The locality derived its name 
from an area of open land containing about one acre of ground, into 
which five streets entered hke five rivers entering a bay. These 
streets were Little Water, Cross, Anthony, Orange, and Mulberry. 
In the centre of this area, surrounded by a wooden paUng, was a small 
triangular space known as Paradise Square. Ojiposite this park was 
the Old Brewery, so famous in the history of this region. Its neigh- 
bors were miserable tumble-down buildings swarming with squahd 
men, women, and children of every hue ; liquor-shops were every- 
where, and nearly every house was a brothel. The men, as a rule, 
were petty criminals ; the women were vile and disfigured by de- 
bauchery of every land, and the children were the miserable victims of 
these horrible surroundings. 

Of the Five Points, Charles Dickens, who visited the locahty in 1S41 
with two pohce officei-s, wrote : 

" This is the place : these narrow ■ways diverging to the right and left, and reeking 
everywhere with dirt and iilth. Such lives as are led here bear the same fruit here as 
elsewhere. The coarse and bloated faces at the doors have counterparts at home and all 
the wide world over. Debauchery has made the very houses prematurely old. . . . 
Many of their pigs live here. Do they ever wonder why their masters walk upright in 
lieu of going on all fours ? and why they talk instead of grunting ? So far nearly every 
house is a low tavern." 

After describing some personal adventures, Mr. Dickens continued : 

" Here, too, are lanes and alleys paved with mud knee deep ; underground chambers 
where they dance and game, the walls bedecked with rough designs of ships, and forts, 
and flags, and American eagles out of number ; ruined houses open to the street, whence 
through wide gaps in the walls other ruins loom upon the eye, as though the world of 
vice and misery had nothing else to show ; hideous tenements, which take their name 
from robbery and murder ; * all that is loathsome, drooping, and decayed is here !" 

• One was called Murderer's Alley, another the Den of Thieves, and so on. There 
were iinderground passages connecting blocks of houses on different streets. 



TIlIUl) DECADE, inriO-lSliO. *!"^~ 

Sudi was tlic loatlisoint' place— iiion^ Inatlisome than the stables of 
Au^eas — which i)i(ins ami l)enevolent \vt)iMen, with herculean strength 
of purpose, attempted to cleanse. The seeniin','ly hopeless task was 
he',mn with prayer ant! faith ; it wius sustained l)y prayer ami faith ; 
the workers, few in nunilxT and feehle in resources at lii-st, wrouj^ht 
with courage and fidehty, stinuUated hy faitli, and they finally 
achieved a victory. They turned into this alxxle of the sirens the pure 
waters of religious instruction, moral suasion, human charity and 
kindness, and intellectual and spiritual aliment, and it Wius cleansed to a 
great extent, and remains so. The hulk of the pojiulation has changed 
in nationality and character. The chief tleuizens of the neighl)orh<MMl 
of the Five Points are now Italian orgiin-grintlci's, bootblacks, i)eanut- 
vendei-s, many beggai-s, receivei-s of go<xls stolen by ])etty thieves, 
Chinese cig*ar and opium peddlers, and others with no *• visible mean.s' 
of earning a Uvelihood. Open vice and immorahty are no more seen 
there. Business houses are yearly coming nearer and neai-ei- to that 
once vile locality, and the time seems not to be far distant when the 
renovation and purification of the Five Points will be completed. 

The story of the cleansing of this foul locahty forms an exceedingly 
interesting chapter in the history of the city of New York, and may be 
briefly told. 

The work was really instituted two years before the opening of this 
decade. For sever.d years the New York La<lies' Home Missionary 
Societv of the Methodist Episcopal Church had l)cen anxious to include 
the Points within the sphere of their labors. In their rei)ort for l^iS 
they SJiitl : 

" We intend to make n new point on Centre or Elm street.s, in the vicinity of the 
Tombs. The deepest interest wa.s manifested by the board respecting this effort. Sev- 
ern! members pledged their personal labors to the Sunday-school, and all feci that this is 
emphatically ' mission gronnd.' We plead for the children for we comuiince with the 
Sabbath-school— the children, because through them we hope to reach the pnn-nt.s ; the 
children, because ere-long they will hold the destiny of our city within their hands. We 
expect to employ a missionary there who will avail himself of every providential opening 
for usefnlnes.s. If there is a spot in this crowded city where vice reigns unchecked, 
surely all will admit it to be in that vicinity : and who can think of the hundreds born in 
sin, nurtured in misery, with no earthly prospect but the prison and the gallows, with- 
out a deep, nnuttcrable yearning to snatch them from the fearful vortex?" 

A committee was apjwinted to visit the neigh Iwrhood. No suitable 
place could then be found to o])en a mission, and the work was delayetl 
until is.'^o. The society asked the Conference to send them a mission- 
ary for the Five Points — a dreailful ]>lague-spot— a focus of moral con- 
tagion. To this rerpiest the Confei-ence cheerfidly respomled. The 



628 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Itev. L. M. Pease was sent. He was soon succeeded hy the Rev. J. 
Luckey. 

The devoted ^vonlell engaged in tliis work were encouraged by the 
svmpathy and interest of their husbands, brothel's, and friends, and 
tiiey selected a nunil)er of gentlemen of the highest respectabihty and 
social and business standing to act as an advisory committee, for the 
difficulties of the task were foreseen. This committee was empowered, 
in conjunction with the missionary, to find a suitable ^jlace and make 
all arrangements for the opening of the Sabbath-school. A room was 
found at the corner of Little Water and Cross streets, about 20 by 40 
feet in size. It was thoroughly cleaned and seated, and made caj^able 
of accommodating about two hundred jiersons comfortalily. There a 
Sabbath-school was first opened, composed of seventj' pupils. 

Such a school ! It was never equalled in quality Ijefore nor since. 
Neglected children, emaciated, half naked, and filthy ; hardened and 
reckless adults encased in filth and rags ; young women with linea- 
ments of former beauty scarred and marred by the fangs of vice ; half- 
grown boys, already victims of intemperance and licentiousness ; and 
half-grown girls, some reckless in demeanor, and some modest and 
anxious. " I never imagined a more vivid representation of hell," said 
a lady who was present at this first Sunday-school at the Five Points. 
The pioneers in this work, men and women, sang and prayed, and 
exhorted their hearers to lead better lives, specially urging the im- 
portance of pei*sonal cleanliness. Such words and such music had prob- 
ably never before been heard by a large majority of the listeners. 

For a few Sai)l)aths the school was a sort of pandemonium — a circus 
i-ather than a Sabbath-school. The chilcb-en were unruly, for they had 
never been taught lessons of self-restraint. This lack was one of the 
most painful features to bo considered, for the anxious question would 
arise, To what Avill all this lead ? The boys would ])erform somersets, 
play leap-frog, quarrel, fight, and swear, or follow any other inclina- 
tion which arose. But it was not long before the exercise of gootl 
judgment and extreme kindness transformed the school into an orderly 
organization, and gave the projectors pleasing hopes for the future. 

The urgent necessity for an every-day school was apparent at the 
outset, for weekly impressions on the mind so indurated by vice and 
poverty were too evanescent to bo of much benefit, to the children 
especially. Prei^arations were made for the organization of a school : 
a teacher was selected, donations of maps, books, slates, etc., were 
received, and the ladies were rejoicing in the ]irospect of a wider 
field of usefulness, when the school was placed in otlier hands and 



(ri'J 



TIIIUI) DKt'ADK, IHoO-lHIiO. 

removoa enti.vly fn-.n the contn.l an.l nmch ..f tlu- intU.on.-.. ..f tl.e 

mission. , . , «i.„ 

One of tl.e -mitcst obstacles to the work of the mission nnh.s the 
nrevalence of intemperance in the m.ighborhoo.l. lo re.nove this 
I.hstacle in some decree state.l temi»erance meetings were hel.l at tl.e 
ndssion-rooms, at which teniporancc addresses were made, tcmiperancc 
son-rs sung, and earnest exhortations to sobriety delivered. Ihe elf.ct 
of This effort was wonderful. In tl.e first yeur one thousand ,.e.-sons 
i.ad signed tl.e temperunce ple.lge. Among the signe.-s were some of 
the worst denizens of the Five Points. In a large majority of cases 
tl.e i.ledge was faithfully adhered to. , ^ , , 

Durin" the tii-st year a successful effort was made to fand einph.y- 
mmt for those who were willing to work. After nmch effort an 
establishment was formed in which lifty or sixty men and women foun.l 
constant employnient. They boarded in tl.e house of the missionary, 
and .generally attended tl.e religious meetings, and tl.e children the 
Sabbath-school. The siune adverse influence which removed the .lay- 
school from tl.e contn.l of the society also operated here in a similar 

""'xhe mission-.-oom becoming t.Hi small for tlu; number of men, 
women, and chiUlren who gather...! there, a larg.. building known as 
th." Old 15rewerv was purclias..d an.l converted into a nus^sKm-house 
It was a large, .Ulapi.late.l structure situated on Parad.se Square. It 
was a resort ami a shelter for th.- most iictive an.l . epn.ve. of the dan- 
.romus classes. Low, da.-k, win.ling pa.ssiiges ran th.-ough the buil.l.ng 
fuul therebv thieves and mur.ler..,-s were enable.! tl.e hi.t to conceal 
their phunUM- and the seem.! to niake way with their v.ctnns. It as 
•t fortress of crinie, an.l in it .lark deeds were ah.wst nightly cnnnitt.'.! 
with impunitv. The society appeale.1 to the public for help to pur- 
chase this buil.ling in order to change it from a pest-house of sin o a 
school ..f virtue. The response was immediate ami generous, ami .n 
loss than six months $13,000 of the ^W^ nec.le.l to complete tl.e 
purchase of the buil.ling wiu* subscribed. The Old P.rewery was 
bou'dit in -March. 1S-.-2, an.l the remaining $3000 were soon subscribe.l. 
In November <.f the same year the children of the Five Points 
cnioved their first Thanksgiving dinner. Tl.e gathering there on that 
ocijsion was a memorable scene. The guests were the chd.lren o the 
Sabbath-school an.l hopeful can.li.lates. In upper rooms wei-e tubs of 
water and atten.lant women. There the children were scrubbeil, 
arrayed in clean suits of clothes, an.! each furnisl.e.1 with a Ixulge. 
Thcie were then gathered in the mission-i-o..m. M half past four 



630 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

o'clock an orderly procession of 370 children \vas formed and marched 
to the mammoth tent of the Evangelical Alliance, sixty feet in 
diameter, which was pitched in Paradise Square. They entered the 
tent singing : 

" The morn of hope is breaking. 
All doubt now disappears ; 
The Five Points now are waking 
To penitential tears. ' ' 

The tables were spread in the tent, and the abundant provisions were 
transferred to theni from the office in the Old Brewery. The eager, 
hungry throng cheered each of the sixty turkeys, as well as the chick- 
ens and geese and ornamental pyramids, as they passed into the tent — 
a sight marvellous to behold to many of the bright eyes dancing with 
unwonted joy. 

" It was touching," wrote an eye-witness, " to see those little ones, 
rescued from infamy and admitted to the possibilities of virtue, stand 
with folded hands before the table while tlie Doxology was sung and a 
blessing asked." 

The evening entertainment was closed at an early hour with an 
illumination of the Old Brewery, emptied of its sin, and for tliree or 
four nights it was thrown open to the jjubhc, and thousands of people 
with hghted candles groped through its dark recesses. 

The Old Brewery was demolished in December, 1852, to make room 
for a new mission-house to be erected on its site. After its demolition 
a well-lvuown journahst wrote of the old fortress of Satan : 

" What no legal enactment, what no machinery of municipal government could effect. 
Christian women have brought about quietly, but thoroughly and triumi^hantly. From 
henceforth the Old Brewery is no more. The great problem of how to remove the Five 
Points had engaged the attention of both the legislative and executive branches of the 
city government, and both had abandoned the task in despair. It is to the credit of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church that they were the first to enter the then unpromising field, 
and it will be an imperishable honor to the Ladies' Home Missionary Society of that 
Church that with them the idea originated, and by them has been so successfully carried 
out." 

On the 27th of January, 1853, the corner-stone of the new mission- 
liouse was laid. On that occasion the Rev. Dr. De Witt, of the 
Reformed Dutch Church, delivered an address, and the secretary of 
the American Bible Society read a brief liistory of the operations of 
that society at the Five Points. Bishop Janes, of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, in laying the comer-stone, remarked : 

" Education is to be promoted, therefore here is to be a free school-room ; virtue and 
temperance are to bo advanced, and here we have a lecture-room : the salvation of im- 



THIUl) DKl'ADK, 1850-1800. "-^^ 

„.„rtal «oul« is our end in view, an.l there will bo « ch«pel in the e.lifie^e ; nnd «h tem- 
porble«sings will bo an obioct. hero will be .^commodations for the Huk and needy. 

On the ISth c.f Juno following the mission-houso wa.s .lodicatcd to its 
s;,cml uses-tlu. promotion of i-ducation, virtu.', and religion. It wius 
'■, substantial .'dilico of l.ritk, five storic-s in height, seventy-fave feet in 
l..„-tl, on the street, an.l forty-live feet in depth. It contains a chaiR-l, 
in wl.ich 50(t iHM-sons inav he comfortably seated, and in which services 
an. held three times each Sunday. Next to the chapel is the dwelling- 
house of the missionarv and his family. The ground floor had scho..l- 
rooms, and in the upper stories were twenty tenements for poor and 
<leserving families, who, as an e.juivalent f..r tlieir rent, "'^'■•e J-' l^;-!' 
the building clean. The original cost of the budding was $.?.;,.>•. 
Extensive additions have been made to it-largo school-rooms in the 
rear and a four-st,>ry buiUling on the street, which is used for various 
iniriM)ses. The instituti.m was incoq^onited in isr>fi. 

According to the report of the managers* for 1SS2, these buildings 
were all free of debt, an.l nin.-teen families occupie.1 the upper part 
Thev had given awav during the year MT,s:U nitions, and assiste. and 
rolieve.1 514.5 persons. Th.-y ha.l given away during the year a large 
cniantitv of garments .,f every kin.l-ll.su.l pieces. To the children 
who attend the dav-school th.w give a hot dinner every day-beef soup 
with vegetables, mutton stew, flsh, hominy, rice, an.l bread It is 
reallv the onlv substantial meal the m chil.lren have each .lay. 
There had be.-n onlv two deaths among the SST chil.lren ^vho ha.1 been 
taught in the school .luring the year. Within the ten year. (1^.2-62) 
over ti.H.O chil.lren ha.l been cared for by the mission. They have a 
sewing-school wherein the girls are taught the useful art very 

thorou^ldy- , ^, e i\ 

Thk FivK Points IIorsK of Ini.ustrv is an early outgrowth of the 
eff..rts of the New Y.)rk Ladies' Home ^lissionary S.xiety of the 
l^Ieth.Mlist Episc..pal Church to establish a mission at the Five Points. 
Vs we have observed, the Rev. L. M. Peiise was appoint.'d the first 
missionarv bv the Xew York Annual Conf.M-enc-.-. He entere.l upm 
the task witli great energy and zeal, but s<m.ii .liffering with the ongi- 

• The officers for tho year 1882 were : Mrs. .Toseph A. Wright, first directress ; Mi^. 
John \ Kennedy, second directress; Mrs. William Kyer. third directress :Mrs^ F. 
Holsten. fonrth directres.s ; Mrs. William B. Skidmore, treasurer ; ^I"- •T^«™>"j""- 
corresponding secretary ; iUss E. Burling, recording secret«r>- ; Mrs. E. B. HeydecVer 
assist^'nt reconling secretarj-. The board of managers cons.st of moml.ers of the forty 
Methodist chnrches in the city. Tho Rev. S. I. Fergi.son is tho supenntondent, and 
editor of a monthly publication called Voice frmn ihe Old Jifwrij. 



632 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

nators of the enterprise as to the principles upon whicli it should be 
carried on, an unfortunate controversy arose. The result was an alien- 
ation, and Mr. Pease severed his connection with the society with a 
determination to prosecute the work according to his own views, rely- 
ing upon the religious coniniunity to sustain him. 

With characteristic energy Mr. Pease, no longer connected with any 
association, and assisted by his devoted wife, hired two houses at the 
Five Points, on his own responsibility, for $700 a year. With the aid 
of the police he soon cleared them of their depraved inmates, and with 
Ms family took up his abode in them. He believed that the wretched 
creatures he wished to serve, the outcast women of the Five Points, 
"were not so from choice, but from the force of circumstances. He be- 
lieved that as a rule they desired to escape from their mode of hfe, but 
were deban-ed by the ban of society. The world did not believe as 
he did, and tliis was the kernel of the controversy to which allusion has 
been made. But he had heard from their lips the cry, " Don't tell us 
how innocent and happy we once were, and how wicked and miserable 
and infamous \ve now are ; don't talk to us of death and retribution 
and perdition before us ; we want no preacher to tell us that ; but teD 
us, oh, tell us some way of escape ! Give us work and wages ! Do 
but give us some other master than the Devil, and we will serve 
him." 

In response to that pitiful cry Mr. Pease acted. He sought to 
relieve then* moral and bodily wants, but was not unmindful of their 
intellectual and spiritual needs. He took them at their word. He 
first became their em])lo3-er and then their father. He became a man- 
ufacturer, and gave them shirts to make. Next he gave them a home, 
and became the head of a family. He began in July with thirty- or 
forty women sewing liy day in the Methodist Mission Chapel. He 
took a house near by in August. In September a day-school was 
started. It was taken under the patronage of Mr. James Donaldson 
and Mrs. BedeU, the mother of Dr. BedeU (now Bishop of Ohio), 
rector of the Protestant I]pisco])iil Church of the Ascension and the 
members of that communion. In October another house was taken, 
and the inmates were increased to about sixty. In February, 1851, 
another house was taken, and in May four houses more, the whole 
accommodating about one hundred and twenty. 

For ten months the enterprise came under tlie control of the National 
Temperance Society. A bakery and coarse basket-making had been 
added to its industries. The control reverted to Mr. Pease in May, 
1852, and the next spring three moi-e houses were added to the number. 



TllUU) DECAOE, 18.50-1860. ^^"^ 



Fiiuillv a l.ousc wa.s lalcn in r.r.H.n,.- Str-.-t, an.l apprc.prutt.Hl as a 
home "for vm- small tl.il.livn, invali.ls, ami.. thers. , , , • 

cconliug't.. a re,,u,-t in A,.ril, 1S5+, the cstabhshnu-nt ha.l. .lunng 
the imt six nu.nths supnurtcl, in .lou.s and out, a .Uuly average of at 
Ln^; u.;;;irea , Ji ..y thel.- labor there ami hv the ..eneh.ct.ns 
oflhe charitable. At that tin.e the average number ot nnnates Ava. 
lout Uli^rimmlrea, of whon. one half were chUdren. he.e were 
twentv-Hve n,en. Two luuulred children were m the school. 

Through the spontane.ms libendity of ten m.hviduals, a bi". vva. 
purchase^l in Westchester County, sixteen miles from tl^Y"''v\!r. \ve,-e 
To this healthful spot ami labor many were sent, and elToit. ^^c.c 
alvvavs made to assist suffering families without impa.rmg the.r domes- 
tic ties or 1-esponsibU.ties. The grand object of the managers of the 
Five Points House of Industry w:us the temi^^ral, social, and m..ral 
imp,.vement of outcasts, and the cultivation of their spiritual nat.ivs 
The institution was incrporatod in ^^^ <-^ ^ ^"T t-^Z- 
conspicuous citizens of ^'ew York. The trustees ^^^ t'';: '""^ >'^*!'' 
^rJ: Charles Ely, Henry R. Romsen, ^^^^^^^^^^f"^^^ 
Bradbury, Archibald Russell, Thomas L. Eells, Charles I,. Tatham, 
AViliiam'W. Cornell, and George G. Waters. x.- „„., 

The trustees purchased a plot of ground in Anthony (now ^^ orth) 
Stilei not far ro.n Centre Street, on which they erecte.l a budding, 
completed in 1.85.1. To this they wei-e enabled, by generous .lonat.ons 
^7otherwise, to n^ake additions of land and buildings comprising a 
chapel. The fai-m was placed under the managemen o Mi. Pease, 
where he endeavored to make a self-sustaining^ farm-sch.«l. 

The esta!,hshment of the school of the Five Points House o^ l-^^-^^ry 
wal ^n arduous task. The boys and girls, unaccustomed to discipline, 
Tre extremelv unmly. They were filthy in their habits -^'l eonver 
TtL and pVofouiuilv ignorant. Mr. Pease allured them into the 
sc S bv joi ling them in their plays and games, and retained them by 
1- n' the n food. For three yeai-s Mr. Donaldson lalK>red with hi.n 
fm^:.!: When failing health compelled this good inan to rehnqmsh 
ht har^e it was transferml to the Church of the Ascension. The 
r tor'm-inted six members of the congivgation tod,o a school coni- 
niittee vh" .lis.-harged their duty with zeal. This was before tl e in- 
:Cr;tion of the iiTstitution. When the new ^-dding w^ coun>^eted 
the schools, now become orderly, were trunsfemxl to it. But the 
church con inued the responsibility of carrying on this refomuitory 
Z\. at the Five Points. In fifteen yeai-s (1855-0) over twenty thou 
sand four hundre.l children were taught in that school. 



634 HISTORY OF NEW YOUK CITY. 

The c-hildren of the institution wiio receive its benefits are tliose 
chiefiv wlio are abandoned by their parents or surrendered on account of 
their inabiUty to support them. The Legislature lias given the institu- 
tion power to indenture them as apprentices. Tlie institution has gone 
on steadilv and healthfully in its holy work under successive superin- 
tendents, and thousands of respectable young men and women scat- 
tered over the laud can attest that what they are they owe to the 
fostering care of the Five Points House of Industry.* 

Almost simultaneously with the establishment of the reformatory 
institutions at the Five Points just mentioned, there was organized in 
the city another public charity, far-reaching in its aims and since mar- 
vellous in its operations and influence. It appears more important as 
a minister of good than any other society in the social history of the 
city of New York during the last sixty years, because it stands as a 
preventive agencj^ and a purifier at the sources of crime and pauperism 
— the neglected children. It took hold of the bad or ignorant boy 
when he was a child, and, instead of waiting until he was mature to 
imprison or hang him, transformed him, by the gradual influences of 
education, labor, and religion, into an honest and industrious young 
man. This institution is Thp: Chilprek's Am Society, founded in 
1852, and which is still doing its holy work with increased vigor and 
effect under the guidance of its chief founder. 

In the year 1853 the then chief of police, George AY. Matsell, put 
forth a report concerning the street chddren of JSTew York which 
created univci-sal anxiety among thoughtful citizens, and called forth 
much compassion for the class described. At that time a young man, 
a graduate of Yale College who had recently completed his studies in 
Europe and was prepared for the Christian ministry, was laboring as a 
missionary of reform among the adult criminals on BlackwelFs Island 
and the wretched denizens of the Five Points, where ^Ir. Pease was 
then grappling with the giant, "the social evil," with a mighty yet 
gentle hand. This young man was Charles L. Brace, f 

* According to a report for 1882 there were remaining and admitted during the official 
year 847 inmates. Of these, 144 women were sent to service, and 306 restored to their 
friends. Of the whole niimber, 386 were boys and 237 were girls. The total numbfir 
admitted to the institution since its organization was 23,729 ; whole number of children 
in the day-school during that time, 33,975 ; total sum of money spent in its support, 
$l,()29,(i85. The officers for the year 1882 were : Morris K. Jesup, president ; George 
F. Belts, secretary ; Hugh N. Cimp, treasurer, and Charles Ely, B. Lydig Suydam, 
William W. Astor, Charles Lanier, David S. Egglcston, Oliver Uarriman, trustees. 
William V. Barnard is the superintendent. 

\ Charles Loring Brace was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1820. His father, John P. 
Brace, was a distinguished and successful teacher of youth. 





-d.. 



rmiii' I'l'UAiH'.. i-."iii iN'iii '135 

"While ^Ir. Braia^ was alnitad lie liad studied (he eiiaraelcr ui ( luiri- 
tahle institutions ((juniU^d ior llie l)enelit of nef,deeted eliildien. Tliese 
studies and his personal ohservation in Ids then missionary work satis- 
fied him that a system of prevention woulil be more puissjint than one 
of euro in the work of seeuring pennanent social reform, lie was 
satisfied too that tlio work must iiegin with the plastic child. 

^Ir. P>raee was deeply impressed with the immense numher of Ixiys 
and •,'irls floating and drifting ahout the streets of >«'ew York without 
apjiarent Immes or oecu]>:itions — the fruitful materials out of which 

Mr. l!ri»ee is descended from rmiliin stock on both his father's nnd his mother's side. 
On that of the latter are found koiuc of thu nicst distinguished fuuiilies of New Eni^lniid, 
iiinong them thitt of the eminent Itufns King. 

After Mr. limoe's gmdiiution nt Yale College iu lH4('i, ho stmlied theology in seminaries 
in New York nnd \ew Hiiven, nnd went nliroiid in \H'>n, where he remained two years to 
complete his education. He studied in Germany, and made a trip into Hungary in 1851, 
vhere he was arrested in Ctroswardein by the Austrian authorities on the suspicion of 
being an agent of the Hungarian exiles in America, seeking to arouse another revolution. 
He was contincd for a month in a dungeon of the old castle in that city, and was tried 
twelve times by an Austrian court-martial. At length ho succeeded in sending secret 
information of his arrest and imprisonment to the Hon. Charles J. McCurdy, the .■Ameri- 
can charge il'nff'uiien nt Vienna, who demanded the immediate release of Mr. Brace. This 
demand, being seconded by the arrival at that time of two American ships of war at 
Trieste, was instantly complied with. Mr. Brace was sent to I'esth, thence to Vienna, 
and thence to the Austrian frontier, escorted by Austrian government officials. That 
government subsequently apologized for the arrest, but made no pecuniary reparation. 

After his return in 1H.51, Mr. Brace published a volume in New York and London 
entitled, " Hungary in 18.51," nnd subsequently another v.ilnme entitled, " Home Life in 
Germany. " 

As we have observed, Mr. Brace became interested while in Europe in institutions 
devoted to the benetit of children, nnd on his return began labors in th.> city of New 
York in behalf of the unfortunate. Determined to attempt to purify the tide of vice 
sweeping over the city by working at the fountain of the polluted and polluting 
stream, he and others formed the Children's Aid Society in 18.'i3. He was the origi- 
nator of the distinctive features of that society— the emigration plan, the boys' lodging- 
houses, nnd the industrial schools. In IH'A he founded the first boys' lodging-house, 
securing funds for the purpose from personal friends. This was subsequently accepted 
by the society and became a great part of the work of this charity. His time wos constantly 
employed thereafter in speaking and writing for the society, managing its affairs, nnd 
laboring among the poor and in literary work. In 18.>1 ho married IfissLetitia Neill, of 
Belfast, Ireland, by whom he has four children. In 18.57 lie\-isited Norway nnd Sweden, 
nnd published o work on "The Norse Folk." He subsequently wrote nnd published 
" Short Sermons to Newsboys, " " Races of the Old World," nnd after o visit to California 
in 1867 he published " The New West." In 1872 he published " The Dangerous 
Cla-sses of New Y'ork," revisited nungnrj- the some year, ami in 1882 he published his 
" Gesti Chnsti, or History of Human Progress under Christianity." The Children's 
Aid Society, of which he has been the executive officer and mainspring since it was 
formed, has grown to one of the grandest and most useful charities in the United States, 
as its stati3tics. given in the text, demonstrate. 



636 HISTORY OF NEW VOHIC VVVY. 

were fashioneil the multitude of ci'iminals and lewd women who 
infested the city. With others he devised a plan, crude at first, for 
arresting the attention of tliese street wanderers, particularly the boys, 
and peradventure persuading them to better living. Boys' meeting-s 
were held. These were addressed by earnest men and women, some- 
times wisely, sometimes fooUshly. These boys were keen and prac- 
tical, and were impatient of sentimentality. "When a pious Sunday- 
school teacher asked : 

' ' My dear boys, when your father and mother forsake you, who 
will take you up ?" 

" The purlice, sir, the i)urlice !" was the prompt and sincere reply. 

At fii-st these street Arabs were irrepressible. Their coarse jests, 
their don't-care manners, and often indecent expressions were difficult 
to coi-rect, but it was soon found that kind words which came up from 
the depths of the heart of a man or woman would touch some hidden 
chord in them. Pathos and simple eloquence, the expression of 
earnestness, always found in these ungoverned children of misfortune 
vibratory strings that gave back responsive tones of feeling. 

The generous philanthropists persevered in the good work. They 
provided entertaimnents for the boys at their gatherings, such as magic- 
lantern exhibitions, and very soon these boys' meetings became quite 
orderly assemblages. But these could not be, in the natui-e of things, 
a pei-manent success. This was pioneer work only, a clearing away of 
the covering and a revealing of the fearful nature of the work to be 
done. It was seen that more heroic, organized work had to be done in 
order to secure permanent footing in the terrible conflict with the great 
evil. 

At length, early in 1SJ3, a society was organized. It ^vas composed 
of earnest men then engaged in laboring for the reformation of the 
dangerous classes in the city. Though representing different religious 
denominations, and each ardenth^ attached to his own, there was not 
at the beginning and never has been the slightest ripi)le of disturbance 
on account of views on sectarian topics. 

The association happily adopted the comprehensive and significant 
title of the Children's Aid Society. They appointed Charles L. Brace 
as its chief executive officer, with the title of secretary, which position 
he has held for thirty consecutive j^ears.* They hired a small room in 

* The society issued an admirable circular letter, in which, after defining their objects 
and proposed methods, and alluding to the immense thi-ong of wretched children to be 
benefited, most vividly set forth the condition and needs of the class for whose benefit 
the society had been founded. It declared its intention not to conflict with any exist- 



Til I HI) DirADK, laiO-lSCO. ''>37 

Arnity Mifct for an office, and tlicruin was licj^un by tlie sei'ivtarv, 
with a small lad in attendance, the jrreat work since acconiiilished. 
The asscx-iation was incorjun-ated in ls,")(;. 

ing institations, bnt to rontU-r them a hearty co-operation. They proposed to (jive to the 
vagrant children of the city opportunities for receiving moral and religious instruction, 
and to afford thciu un-aus preliminary to their earning a livelihood l)y honest labor by 
founding industrial schools. In tiuo, they proposed at the beginning to do precisely 
what the society has done so nobly and with such gooil results. 

In that circular was presented the following sad picture of the condition of a class of 
boys and girls in the city : " For the ujo.st part the boys grow up utterly by themselves. 
No one cares for them, and they caro for no one. Some live by begging, by petty pilfer, 
ing, by tiold robbery ; some earn an honest support by peddling matches, or apples, or 
newspapers ; others gather bones and rags in the streets to sell. They sleep on steps, in 
cellars, in old bams, and in markets, or they hire a bed in filthy and low lodging-houses. 
They cannot read ; they do not go to school or attend church. Many of them hare never 
seen a Bible. Every cunning faculty is intensely stimulated. They are shrewd and old 
in vice when other children are in leading-strings. Few influences which are kind and 
good ever reach the vagrant boy. And yet, among themselves, they show generous and 
honest traits. Kindness can always touch them. 

" The girls, too often, grow up even more pitiable and deserted. Till of late no one 
has ever cared for them. They are the cros.s-walk sweepers, the little apple-peddlers 
and candy-sellers of our city ; or by more questionable means they earn their scanty 
bread. They traverse the low, vile streets alone, and live without mother or friends, or 
any share in what we should call a home. They also know little of God or Christ, except 
by name. They grow up pas.sionate, ungoverned, with no love or kindness ever to soften 
the heart. We all know their short wild life, and the sad end. These boys and girls, it 
should be remembered, will soon form the great lower class of our city. They will infln- 
ence elections ; they may shape the policy of the city ; they will, assuredly, if unre- 
claimed, poison society all around them. They will help to form the great multitude of 
robbers, thieves, vagrants, and prostitutes who are now such a burden upon the law. 
respecting community." 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE circular letter of the Children's Aid Society, widely disti'ih- 
uted, excited universal attention and sympathy, and called forth 
generous responses from the fortunate classes. The first considerable 
contribution was from Mrs. "WiUiam B. Astor (a daughter of General 
Armstrong), wife of the pi-incipal property-holder in the city. She 
sent $50. It was the pioneer of ample funds which came in time to 
sustain the institution. The scenes at the office of the secretary soon 
after it was opened were exceedingly interesting. 

" Most touching of all," wrote Jlr. Brace, " was the crowd of wandering little ones 
who immediately found their way to the office. Ragged young girls who had nowhere 
to lay their heads : children driven from drunkards" homes ; orphans who slept where 
they could find a box or a stairway ; boys cast out by stepmothers or stepfathers ; news- 
boys whoso innocent answer to our question, ' 'Where do you live ? ' rang in our ears, 
' Don't live nowhere ! ' little bootblacks, young peddlers, ' canawl-boys ' who seemed to 
drift into the city every winter and live a vagabond life ; pickpockets and petty thieves 
trj-ing to get honest work ; child-beggars and flower-sellers growing up to enter careers of 
crime — all this motley throng of infantile misery and childish guilt passed through our 
doors, telling their simi)le stories of suffering, and loneliness, and temptation, until our 
hearts became sick." 

The fii"st special effort made by the society was the finding of work 
for the children. A workshop was established in Wooster Street. It 
was a failure. It was soon found that benevolence could not compete 
with selfishness in business. They could and did provide means for 
earning a livehhood for girls by sewing. 

The newsboys of the city soon attracted their special attention. As 
a class they were shrewd, reckless, jolly, and heathenish ; social 
Ishraaelites, for their hands were against every man's pocket, and 
every one considered a newsboy his natural enemy, intent only on 
])lunder. Their life was extremely hard. They slept in boxes, alleys, 
doorways, under stairways, on hay-barges, in the coldest weather, so 
as to be near the jirinting-olficcs early in the morning. As a rule they 
did not " live nowhere." They were pushed about by the pohce, and 



THIRM PKrADF. li^r.O-ISfiO. 039 

tliiTt' was lint a sini,'lo tliHH- in tlic city open to welcoiiu! tliciii or givo 
tht'iii IimmI ami slii-lttT. Mr. Brace frciiuciUly saw ti-ii or ii dozen on a 
cold nigiit jiiled together to keep warm under a printing-office stairs. 
His heart was touclied, and lie resolved to iielpthe poor souls, and with 
the pecuniary aid of some pei'sonal frienils lie estahlished the fust l<nlg- 
in"--house for newslM)ys ever known in this country. A loft in the old 
.S'»//( building was secureil anil (itted up, in ^March, isr)4, and placed in 
charge of C. C. Tracy, a car|)enter. There they were furnislied with 
a sup]i(>r for live cents, and a lied for six cents, and a batii thrown in. 
For six cents tiiey had a breakfast in the morning. 

The experience of tiie fu-st night established tiio jiopularity of tiio 
Newsboys' Lodging-IIoase. The boys were too nuich e.xcited to sleep 
nmch. *' I sav, Jim," cried one, " this is rayther Ijetter "an bummin' 
— eh ?" " My eves I what soft beds tliese is !" Siiid another. " Tom, 
it's 'most !\s good as a steam-gratin', and there ain't no M. P.'sto 
poke, nuther I" sjiid a third. 

Very soon an evening school was opened, and Sunday meetings were 
regularlv held, firadually these " institutions" iiad a powerful e(Feet. 
The Lodging-House, taken in charge l)y the society, is now one of its 
chief engines of i-eforni. In the coui-se of a year tiie i)opuhition of a 
large town, in numbers, i)a.sse(l through it. In 1S7-2 the Shakespearo 
Hotel, on the corner of DuaiK! an<l C'hambei-s streets, was jjurchased 
and litted up as a jjermanent Lodging-IIouse for Homeless Boys. 

At an early period in the history of tliis society ^^fr. Biiu-e founded 
an Industrial School for Girls, the fii-st institution of tlie kind ever 
established. That first seed is now the Wilson Industrial School. 
Similar schools have been estalilished by the society, and now Jiumber 
twentv-fine. These have proved to be among the liest ])revcntives of 
crime among children. (iirls' lodging-houses were subseiiuently 
provided, with incalculable benefit, and at the very beginning tho 
emignition ])lan — the sending of children of both sexes to good lionie.? 
i-emote from the city — was instituted. In a special manner this plan has 
succeeded in the Western States, to wliicli tliou-sands of poor children 
have l)een sent and blessed. 

Such, in iirief, is the history of the origin and pioneer work of this 
great charity, which has done so mucli for the elevation and sidvation 
of neglected children in the city of New York, and thereby conferred 
an inestimable b(X)n on society there. Let us glance at the results. 

The annual report of the society (Xovember 1, 1S82) showed that 
in the lotlging-house„s of the society, now six in number, during 
twenty-nine years, more than 250,000 different boys and girls had 



640 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

been sheltered and parti}- fed and instructed. In the industrial schools 
probably over 100,0(10 jjoor little girls had been instructed, and of 
these it is not known that even a score have entered on criminal courses 
of hfe, or have been drankards or beggars, though four fifths vrere 
children of drunkards. Among the 187,952 boys Avho had been, 
durino- twenty-nine years, in the Xewsboys' Lodging-House, there has 
been no case of any contagious or foul-air. diseases, not even ophthalmia, 
and only one death had occurred. 

During the year ending November 1, 1882, 14,122 different boys and 
girls had been sheltered, fed, and taught in the six lodging-houses, 
these having supplied 305,524 meals and 230,968 lodgings. In the 
twenty-one day and thirteen evening schools of the society, 13,9()6, chil- 
dren were taught and partly fed and clothed, 3957 were sent to homes, 
mainly in the West, and 2340 were aided with food, medicine, etc., 
through the sick children's mission. In the Girls' Lodging-House and 
in the industrial schools 484 girls were taught the use of the sewing- 
machine. In the lodging-houses during the year were 7613 orphans. 
A penny savings-bank had been established, and in it $10,380.84 were 
deposited dui'ing the year. The total number of children in charge of 
the society during the year Avas 36,971. Among the 14,122 boys and 
girls in the lodging-houses no death had occurred during the year. 
This healthful state was secm'ed mainly by watchfulness, scrupulous 
cleanliness, proper ventilation, and wholesome food. 

Through the nmnificence of Mr. A. B. Stone, one of the tnistees, 
the society is possessed of a charming seaside home for the childi-en, at 
Bath, Long Island. There are four and a half acres of ground which 
Mr. Stone presented. The spot is known as Bath Park. There, in 
the summer of 1882, upward of 4000 children (averaging about 300 a 
week) enjoyed the benefits of salubi'ious air. 

Since the beginning of the work the society had furnished (to 
JSTovember 1, 1882) 1,343,166 lodgings and 1,359,728 meals, 14,832 
wandering boys have been returned to their relatives and friends, and 
it has sent to homes in tlio West and South 67,287 boys and girls. 
Benevolent individuals have also sent many at their own expense under 
the care of the society. Within four years Mrs. J. J. Astor has sent 
over 1000.* 

• It having been publicly asserted that homeless children sent West by the Children's 
Aid Society were " crowding the Western prisons and reformatories," and that their 
prisons and houses of refuge were " half full of these children," a special agent was sent 
to the prisons of Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana to make a thorough investigation The 
agent reported that in Michigan and Illinois, where over ten thoiisand children had been 



■I'lllltl> ni'.i'Alil". 1M.-.II -infill 



The t^ooa .vsulU ..f .vfonuatury ..(Turts of vanuus mst.tuUons w. >..^ 
York ntv. of wl.id. th., ChiUh-en-s Ai.l Soc.oty .s ^^^' ^'^''^^^'^'r^'l^^^ 
conspicuously shown by the jk-Ucc ropr.rts in isr.u and ssu 1„ Is . 
the popuUition of the city was 814,224. and t h- nuMd...,- of conumt- 
inonLof fTh-ls and wouv-n that year was r.sSo. 'I he popnlat.on .n issn 
WIS over 1 "X"..-!!..., and the number of such conmutn.ents was only 
is.u-that'is, the c.nunitinents in is.iO were 1 in ewry 13Si of the 
popuhitioa ; in ISSO the conunitn.ents were 1 m t!4 . 

The <.ld associations of crin.inal youths of >ew \ork, such as Dead 
Itabbits, Short Boys, Nineteeatli Street Gang, ami othe,-s of a score 
of years ago, have been broken up and have not reappeared. Thev 
have been broken up or prevented, not by punishment but by associa- 
tions of reform and education. Organiml crnne b.as been met an.l 
checked by organi?.ed virtue.* 

T,.K W.X.SOX LNnrsrm.u, Scuoo,. ruu G.m.s, piante.l by Mr. T.race 
and nurtured int.> vigorous Ufe by a few ea^yest wo.nen ..xs o,^ned m 
a small upper room at No. 118 Avenue D, m Aprd, 1>>..3. Its plan 
was si.nple and ha-s been a.lhered to in its essential elements. It con- 
sistetl of a morning session for instruction m the common Engl^h 
Wches, a wann dinner at midday, ami an afternoon session for 
e^-in.. The work suppUed was in the form of gannents for the pupils, 
::;;idr;hey we,, to eaVn by a system of ci-edit, narks. The i.st. u ion 
W.US incorporated in May, 1854. It was named in honor of :\Irs. Jame. 
P AVilson, who was chiefly instrumental in establishing it. 

■voluntary contributions soon enabled the managers to pm-chase a 
buildin- on Avenue A for the accommodation of the rapidly increasing 
school." A dressmaking department was added to the eurr.culun^ 
under the charge of an exi>ert dressmaker. Wages were paid to tl e 
pupils after they had attained a certain degree of skill in the art Thi. 
silenced the objections of parents, who found in the simple mtellectua 
education of tiie children no source of revenue. (Masses were fonne.l 
for trainiucr in housework of various kinds, with a view to exerting a 
reflex influence upon the homes of the children as well .us to fit them 
for family service. An outfitting department was estabhshed, which 
provider instruction in the more dirtic-ult kinds of ne«llework an.l also 
sent not a single boy or prl sent from the society coaUl l.e fonn.l in all the prisons an.l 
that'in Indiana, where six thousand had been sent, one girl was fonnd m a reformator,-. 
and fonr bovs had been sentenced for vagrancy only. . „ ,, 

"Z officers of the rhildre„-s .Xid Society in 1882 were : WiU.am A. Booth presi- 
dent ; George S. Coe. treasurer: Charles L. «race. secrefm-. The Irnstees were : Robert 
Hoe Jr.. Howard Potter, j|^al,bri, W. B. Catting, A. B. Stone VN.lham A. Booth, 
G Cabot Ward. Robert J^^ton, P. W. James, and Lncns Tnckerraan. 



612 HISTOUY OF NEW YOIiK CITY. 

remunerative ein])loyincnt. It "was designed also to draw in girls from 
tlie street ■whose ages excluded them from the regular school classes. 

A flourishing Sunday-school has been in operation in connection with 
the institution from tlie beginning, and in Februarj', 18C6, praj'er- 
meetings on Sunday and "Wednesday evenings were established. With 
all this enlarged work the accommodations became too straitened, and 
the managers erected a spacious building, four stories and a high base- 
ment in height, on the corner of St. Mark's Place and Avenue A. It 
was completed in 1869, and there the good work, constantly enlarging, 
has been carried on ever since. A refuge was offered there for home- 
less girls at any hour ; also a nursery, m which babies may be cared 
for while their mothers are out at service during the day. Ivinder- 
garten instruction was opened with abundant success. The idea was 
caught by Miss Emily Huntington, its matron in 1883, and apphed to 
housework instruction. It was elaborated into an acbnirable system 
under the name of Kitchen-Garden. That department has realized the 
most sanguine hopes of its originator and superintendent. There is 
also a boys' club, which is very jjopular. It comprises about fifteen 
hmidred members. In the basement is a reading-room and hbrary, 
where amusing and instructive games are furnished to the children. 
There is also a haU, in whicli the more studious boys may read in quiet.* 

At the beginning of this decade Henry Grinnell, an opulent mer- 
chant of IsQW York, touched by feehngs of humanity and moved hy 
most generous impulses characteristic of his nature, undertook a noble 
task which excited universal admiration. That task was a search for 
Sir John Frankhn (an English arctic exjjlorer) and his party, who 
saUed from England with two vessels, the Erehus and Terror, in May, 
1845, in an attempt to make a north-west passage to the Pacific Ocean. 
The two vessels were seen, sixty-eight days later, moored to an iceberg 
in the middle of Baifin's Bay, and were never heard of afterward. 

In 1848 anxiety about Sir John and his party was painfully excited 
in England, and the British Government and Lady Franklin sent fruit- 
less exjieditions in search of them. In 1850 Mr. Grinnell fitted out 
two of his own vessels, at his own expense, to proceed in the holy 
quest, and when ready for the task they were proffered to our govern- 
ment gratuitously, for use in the search. Congress took tlie expedition 
under its charge, and Lieutenant De Haven, of the United States 
Nav}'^, was 2)laced in charge of the expedition. It consisted of the 
two vessels, named Advcmce and Rescue, strengthened for war with 

* Mrs. Jonathan Sturges is the president or first directress of the Wilson Industrial 
School, and Miss 11. W. Hubbard is secretary. 



THIUU DKCADK, 1>(:>0-1H(!0. 043 

pac-k-ifc' and polar stoniis. Thi-y k-ft Nl-w Viirk liailtor on May 22(1. 
Tlio pilot-boat Wimliliiijtuii, with Mr. Grinnell ami his two sons on 
tjoaril, horo tlicni conij)any far out to sea, and ba(h^ them farewell on 
the 2r>th. The expedition re-entered the harbor of New York on the 
last day of September, l!Sr>l, and Henry (irinnell was the lii-st to wel- 
come the returned heroes, on the pier-head. 

Though the explorei-s did not succeo<l in the accompli-shment of the 
main object of their elForts, they were fortunate in making important 
additions to existing geogra])hieal knowledge of the ])olar regions. 
They discovered the extensive tract of land divided by Smith's Sound 
from (ireenland. A British expedition had <liscovered the siimc^ terra 
firina and named it Prince AUiert's Land. A sharji controversy arose 
with English geograjihei's and explorers lus to priority of <li.scovery. It 
was linally decided in favor of the American ex|)edition, and the name 
of " Grinnell Land " was j)ermanently alti.ved to maps ami charts in 
place of " Prince Albert's Laml." 

In 1S53 Mr. Grinnell, with the aid of (leorge Peabody, litted out 
the Admnne for another searching expedition under the command of 
Dr. Kane. It did not find Sir John Franklin and his crews, but it 
iiccomplished more than any expedition which had preceded it, iov it 
discovered the first trustworthy evidence of an oj)en polar sea, defined 
the coiist-line, and explorcMl the interior of hitherto unknown lands. 

Out of the interest in geographical studies and di.scoveries created by 
the Grinnell expeditions sprang the American (ieograpliical Society, 
incorporated in 1854, of which Henry (Trinnell was one of the active 
foundei-s. lie was a native of Xcw Bedford, Mass., where he was 
born in ITO'.t. Having aciiuired an aca<lemic education, he entered 
upon a mercantile career in early life. With Ids brother, Moses II., 
and his brother-in-law, Robert B. Minturn, he formed the great com- 
mercial house of Grinnell, ^linturn iz Co. It took that title in 182!>, 
though the house w;ts founded in 181.5 l)y their elder brother Joseph 
and Preserved Fish, under the firm name of Fish 6z Grinnell.* 

• Mr. Fish wlu'U u baby hiid been i>iekej up iit seii by a New Heilfonl whaling vessel, 
and from that oirciinistanoe wiis named Preserved Fish. Joseph Grinnell, who returned to 
New Bedford when he withdrew from active mercantile life in New York, represented his 
district in Congress from 184-4 to 1852. He had j)reviously served as a member of the 
conncil of the governor of Mussachnsetts. He was living in 1882, at the ago of ninety- 
fonr years. 

Moses H. Grinnell was born in New Bedford, JLvss., in March, 1803. He was educated 
at private schools and at the Friends' Academy. Bred a merchant, he freipienlly went 
abroad as supercargo until be became n partner in the firm of (irinncU, Minturu &. Co., 
in New York, in 1821), with his brother Hcnrv and brother-in-law Robert B. Mintnrn. 



044 HISTOUY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

The American Geot^rapliical Society was incorporated in April, 1854, 
by the Legislature of New York, under the title of the American 
Geogi'aphical anil Statistical Society, for the purpose of "collecting 
and diffusing geographical and statistical information." The name of 
the corporators mentioned in the charter were : George Bancroft, 
Ilenrv GrinneU, Francis L. Hawks, John C. Zimmerman, Archibald 
Russell, Joshua Leavitt, William C. II. Vaddell, Ridley Watts, S. De 
"Witt Bloodgood, M. Dudley Bean, Ilh-am Barney, Alexander I. 
Cotheal, Luther B. Wyman, John Jay, J. Calvin Smith, Henry Y. 
Poor, Cambridge Livingston, Edmund Blunt, and Alexander "\Y. 
Bi-idford. 

Tiiis charter was amended by act of April 8, 1871, when the title 
was changed to the American Geographical Society, and its ol)jects were 
more minutely defined, as follows : " The advancement of geographic;)! 
science ; the collection, classification, and scientific arrangement of 
statistics, and their results ; the encouragement of explorations for the 
more thorough knowledge of all parts of the Xorth American conti- 
nent, and of all other parts of the world which may be imperfectly 
Icnown ; the collection and diffusion of geographical, statistical, and 
scientific knowledge, by lectures, printed publications, or other means ; 
the keeping up of a correspondence with scientific antl learned societies 
in every part of the world, for the collection and diffusion of informa- 
tion and the interchange of books, charts, maps, public reports, docu- 
ments, and valuable publications ; the jiermaneut establishment in the 
city of New York of an institution in which shall be collected, classi- 
fied, and arranged, geographical and scientific works, voj^ages and 
travels, maps, charts, globes, instruments, documents, manuscripts, 
prints, engravings, or whatever else may be useful or necessary for 
supplying full, accurate, and reliable information in respect to every 
part of the globe, or explanatory of its geography, physical and de- 
scriptive ; and its geological history, giving its climatology, its produc- 
tions, animal, vegetable, and mineral ; its exploration, navigation, and 
commerce ; having especial reference to that kind of information 
which should be collected, pi-eserved, and be at all times accessible for 
])ublic uses in a great maritime and commercial city." 

This ample definition of tiie ])urposes of the American Geographical 
Society is a fair epitome of its woik. Tl:e society from the beginning 
bar. lieen marked by extraordinary zeal and energy in everj"^ depart- 

Mr. GrinneU represented a district of the city of New York in Congress one term 
(1839-41 ), and in 185fi he was chosen a Republican presidential elector. Sir. GrinneU 
died in November, 1877. 



rniui) iiKCADK, is.-,<>-iHiio. '^•*-' 



raent. It rcceivos as nuosts tlu- nu.st .■uuiu-nl t.:,v..ll..rs an.l snont.sts 
xvlio visit the j,n-eat nu-tropoiis. Tl.e papers rea.l l-elurc .t lr.,m t.n.e 
to ti.ne bv learned a.ul seientilie men are oi the ^^if^l'^;}'"^;^ 
interest, 'it owns the In.il.hng it m.w .K-eui.ies (,No. U ^^ est l«enty- 
nintli Street), and has there a hbrary containing over U,ono ge-.-raph- 
ic-al an.l statistical works, ever (•,..(»• that are not strictly geographical, 
and a superl, collection of nu.ps and charts, n...re than S.-oo ,n mun l.er. 
Manvof its books and charts are of the rarest character and va i.e. 
The publications of the society, in a series of bulletins, are very valuable. 
The An.erican tieogmplnc-al Society has had but three pres.de,.ts- 
nanielv, tic.rge Bancroft, LL.D., the llev. Francis L. Hawks D.l ., 
LL d" * an.l the present incumbent .,f the office, C'hiet- Justice Charles 
P Dalv LL.D., who has lilled the position since the death ot Dr 
Hawks in ISM. Judge Daly is one of the most studious, learned, and 
• Franois Lister Hawks, D.D.. LL.D., was bo.n in New Berne. N. C .n June, 17'..S 
and al^Un New York City in September. l«fiG. Ho w.s gradu-Ued at t'- tnners, y 
North Carolina in isl.5. studied law. and was admitted to the bar «'-" l''^;^'; ";^^;^ 
one years of age. He practised a tew years in North Carohna, was a ;■-» "J^^^ .^'"^^ 
Legi;iature. and was ordained a minister of the Protestant EiusoopaK hurch ■» 1«-J. >" 
which he served as an able and eloquent preacher the rema.nder ofh.s hfe. For a who 
he was the a.ssistant of the Rev. Harry Crosswell, D.D., of New Haven. Conn. In 1829 
hraerolen assistant minister of St. .Tames's Church Philadel.dua. -,<1 ^ -'^^ 
St Stephen's in 1831. when ho was called to the rectorship of St. Thou.as , ''"r^^. ^^-^ 
York, where he remained from IHO'i to 1843. He was authonzed by the <■-- 1 tnn- 
venti^n of his C-hurch to go to England and obtain cop.es of .mportant W«- " ^ - 
tion to the early history of the Church in America. In 1837, m connection with Dr^ 
C S Heun-. ho found;d the New York lievie., and was for some time is editor am 
principal contributor. Ho founded, at Flushing. L. I.. St. Thomas s Ha 1. -^^'- 
boys which was an unsuccessful entcn-rise. and the founder was deeply invohed in 
deb ■ For two years (1840-42, he conducted the Curch TJen^u,. in which much of the 
h storical matte; ho had collected in Europe was printed. In 1843 he niade his abod 
in Mississippi, and was elected bishop of the diocese, which office he ^l-" '" J; /^^^ 
next year he became rector of Christ Church in New Orieans, and remained there five 
years, during which time he was chosen president of the Vniversity of Loiiis.ana 

In 1849 I)r. Hawks returned to New York and became rector of the Church of the 
Mediator A subscription of $15,000 relieyed him from pecuniary embarrassment. His 
"church was afterward merged into Caharj- Church, of which he was rector seyeml years. 
In 18.^4 he was elected bishop of the Diocese ot Rhode Island, but declined His sym- 
pathies being with the Southern people when the rebellion broke out ,n 18G1 ^^^re.v.^^^ 
the rectorship of Calvary, and had charge of a parish in Baltimore during he Cml Var 
m 18G.^ he was recaUed to New York, and became rector ot the Chapel ot the Holy 

^^T'Tlawkswas an able and prolific wnter, and left behind hiu. numerous contribu- 
tions t . the literature of his country in its y,mons departments, historical, ecclesuistical, 
scientific, and educational. At the time of his death he was preparing a work on tho 
•• Ancient Mounds of Central and Western America ' and a physical geography. His 
yaluabl.. library forms a part of the rich collections of the New York Historical Socet}-. 



646 mSTOUY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

efficient workei-s in the Held of iiumaii knowledge in oui' eountrv. and 
lie imparts to the members of the (Teogra[)hical Societ}' much of his 
own enthusiasm." 

Perhaps the greatest achievement in physical science was accom- 
])lished by the enterpi'ise of citizens of New York at about the middle 
of the third decade, in the successful establishment of an electro- 
magnetic connnunication between Europe and America. The belief 
that such a communication might and could be effected was, as we 
have seen, expressed b}^ Professor Morse in a letter to the Secretarj' of 
the Treasury so early as August, 1843, nine months before the comple- 
tion of the fii-st land telegraph line between P>altimore and Washington. 
Almost a dozen years afterward an attempt was first made to establish 
such a communication by means of an insulated metallic cable stretched 
between the continents under the sea. 

To the enterprise and energy of Cyrus "W. Field, an eminent 
merchant of New York City, the world is chiefly indebted for this 
wondei-ful achievement, this incalculable boon. Submarine telegraphy 
was fii-st conceived and accomplished by Professor Morse. Its feasi- 
bihty was tested by him in 1842, by means of a cable stretched be- 
tween Castle Garden and Governor's Island. Ten years later the 
Newfoundland Telegraph Company was formed for the pm-pose of con- 
necting that island with the xVmerican main l)y means of a submarine 
telegraph. It failed, and its chief officer, F. N. Gisborne, came to 
New York in January, 1854, and tried to interest Matthew D. Field, 
an engineer, in the project. Matthew laid the matter before his 
brother Cyrus "\Y. , who invited Gisborne to his house. An evening 
Avas spent in the discussion of the subject. 

After Mr. Gisborne had left his house, Mr. Field took a terrestrial 
globe, and while studying it in reference to the practicabilit}' of con- 
necting Newfoundland with the American main and New York, the 

* The membership of the society now numbers about twelve hundred, including 
honorary and corresponding members and fellows. There are also ex-qffido members, 
composed of all foreign diplomatic representatives and consuls resident in the United 
States, and United States diplomatic representatives and consuls abroad. The fellows 
are the paying members of the society. The list of honorary members is headed by the 
name of Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, and followed by men of great distinction in the 
scientific world. The society is in correspondence with about 140 foreign and domestic 
geographical and other scientific bodies. 

The officers of the society for 1883 were : Charles P. Daly, president ; George W. 
CuUum, Francis A. Stout, Koswell D. Hitchcock, -vice-presidents ; J. Carson Brevoort, 
foreign corresponding secretary ; James M. Bailey, domestic corresponding secretary ; 
Elial F. Hall, recording secretary ; George Cabot Ward, treasurer ; Robert Curren, chief 
clerk, and fifteen councillors. 



Tiiiitn KKCAPK. iH-.n-iHOo. 'J-1^ 

questi.,n tlasl..'.! across liis n.in.l liU.- :m inspiration, Wli.V not cross tho 
ocean as well, an.l e.mnect Kuroiu- an.l America > The i.lea took c.mii- 
nlete possession of Mr. Fic-M's uiin.l. He wrote to Professor i[orse 
(then in Touj^hkeepsie) an.l Lieutenant Maury for their opinions. 
Moi-se respon.le.1 that he had perfect faith in the feas.i.ihty .jf such an 
enterprise, and ^[aurv wr..te of a discovery of a i)lat.-au e.xtendin- 
from Newfoundland to Ireland which deep-sea soundings had disclosed. 
He sjiid, " On that plateau a cable would lie as quietly as on the hot- 
toni of a niilli)ond." This settled the (juestion in tin; mind of ^fr. 
Field, who with his usual pluck and energy at once proceeded t. 
act. 1 le engiv^'ed his brother, David 1 )udley Field, as legal adviser, and 
invited four other gentlemen to a conference on the subject. These 
were Peter Cooper, Closes Taylor, Mai-shall O. Roberts, and Chandler 
White. Thev first met at the house of ifr. Field, in (irameiry Park, 
on the evening of March 7th, l.s54, around a table in his dining-r.H)m, 
covered with maps, charts, and plans, and for four successive even- 
iiurs the whole subject was discussed and careful estimates of cost sub- 
mftted and examined. There these gentlemen signed an agreement 
to form a company to carry out the project, which they called the 
Xew York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company. 

To begin the enterprise, .Afcssi-s. Cyrus Field. Cooper, Taylor, and 
Roberts "each put in S2(»,<)(»0 ; Mr. Vhite somewhat less. Afterward 
Messi-s. Cvrus Field, Cooper, Taylor, and Roberts each paul very nuicli 
more :Mr. Field more than an v other one. The brothers I-ield and 
Mr. White pi<.ceeded to Newfoundland from Boston in a small steamer 
late in March, encountered aheavy g-ale, and landed at St. John s,.in a 
terrilic snow-storm. Thev were heartily r.K-eived by ^Ir. Archibald 
(afterward P.ritish con.sul-general at New York), then attoniey-general 
i>{ the colony. Thev procured from the Colonial Assembly a charter 
with the exclusive right to land cables on the shoi-es of the island for 
fifty years, and lifty stjuare miles of land. Twenty-five yeai-s atter- 
ward five of tlie six of these pioneers in submarine telegraphy (Mr. 
AVhite having died in isr,.-,) met mund the same table, in Mr.. Field's 
dining-riK.m. Since then all but two of them (the >[essi-s. Field) have 

died. 

To build a line across half-desert Newfoundland suallnwed up vast 
sums of monev. When comi>leted. Mr. FieUl went to England for a 
cable to span' the Gidf of St. Lawr.-nce from Newfoun.Uand to the 
main. One was sent over in l!^5r>, and was lost in the attemi.t to lay 
it. A new cable was manufactuml and successfully laid the next 
year. Cp to this time not a <lollar had been received out of the United 



G48 IllSTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

States, and little out of the city of New York, in aid of the enterprise. 
Mr. Field went to England again. At first he was met with general 
incredulity among the highest scientific authorities of Great Britain. 
Yet there wei-e some who believed, among them the great Faraday. 
Mr. Field ])leaded his cause with such enthusiasm that he made con- 
verts among capitalists and government officers, and succeeded in form- 
ing tlie Atlantic Telegraph Company, with a capital of £350,000. 
To show his faith by his works, he took one fourth of the stock him- 
self. The British Government guaranteed £14,000 a year in payment 
for messages sent, the interest on the capital at four per cent, on con- 
dition of a cable being laid and worked successfully. The American 
and British governments also furnished vessels for laying the cable, 
and in 18.57 the first attempt was made, but the cable broke thifee 
hundred miles from the coast of Ireland. The next year the attempt 
was renewed, and, after one failure, when they were almost at the point 
of despair, a second attempt, made in the face of overwhebning 
discouragements, proved successful. The cable was laid the whole 
distance between Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and Valentia, on the 
west coast of Ireland, a distance of 1950 miles, in water two thirds 
of the distance over two miles in depth. This success was announced 
to the Associated Press by Mr. Field on the morning of August 
5, 1858. 

Congratulations were exchanged between Queen Victoria and Presi- 
dent Buchanan. The country was wild with dehght. The ocean had 
been abolished as a barrier to intercourse. Xew Yo7"k and London 
could convei"se with each other with almost the facility of two friends 
tallcing face to face. The pubhc mind seemed disposeil to apotheosize 
Mr. Field. " Since the discovery of Columbus," said the London 
Tlmcn, " nothing has been done in any degree comparable to the vast 
enlargement which has thus been given to the sphere of human 
activity." 

Kew York, the birthplace of the entei-priso, and in which its com- 
mercial interests were so deejily involved, responded to the announce- 
ment of the wonderful news by a hundred guns fired in the Park 
at daybreak on the morning of August 17th. The salute was repeated 
at noon. Flags were flung out above all the public buikbngs, the bells 
■were rung, and at night the city was illuminated. The fireworks at 
the City Hall were intensified in brilliancy l)y the accidental Inirning 
of the cupola of that building and the adjoining roof. 

The first of September was set apart for a public ovation l)y the 
municipal authorities to Mr. Field and his associates in the enterprise. 



TIIIKH T>Ki'.\I>K, lMr,() isr.o. 



A tlumksjrivin^r stTvit-.' was lirl.l in Trinity Cliu.vli in th.- mmiimi.'. ;it 
wliiil. two liiin.livd (l.Tf^yiiu-n omi-ii»t('<l. At noon Mr. ImoI.I and tin- 
otHc-ei-s of tlio sliips hnuU'd at Ciustlo (hirdcn and wen- n-c.-ivvd witl. a 
national s:dute. A ]m)ces.sion w:ui fonned at tin- IJattfi-y and nianliwl 
to tlie C'rystal I'alac-c, whcro the mayor presented .Mr. Field tlie free- 
dom of tiic citv in a gold box, with the thanks of the eitizens. At 
night the tiren'.en had u brilliant torchli-ht procession in liis honor. 
AU over the country weie heard eannon-i)eals and the voice of eulogy, 
with lM>iitires and "illuminations, when, at almost the same monu-nt, 
the mighty pulse of the great evangelist <.f i)eace and good-will 
began to flutter, and very s(Kjn ceas(!d to beat at all. The ex]iens<'S 
up to that date had been §l,S;U,r)0(>. 

There was now a suilden i-evulsion in tiie public ftvUng. Some 
beheved the evangelist had never lived— that it was a huge unpostor. 
The popular idol was forsiiken for the moment as a "false gwl " 
indeed The telegraj)!! cable remained in a state of susjiended anima- 
tion for nearly seven yeai-s. In ls.il the great CivW War in America 
broke out and absorbed all thoughts. Hut ilr. Field was neither 
discouraged nor idle. "While the Atlantic was traversed l)y incendiary 
pirate ships, he cros.sed and recrossed the ocean many times and 
preached to chambei-s of commerce, to public gatherings, and to 
capitalists in Englan.l and the T'nited States, with so much earnestness 
that in ISO-l his converts furni.shed sufficient capital to renew the 
attempt to lay the great cable. An improved one was coiled on board 
the leviathan of the merchant marin.^ of England, the Omit Emteni. 
She siiiled in Ison, and when over 120(1 miles of the cable were i)aid 
out, it snapped in twain, and the great enten)rise was once more " in 
the deep bosom of tlie ocean buried." 

The attempt was not renew(>d that year. But still Mr. Field was 
not disheartened. Returning to London, he rallied his a.ssociates, and 
with theni organized the Anglo-American Telegraj)!! fomjiany, with a 
capital of 8?','"M),ono, to ])rovide means f<jr manufacturing and laying 
another cable, anil in the summer of isrtfi was agiiin on board the 
Great Emhrn, when at last the attempt to connect the two worlds, 
which he had pui-sued for nearly tliirteen years, was to be rewarded 
Avith victory. The gigantic coil was unrolled without a break across the 
ocean, and the Eastern and Western llemisiiheres were at la.st finiily 
linked together. But one triumph did not satisfy the g-allant project- 
ors : they remembereil the cable of the year before lying with its 
broken end at the bottom of the sea. A few days after the new cabl.' 
was landed, the Great Euxtrrn ivturn.d to mid-ocean to search for the 



C50 IlISTUKY OF NEW YORK (_1TY. 

lost treasure, and after grojiing for a whole mouth at a depth of two 
miles, recovered it and carried it stifely to the shox'es of Xewfoundland. 
Thus two cables were laid in one year (1S6G) without a flaw. Perfect 
and permanent electrical communication between America and Great 
Britain was established on July 27, ISOfi.* 

Ilonoi's were showered upon the leaders in this marvellous achieve- 
ment in both countries. Several of the English participants were 
knighted. The Prime Minister of England, in conferring these honors, 
declared that it was only the fact that Mr. Field was a citizen of 
another country that prevented his receiving high honoi-s from the 
British Governnaent. He had honors in abundance at home. Con- 
gress voted him thanks and a gold medal, and he received numerous 
other testimonials for what was regarded as one of the most remark- 
able achievements of the age. At the French Exposition in 1867 he 
received the Gi'and Medal, given only to those who were recognized as 
great pubUc benefactoi-s. Mi*. Field crossed the ocean more than fifty 
times in the prosecution of the great enterprise. + 

* The capital stock of the Anglo-American Telegraph Companj- is $35,000,000. They 
have now (1883) in good working order four cables across the Atlantic, besides several 
other cables connecting Newfoundland with Nova Scotia. 

f Cyrus West Field is a native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, whiBre his father, the Kev. 
David Dudley Field, D.D., was settled as a ijastor at the time of his birth, November 30, 
1819. His mother was Submit Dickinson, a daughter of Captain Noah Dickinson, who 
had served with Putnam in the French and Indian war. The parents were both of 
English Puritan stock, the father tracing his ancestry back to the Norman Conquest, in 
1066. (See biographical sketch of Benjamin H. Field.) 

Cyrus W. Field is the eighth of ten children of his parents. He was of a delicate 
physical organization that seemed little fitted to bear the inevitable burdens of 
active life. As a boy he was noted for great activity— a characteristic of his whole life. 
He was fleet of foot and a leader in out-door sports. Choosing a business life instead of 
a professional one, he did not receive a collegiate education, and at the age of tifteen 
years he became a clerk with A. T. Stewart in New York. He began business on his own 
account, as a wholesale paper merchant, when he was twenty-one years of age, and at 
about the same time he married Miss Mary Bryan Stone, of Guilford, Connecticut. They 
have had seven children, three sons and four daughters. 

Mr. Field's only capital with which he started in life as a merchant was great aptitude 
for business, quickness of perception, power of organization, and indefatigable perse- 
verance in whatever he undertook. These qualities have distinguished his whole 
career. In the course of a dozen years he was at the head of a large mercantile house, 
fully established and verj- prosperous ; and though only thirty-three years of age at that 
time, he contemplated withdrawing from active business. He had acquired what 
was then considered a handsome fortune, but he found it easier to enter upon business 
than to retire from it, especially for a man of his active temperament. He tried the 
experiment wisely by making a tour of six months in South America. He climbed the 
Andes to Bogota, crossed the mountains to Quito, and descended to Guayaquil in 
Ecuador. He returned to New York at the end of October, 1853. On this journey Mr. 



S,u-I., in Lrief, is the stury of tli. origin in iW' city of N.-w York .,f 
the woiuU-rful syston. of .ul.n.urino t<.l..gra,l.y, .y ^^f^^J^^ 
•uultla' thou.rhtsof u.on an- conveyed In.n. continent to o tinent, 
Ta ;,;.„; ishuul to ishuul, through the thn.bbing boson, ol the sea, 

'lir;' ^^ a powerful anti-slavery ,nove.nent was begun in New 
York 6itv bv the Hon. John Jay ami othe.^, in eonseMUence of a viola- 
tion of tile ,;ie.lge given bv President Pie.re in his inaugural addres. in 
S tlua lluringlis a,lnunistration the ,uiet of the -uut.y .^ the 
subject of slaverv which ha.l sueceede.l the comproni.se o Mr. ( U.M.i 
s^; should not be .listurbed. This violation was m ^e f...u of a 
proposal bv Senator Dixon, of Kentucky, to repeal tlie M.s.soun Com- 
Tuse, and a bill to that etTect otfei.d in January, is.H by bena or 
Doucdas, chairman of tlie Committee on Temtor.es. 1 hat act, kno« n 
iis the Kansiis-Xebra-ska bill, was pas.se.l in May f..Uow.ng. 

Mr. Jav, who inherite.l a reverence for luunan rights from In. atla , 
Jud.-e Ji'iy, and his grandfather, Chief-Justice Jay, had been keenly 
latching the tenden^' of events at the National capital, and as s..on 

.h« studies from ^vhich ho painted his f«mou3 picture. The Heart of the Andes. 
*'o ht Tettn Mr. Fie.d Lempted to settle down as a -Ured -rc^ant^ ' B„ U ^ 
the hardest task he had ever nndermken,' .rote >>'\^-'^;.V'^;.tt,"„Ul have tin 

r ■ " ' "^^^^ ■ ;:rt:z in:;:t r c^sr^^ :r;::;is leu an 

S^c^^r ::^ :v!::t::S;: i -rest, and to ^r^U. .ope for his activ... 

„nd to prove in its ~;^;„^::\te::nr:n; of th^tJ:^ by an e.eotro- 

Tho enterpr.se alhued ^"'^ ^"^ -"^^ ^J^ j„ ^.^^ext. In that enten>rise he had 

„,agnet.c telefiraph ^^ ^^ ^^"^ ™ ^^ ..^^^.a to success. Since that enterprise 

an arduous str..,«le of thirteen > cars bet ^^^,,,,,,,i ;„ submarine telegraphy 

.as ---f ">'. -"'\Vet o Nel T^rk In 1801 he went to F.,,Tt. «« the delegate 
rLrC-Src LtrofcoLmercItobep. 

of the ^«"/?%'^'^^';"j.,^„^, i„ 18-1 b,, „,„ae a voyage to Iceland, to participate in the 
opening <^^^ ^ '^^-'^;^;'^"J, ^, the one thousandth annivensary of the European settle- 
"To^ Zt lanT In IHHO he left New York with his wife for S.in Fnincisco. whence 
They made a v™ to Japan and thence to India, and circun,n«vigated the w.rl.r ^ 
they maae a y, ^^ ^ telegraphic cable across the Pacific 

ZriTl tL Wwich Islands, which would complete the circuit of th„ globe. 
S th L l\nk he would indeed " put a girdle round the earth ,„ for^- — s^ 

. The directors of the Anglo-.Vmerican Telegraph Company in 1882 were_ The Rt. 
Hon. Viscount Monclc. chairman ; Sir James Anderson, WiUiam Barber and Francs A^ 

rr:JstfTweei;al'e.o: England. The managing director is H. Weaver ; Joshua Dean 
and Francis Glass are the auditors, and T. H. Wells is the secreUrj-. 



652 HISTOHY OF NEW YOUK CITY. 

US he observed this viohition of phghted taitli, with all tlie ])roiiiises of 
fearful consequences, he ch-ew up a call, which was signed by himself 
and othere, for a meeting of conservative men of both parties, at the 
Broadway Tabernacle, to declare their determination to resist all inter- 
ference with the old landmark, the Missouri Compromise. The call 
■was headed, " No Violation of Plighted Faith ! 'No Eepeal of the 
Missouri Compromise !" 

The meeting was presided over l)y Shepherd Knapp, one of the best- 
known merchants and financiers of New- York-, and at one tune city 
chamberlain. It was earnestly addressed by the late James W. Gerard 
and others. Decided resolutions drafted by Mr. Jay were adopted by 
unanimous acclamation. An association ' had been preNaously formed 
called the Democratic Free Club, of which Mr. Jay was president.* 

* John Jaywasborn in New York City June 23, 1817. He is a son of the Hon. WiUiain 
Jay. He lived in the family of his grandfather, Chief -Justice Jay, until the death of the 
latter in 1829. He was graduated at Columbia College, second in his class, in 183G ; 
studied law with Daniel Lord, having William M. Evarts as a fellow-student. In 1837 
Mr. Jay married Eleanor, daughter of Hickson W. Field, an eminent New York merchant. 
He practised his profession until 1858, when on the death of his lather he made his 
abode at Bedford, Westchester County, the family countrj'-seat. 

ilr. Jay began an anti-slavery career while in college in 1834, when he became a man- 
ager of the New York Y'oung Men's Anti-slavery Society, and was an ardent worker in the 
cause so long as slavery existed. He was an actor in the scenes attendant upon the 
anti-slavery riot in New York in 1831, and as we have observed in the text, was an effi- 
cient promoter of a victorious anti-slavery movement in New Y'ork and throughout the 
country twenty years afterward. He was ever a bold, conspicuous, and outspoken 
abolitionist, and suffered a portion of the odium these philanthropists bore. He was 
ever busy with tongue and pen, in addresses, newspaper communication, and otherwise, in 
the cause of human fi-eedom, and was always foremost in public meetings and other 
demonstrations in favor of the freedom of the slaves. 

Like his father. Mi-. Jay is a jnominent member of the Episcopal Church, and active 
in its charities and administration. In 1848 he visited Europe with his wife, where ho 
made the acquaintance of many distinguished statesmen, authors, scientists, artists, and 
others. In 1860 he earnestly endeavored to have the Episcopal Diocesan Convention 
express some decided sentiments on the subject near his heart, and then agitating the 
nation, but failed to overcome the conservatism of that body. During the Civil War that 
ensued, he labored incessantly for the salvation of the Kepublic from destruction by dis- 
loyal men everywhere, and was one of the most vigilant detectors of secret machinations 
by Northern sympathizers with the insurgents. He was one of the founders of the 
Union League Club in New York, of which he was elected jiresident while absent in 
Europe in 1865. In 18G7 Governor Fenton appointed Mr. Jay a commissioner on the 
establishment of a national cemetery on the battle-field of Antietam. In 1869 he was 
appointed TTnitcd States minister to Austria by President Grant, and held that position 
until 187.^, filling it with honor to his country by his social and political life at Vienna. 
He was specially helpful to Americans during the Vienna Exposition in 1873. At home 
-Mr. Jay's services have ever been in demand on commissions, in investigations, and a 



■IllIKD DKCADE, miO-lWlO. 653 

Tho i>otoiit voiw of this mc-tiiig ivsuiiii.lftl over the laiiil, ;iii<l it was 
respomkHl to in unison in nniltitudes of cities :inil viilaj,'<'s in the I'ree- 
lahor States of the Xortii and West. In l''e])iuary Mr. 'lay oiganizetl 
another meeting at tiie Tal>ernaele, eoinposeil eiiiefly of nieciiauies. It 
was adthessed i)y the Kev. Henry Ward Beecher, tho Hon. .loim I'. 
Hale, and Joseph P.lunt. A tliird meeting, on tlie 14th of .March, was 
presided over I>y tiie venerable Abraham \an Xess, on the nomination 
of Moses II. (Jrinnell. It was opened with prayer by the Kev. Dr. 
Vennilyo and addres.sed by tho late WiUiani Curtis Noyes. Still 
another meeting was helil in the City Hall Park, on May 14th, 
presided over by tho Hon. Benjamin V. lUitler, President Jackson's 
Attorney-General. At that meeting a general committee composed of 
12."> leading citi7.en.s, embnujing all the otticei's of the various meetings 
which had been hekl, was apiwinted, with jjower. Under their 
authority a resoluti«m, drawn by ilr. Jay, was adopted, inviting the 
citizens of the State of Xew York, without distinction of i)arty, who 
were " disiwsed to maintain the rights and princijilcs of tho North, to 
stay the extension of slavery to the Territories, to rescue from its 
control the Federal Government, and, so far as it can ])roperly be done, 
to kindly aid the citizens of the South in peacefully hastening its end, 
as a system unjust in itself and unworthy of our Kepui)lic, and to 
a.sserable in convention to determine what coui-se patriotism and duty 
require us to take." The citizens of the free-labor States and of the 
border States, holding such views, wei-e invited to hold conventions. 

This invitation Wius responded to favorably liy the people of several 
States, and this anti-slavery movement, originating in the city of New 
York, speedily led to tlie formation of the great Republican party,* 
which has been dominant in the Republic for nearly a (piarter of a 

variety of other public dnties. State and national. From its inception he has been an 
earnest advocate of a system of civil service reform, and in 1883 he was appointed a 
member of the Civil Service Commission. He has been for many years an active mem- 
ber of the New York Historical Society and the American GeoRraphical Society. His 
addres-ses, essays, reports, and controversial papers arc very nuinerons. and form im- 
portant contributions to oar literatnre. 

• That the ri>iicq,(U,ii of the Eepnblican party was in the city of New York cannot bo 
snccessfnlly disputed, bnt the place of its birth.' like that of Homer, is claimed by 
several communities. It is simply a matter of date in qnestion. Michigan claims that it 
was at a State convention assembled at .lackson, July 6, 1854. a call for which was signed 
by more than 10,000 persons. In its platform the extension of slavery was opposed, and 
its abolition in the District of Colombia was agitated. The name Republican was 
adoptcil by the convention as that of the opposition party. Convintions that took a 
similar conrse were held in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Vennont, on Jvdy b' "'"1 '" M:i-*i- 
chnsetts on Jnly 19, 1854. 



654 HISTOBV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

century. It was composed essentially of the anti-slavery men of aU 
parties. The success of this part}'^ in electing its candidate for the 
Presidency of the United States (Abraham Lincoln) in 186(1 caused 
the desperate disunionists of the nation to plunge the country into one 
of the most dreadfid civil wars on record, the fires of which utterly 
consmned the system of slavery and purged tlie RepubUc of a deathly 
disease.* 

* " The platform of the Republican party adopted at Chicago in May, 1860, caused the 
politicians of the slave-labor States to prepare for the immediate secession of these States 
and a disruption of the Union. After affirming that the maintenance of the principles 
promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the National Consti- 
tution, is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions ; congi'atulating the 
country that no Republican member of Congress had uttered or countenanced any threats 
of disunion, ' so often made by Democratic members without rebuke, and with applause 
from their political associates,' and denouncing such threats as ' an avowal of contem- 
plated treason, ' the resolutions made explicit declarations upon the topic of slaverj', so 
largely occnpj'ing public attention. In a few paragraphs they declared that each State 
had the absolute right of control in the management of its own domestic concerns ; that 
the new dogma that the Constitution, of its own force, carries slavery into any or all of 
the Territories of the United States, was a dangerous political heresy, revolutionary in 
its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country ; that the normal 
condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom, and that neither 
Congress, nor a Territorial legislature, nor any individuals, have authority to give legal 
existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States ; and that the reopening of the 
African slave-trade, then recently commenced in the Southern States, under the cover of 
our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, was a crime against humanity, 
and a burning shame to oui country and age." — Lossiyig's Pictorial FieldrBook of the Civil 
Wc". 



M' 



CHAPTER V. 

-R. CLAY'S compromiso, all\ulo<l to, consisted of a sorios of sup- 
IKisml coneiliiitorv nicasnivs pioposcMl by him in Conprress, in- 
tended to soothe the irritated feehn-s of disputants on both sides of 
the slavery question, for so violent «-ere the tlireats ..f disunion on the 
part of poUticians in the slave-labor States that the integrity of the 
Republic seemed to be in peril. These measures were presente<l m 
what was tenned the Omnibus bill, but instead of allaying they so<,n 
intensified the mutual irritation. 

One of the measures of the Omnilms bill was the inuiuit.ms 1-ugit.vo 
Slave law, framed bv the late' Senator ilason, of A-irginia, for the 
av<nved puqiose of creating the intense opiK.sition (as it did) at the 
North which would provi.le a pretext for rebelUon an.l disunion. It 
provi.led that the master (or his agent) of any alleg.-d runaway slave 
micrht follow him into any State or Territory unmol,>ste.l, arrest h.m or 
her and by the fiat of a commissioner or judge, who was allowed no 
discretion in the nuitter, take the fugitive back into bondage. It also 
provided that any citizen might be compelled to assist in the cnp- 
ture and rendition of the alleged fugitive. 

This infamous act became a law. Every humane heart rebelled 
a-ainst it Every free citizen loathed the position of slave-catcher in 
which the law i.laced him, and there was an intense desire felt every- 
where to aid the iKK.r bondman <.n his way to Canada and liberty. As 
this mi<rht not be done openlv f<.r f.>ar of the ten-oi-s of the law, it was 
.lone st^cretly. The •' rn.leigroiin.l Railway," as the secret aid given 
to the fu.ntives was called, was established, and the city of New 1 ork 
became one of the most imi)ortant stati.ms on that road. The anti- 
slaverv men and women in New York City became its mr.st anient 
operatoi-s, and it w:us a " city of refuge" to many a ivwr fugitive flymg 
fi-om bondage to lil)erty. 

]>.ecause of this active sympathy for the slave. Southern dealei-s 

. This fact was commtmientcl tn mo by a frion,! of Mason, «hil.> standing among fhe 
ruins of the Senntor's homo at Winchester. Va.. in the fall of isr.n. 



(15C mSTOKV (IF \KVV VOIJK CITY. 

became suspicious i)f New York merchants, and bei,^an to witlidraw 
tlieir trade. Tlie consequence was that many merchants engaged 
in the Southern trade became obedient slaves to mammon and the 
slaveocracy, though at the sacrifice of self-respect. " I am ashamed 
to own," said one of these merchants to the writer, " that when our 
Southern customers were in town, I felt compelled to order my clerks 
not to let the Trlhune be seen in the store, for it would not do to let 
such customers know that I gave any coimtenance to that abohtion 
sheet. From the l)ottom of my heart I despised myself." * 

And so a portion of the merchants of Xew York — high-minded, Ikhi- 
orable men — were enslaved until the breaking out of the Civil War in 
1861, when that city became the foremost in the land in the support of 
the Xational Govermnent in its efforts to crush the slaveholders' rebel- 
lion, as we shall perceive hereafter. 

Among the grand institutions founded in the city of Kew York 
during the third decade, the Young Men's Christian Association holds 
a front rank in salutary social influences and benevolent work. It was 
formed in the year 1852. Among its charter members are found the 
names of many who have since become distinguished in various forms 
of rehgious and ])hilanthropic work in pubhc life or in the business 
community, f 

The parent Young Men's Christian Associatioii was formed in 
London. In the com'se of a few years it was imitated in Xew 
York. At a meeting called for organizing such an association the 

* The Friends or Quakers have been known from the beginning as the champions of 
the slave everywhere, but so completely had the slave-power, through the instrumentality 
o£ mammon, acquired control over the consciences of Quaker merchants in New York, 
largely engaged in the Southern trade, that so early as 18-12 the Hicksite or Unitarian 
branch of that society, worshipping in Eose Street, actually " disowned " or excommuni- 
cated one of their foremost and most devoted members, Isaac T. Hopper, because he 
persisted in his benevolent efforts in behalf of the bondmen. 

f .Vmong these may be mentioned Austin Abbott, Hon. Henry Arnonx, Charles A. 
Davidson, George H. Petrie, Ealph Wells, Dr. Howard Crosby, Edward Austen, 
Theophilus A. Brown, Samuel W. Stebbins, A. S. Barnes, Cephas Brainerd, James B. 
Colgate, Samuel Colgate, Professor Elie Charlier, William E. Dodge, Theodore Dwight, 
Peter Donald, Francis P. Freeman, L. Hastings Grant, John W. Dayton, James C. 
Holden. Rev. Isaac S. Harkey, Henry B. Hyde, Lewis E. Jackson. Morris K. Jesup, D. 
Willis .James, Robert .Jaffray, Br>'an Lord, Richard C. McCormiek, Jr., George D. Morgan, 
John H. Osborne, Rev. Arthur Potts, John H. Parsons, Rev. Arthur I. Pearson, A. D. F. 
Randolph, Gamaliel G. Smith, Samuel A. Strang, John Sloane, Rev. Abel Stevens, 
LL.D., J. B. Trevor, k. V. W. Van Vcchten, and others to the number of about 1200 of 
the leading young men in the city. These joined the association during the first year 
of its existence, and are the pioneers of all the Young Men's Christian Associations in 
the countrv. 



riiiKD KKtAUlc. iMrjO-i»»iu. Oai 

liev. (i. T. liiM It'll, tlK-n ivrtnr of l\w Church of the Ascension, 
and now i)i.sho|) of the DiiK-est.' of Ohio, pivsidcd. 'J'hc Kcv. Is;uic 
Fcnis, ]).]).. l.L. 1)., tiiL'u jmstor of Uw Dutch licloinicd Chnirh in 
^laikct Street, aftcrwai-d Clianccllor of the I'niver.sity of the City of 
Xew York, delivefed an adtlress. (ireat intei-est in it was felt from 
the beginning, as attested hy the large niendjei-ship the lii-st year. 

T'ntil iSiJ'.t the association had no permanent home of its own, hut 
occupied hiretl rooms. Then u line .structure for its use was erected 
on the south west corner tjf Twentythinl Street and Kourth Avenue, 
which the association first occupied in I)ecend)er, l>^<i!t. Theco-stof the 
huilding, inclutling the ground, was nearly s.")(M»,(I()u, for which the 
as.sociation is largely indelited to the zeal, pei-sonal laboi-s, and generous 
gifts of the lale 'Williani E. Dodge, who wus its jjresident for eight 
years ; also to the enthusiasm and numilicence of Morris K. Jesup, 
Jolin Croshy Bn)wn, Pierjwint Morgan, and othei-s. who served as its 
early dircctoi's. The building is constructed of fi-eestone, five stories 
in height. Its style of architecture is the French Kenaissjince. It is 
entirely free from ilebt. It furnishes to young men who avail them- 
selves of its privileges a reception-ro<jm, a i-eading-room, parloi-s, 
lecture-room and concert-hall with a seating capacity of 14(Mi, claiss- 
roonis, a library v.'ith over •2'>.,oOO volumes, a gymnasium, bowUng- 
alley, and baths. The reading-iX)om is supplied with 4t>(> newspapers, 
from all parts of the Republic and from the |)rincipal cities of Eui'ope. 

The a.ssociation also furnishes iiLsti-uction to evening classes in 
writing, bookkeeping, (ierman, French, Spanish, and vocal music, 
and in these over loixi young men were pursuing studies in 1SS2. The 
educational advantages of the association have ])rovcd a great boon to 
young men who may not have ])osses.sed or who liave neglected mcaiLs 
for acquiring education in early life. Many such have secured promo- 
ti(m in business l)y the knowledge they have acquired in the rooms of 
the a.s.sociati(jn in the evening. 

Ahy young man with fair mond character and over sixteen years of 
age may become entitled to all the benefits above mentioned, on the 
l)aynient of S~- Voung men, whether they are mend*^^. of the associ- 
ation or not, are heartily welcomed to the spacious reception-room and 
library. The latter is largely indebted to the late William Xiblo. from 
whom the association j-eceived, by liequest, foi- the u.se of the library 
exclusively, over $ir)(t,()(lO, besides his private collection of books <jn 
art. This coUectijin is considered the most complete in the city. The 
library is also rich in works on manufactui-cs — ^wood, stone, and textile 
fabrics. 



658 HISTORV OK NKW YORK CITY. 

The worlc of tlie association is carriod on by its committees chiefly in 
the evenings. Special attention is given to the promotion of the 
temporal welfare of yoimg men, while their spiritual well-being is not 
overlooked. (Committees are in attendance at the rooms to welcome 
visitors, to assist young men in finding emplo\anent, and directing 
them to suitable boarding-houses. In the j^ear 18S2 employment was 
found for (i41 young men.* 

The association has occupied important relations to other interests in 
the city. With it originated the United States Christian Commission, 
tlie Society for tlie Sup])i"ession of Yico, iind the Chi-istian Home for 
Intemperate ^len.-j- 

One of the important, if not the most important, of the financial 
institutions in the city of Xew York is the Clearing-IIouse Association. 

The Clearing-IIouse system has been in use in London, England, 
since 1790. 

The Hon. Albert Gallatin, as early as 1841, realizing the crudeness 
of the methods then in use, suggested a plan to facilitate the exchanges 
between the banlcs and a method for simplifying the settlement of 
balances. But little attention was paid to his suggestions, and it was 
not until 1853 that a concerted action was made to put them into prac- 
tical operation. 

On the 11th of October of that year (1853) it commenced business in 
the basement of ]^o. 14 Wail Street, with a membership of fifty -two 
banks, representing a capital of $40,721,262. This niunber was soon 
reduced to forty-seven by the retirement and closing up of five of them 
by their inability to meet the requirements of the association. 

By tiiis system the banks of large cities became in certain operations 
as one individual, thus enabling them b}'' imited action to aid and 
strengthen each other in tunes of financial excitement and danger, and 
to exert by their combined jjower a salutary influence upon the bank- 

* The association maintains a branch in the Bowery for a less fortunate class of young 
men than that reached at the central building, and it is preparing to erect a commodious 
stracture there for the use of this class. In the branch, lodgings are provided. During 
1882, 5718 lodgings and 48,000 meals were furnished to young men in destitute cir- 
cumstances. It has also a branch at Harlem, and it provides room for railroad em- 
ployes at the Grand Central and Thirtieth Street depots ; also a branch for German- 
speaking young men. In every way the association faithfully carries out its objects 
declared in its constitution — namely, measures " for the improvement of the physical, 
social, mental, and spiritual condition of young men." 

f The trustees for the management of the temporal affairs of the association in 1882 
were : William E. Dodge, Jr., Percy II. Pyne, James M. Brow-n, Eobert Lenox Kennedy, 
Gilbert B. Monroe, Samuel Sloan, John H. Deane, Bowles Colgate, and "William H. 
Hoppin. 



TlllUl) DECADt:, 1H.-)U lS(iO. C59 

ing husiiu'ss of the countrv at hv^c It is donhtful if. without tlio aiil 
of till! banks of tlie city of Nuw York, tlio I'liitcHl Stati\s, upon tlie 
breaking out of the Civil War iu l.Siil, could liave raised tiio loans 
iieccssiiry to carry on tlie war in time to iiavc prevented the success of 
the eneuiies of the Union. It is ciM'tuin that without the ("iearing- 
IIouso A.ssticiation tiii> banks could not have furnished th(^ funds which 
at once cstablislnMl the credit of tin? government, and cnabh^l it, by 
the restoration of confi<lence, to negotiate its bonds to the enormous 
amount of over ;j;L',.">oit,(io(),(»ii(). During the lato war the machinery 
of the New York Clearing-House worked with exact regularity, the 
banks being united as one, and daily (Hjualizing their resources. 

The ])anicof 1873 was checked by similar action : the Clearing-Ilouse 
Association acte<l with jjromptness in combining their entire resources, 
by the use of loan certilicates to the extent of over ^•2^),tM>6,OW, thus 
sustaining themselves against panic and the serious results which 
natuniUy woukl have followed. 

The Clearing-Ilouse Association occupies and owns the building 
Ko. 14 Pine Street, corner of Nassau Street. The first floor contains 
the ca.shier's department, the bank offices, and the nmnager's I'ooms. 

The second floor is a spjicioas, high-ceiled hall, i)lainly yet eleg-antly 
fitted up, anil provided with four lines of desks, sixty-four in number, 
one for each bank, each bearing the name and number of the bank by 
which it is occupied, the banks being numbered according fo the date 
of their organization, the oldest (the Bank of New York) being No. 1, 
etc. Each baiik is representeil each morning by two clerks, one a 
messenger who brings with him tlie checks, drafts, etc., that his bank 
has received the day previous upon the other banks, which are called 
" exchanges," and ai'e assorted for each bank and placed in envelofies ; 
on the outside of each enveloiie is a slip on which is listed the various 
items which it contains. 

These envelopes are arranged in the same order as the desks for the 
several banks. The messengei-s take their place in a hne outsi<le of the 
desks, each one opposite the one a.ssigned to his liank, while on the 
inside of the desk is a clerk (called the setthng clerk) with a sluvt con- 
taining the names of all the banks arranged in the same order, with the 
aggregate amf>unts his messenger has ag-ainst each bank. 

E.xactly at ten o'clock a.m. the manager * takes liis position on an 

♦ The uiunnger, Mr. William A. Camp, to w hoso courtesy we nro indebted for the facts 
and figures of this article, was bom in Durbiim, Oonn., in Sejjtemlicr, 1S22. Ho has 
been connected v,ith the association for over a quarter of a century. His executive 
ability is manifest by the manner in which the details and labor are performed, this 



660 HISTOKY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

elevated platform, calls tlie clerks to order, iuid at a signal from a bell 
each messenger moves forward to the desk next to his own, and 
delivers the envelopes containing the checks, drafts, etc., for the l)ank 
represented by that desk to the clerk on the inside, together with a 
printed list (called poiter's sheet) of the banks in the same order, with 
the amount o|)posite each bank. The clerk receiving it signs and 
returns it to the messenger, who immediately passes to the next desk, 
and so on until he has made the circuit of the room and reached his 
own desk, the starting-point, having delivered to each bank the ex- 
changes he has for it, and consequently delivering his entire exchanges 
foi" all the banks. Every other messenger does likewise, all mo^ing on 
at the same time. In other words, each messenger has visited everv 
bank and delivered everything his bank has received on each during 
the previoiis day, and taking a receipt for the same. Consequently the 
entire exchanges are delivered, while each clerk upon the inside has of 
course received from every other bank the amounts each had against it. 
This operation occupies about nine minutes, and accomplishes that 
which could not otherwise be done in many hom's, with a larger clerical 
force and untold risks. Besides the saving of time gained by this 
method, each bank is enabled to know the exact balance for or against 

immense daily volume of financial transactions having been conducted without a single 
discoverable error or any loss to the bank. It is also worthy of remark that as much as 
fifteen and a half tons of gold coin have been received in one day in settlement of 
balances. Mr. Camp's career in the Clearing-Hoxise is signalized by the great suc- 
cess of that institution, which has proven itself one of the most valuable financial 
auxiliaries ever originated. In all important operations between the New Y'ork City 
banks and the United States Government during the Civil War, the machinery, so to 
speak, of the Clearing-House was brought into timely requisition, and enabled the 
banks to carry out transactions in aid of the general government that would otherwise 
have been utterly impossible. In the management of a business of such magnitude 
Mr. Camp has acquired an experience the equal of which, it is safe to say, no one else 
ever before had. Few men are more familiar than he with the principles on which the 
finances of the countrj' are grounded, and fewer still possess a more critical knowledge 
of the varied financial interests of the nation. The statistics of the ofiice under his 
management and direction are most complete and comprehensible. 

Mr. Camp has been for a number of years a prominent member of the New England 
Society, and for four years a member of its board of officers. He is likewise a member of 
the Chamber of Commerce, a leading member of the X'uion League Club, and served at 
one time on the art committee of that club, and also on the auditing committees. He 
was also chairman of the art committee of the Palette Club, and has been actively and 
especially interested in patronizing the advancement of American art. He is connected 
with a number of charitable institutions in New York, and is deeply interested in all that 
pertains to the moral and material prosperity of the city. Mr. Camp is a gentleman of 
broad culture, liberal views, and is widely known and esteemed for those many qualities 
of head and heart that go to make up the able official and the worthv citizen. 



c» 



^1 •Pl^l^ 




TIIIIU) DKCADK. 1N.10 isiiii. 



itatnnoo, as the clerks, after ivi-eiviiif,' tlic fnvfl..i).'.s funlamniy lli.- 
checks, (hafts, .-tc.. iminftUatcly enter fn.m tlie shps upon tlieii- own 
sheets tlie a<r^n-e<rate amount fruni each hank, the (hffei-euces hetwecn 
the total aniount'they have ivceived and tlie total amount In-onirht l)y 

tiiem heinj,' the halaiice either due tt. or fi i the ("learin-r-IIouse to 

each l)anU? Tlie messengei-s then receive from their several clerks tlio 
various envelopes containing the exchanges, and return to their hanks, 
reporting tlu'ir condition, dehtor or creditor, as the case may he. The 
clerks (settling clerks) then re]M>rt to the assistant manager the amount 
they have received (on a ticket called d<'l>it ticket), they having 
reported the amount hroughtfon a ticket called credit ticket i upon lirst 
entei'ing the room. 

These amounts are entered in separate columns on what is called a 
'• ])roof-sheet," and if no error has heen. made the manager, linding the 
four columns to agree, announces that " ]M-oof is made," and the clerks 
then return to their respective hanks. If. iiowever, any error has 
heen nuule hy any of the sixty-four clerks, it is indicated on the proof- 
sheet, and all the clerks are then re(|uired to examine and revise their 
work, and not until every error has heen iliscovcred and cori-ected are 
the settling clerks allowed to leave. 

The clerks are allowed until (piarter of eleven a.m. to enter, report, 
and i)rove their work. If any erroi-s are discovered or exist after that 
time, fines arc imposed for each error, which are collected monthly hy 
drafts on the l>anks fined. 

A'arious antl ingenious metho<ls are resorted to for disc-overing crroi-s, 
and the manager, from Umg experience, generally is enahled to antici- 
pate the nature of the error, whether in entry, footing, or transi>osi- 
tion, and thereby facilitates its discovery by instantly aj^plying the 
l>est methods of examination. When it is remembered that there are 
sixty-four sheets, each containing 12)^ entries— in all S 102— the dilli- 
cultv in discovering where the error is in the shortest space of t;me is 
apjiarent. 

The business of making exchanges and proof is usually accomitlished 
in less than one hour, as the banks make but one entry of the aggregate 
of amount brought to the Clearing-I louse and credit the amount they 
have received. Keeping no accounts with each other, the settlement 
of balances is accomplished as follows : The debit banks (those which 
brought less than they have received) are required to pay to the 
manager of the f'learing-IIouse before half-past one o'clock the same 
day, hi legal tendei-s or gold, their debit balance, and upm the proof 
of' the whole amount of debit balances bein'T paid in. the crod=t 



662 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 



banks (those wbicli l)i-ouglit more than they received) receive the 
amount due theni resjiectively, thus by one process settling the entire 
transactions of all tlie banks of the day previous. 

The Clearing-House Association requires of its members weekly 
reports to the manager of their transactions, in a statement of the 
loans, legal tenders, deposits, specie, and circulation, so that the move- 
ments of each bank can be determined and its condition prettj^ accu- 
rately estimated. 

CAPITAL AND TRANSACTIONS, NEW YORK ASSOCIATED BANKS. 



Tears 
Ending 
Sept, 30. 


No. of 
Banks. 


Capital. 


Exchanges. 


Balances. 


Average Daily 
Exchanges. 


Average Daily 
Balances. 


Ratios. 


1834 


50 


47,044,900 


5.750.455,987.06 


297.411,493.69 


19,104,5M.M 


988,078.06 


5.2 


law 


48 


48,884.180 


5,362,912.098.38 


289,694 1:^7.14 


17,412,052.27 


940,565.38 


5.4 


laie 


50 


52,88--i.7O0 


6,906.213.328.47 


334,714,489.33 


22,278,107.51 


1,079,734.16 


4.8 


1857 


50 


64,420,200 


8.:i.m226,718.0B 


36.5,313,901.69 


26.968,371.36 


1.182,345.64 


4.4 


1838 


46 


67,146,018 


4.736.6M, 388.09 


314.2:j8,9l0 60 


15..393.7.35.88 


1,0)6,954.40 


6.6 


1839 


47 


67,921,714 


6.448,005,9.56,01 


363.984,682.311 


20.867 :«}. 19 


1,177.943.96 


5.6 


1860 


50 


69,907,43.5 


7.231.143,056.69 


380,693,438.87 


23,401.757.47 


1.332,017.60 


5.3 


1S61 


60 


6-',900,605 


5,915,742.758.05 


353,38:j,944.41 


]9269.520.:« 


1.151,087.77 


6.0 


1862 


50 


68,375.820 


B.S71. 143.591 20 


415.3.30,:j31.46 


22,237,(igl,53 


1,344,758.33 


6.0 


1813 


50 


68.972,508 


14,867..597.818.(i0 


677.626.482 61 


48.438,637.49 


2.207,2.52.39 


4.6 


1861 


49 


68.5S6.r63 


24,097, 1%,B.53 92 


885,719,204.93 


77.9*1,4.55.20 


2 866.405.19 


3.7 


1863 


55 


8n,3(i:S.ni3 


26.a32.3ai.311.89 


1,033,765,107.68 


a4,796,O10.i0 


8,.378.827.71 


4.0 


1866 


58 


82,370.200 


28.717.146.914.09 


1,066,135,106.33 


9:3.541,195.10 


3.472,752.79 


3.7 


1867 


58 


81.770.200 


28,675,1.59.472.20 


1,144,963,451.15 


93,101.167.11 


8.717.413.80 


4.0 


1S68 


59 


82,270,200 


28,4«,288 mii 92 


1,125,455,236.68 


92,182.163.87 


3,643,319.95 


4.0 


1869 


59 


82,720,200 


37,407,028 986.55 


1,120,318,307.87 


121.451.392.81 


3.6.37,:397.10 


8.0 


1870 


Gl 


88.620.200 


27,804.339.405.73 


1,0.36,484,831.79 


■J0.274,478..'.9 


3..363,210.46 


8.7 


1871 


62 


84,420,200 


29..300.!)86 682.21 


1,209,721,029.47 


95.i:W.0-;3.64 


8,927,065.68 


4.1 


1872 


61 


84,420.200 


ai,844.3'i9,56S 89 


1,428,582,707..53 


109,8*4.316.78 


4.6,3I>.6:52.16 


4.2 


1873 


59 


8:i.37ll.200 


.33.461.0.52,82.5.70 


1,474,508.034.93 


115,885.79:3.55 


4,818.6.53.67 


4.1 


1874 


59 


81.C:J5.200 


22.855.937.636.26 


1.286,753,176.12 


74,692,5';3.98 


4.205.075.74 


5.7 


1ST5 


59 


80,4)5.200 


25.061,2.37,902.09 


1.408.608.776.68 


81,899,470.26 


4,603.296.65 


5.6 


1876 


59 


81.7:31,200 


21,397.274,247.04 


1 293.042,038.82 


70,349.427.52 


4.218.377.95 


5.9 


1877 


58 


71.0a5.200 


2:1289,313.701.39 


1.373.996.S01.68 


76,358,176 07 


4,.5M.905.90 


5.9 


1878 


57 


63,611. .500 


32..508,4.38 441.73 


1,307,843,857.24 


73,555,988.37 


4.273,999.54 


3.8 


1879 


59 


60,800,200 


23,178 770.700..50 


l,400,lU,0(i3.86 


82,015..5.39.74 


4.560,622..35 


5.6 


1880 


57 


60,475,200 


37,182,128,621.09 


1,516,588,631.29 


121,510,224.35 


4.U56.008.60 


4.1 


1881 


60 


61,162,700 


48,565.818,212.31 


1,776,018,161.58 


159.332,190.86 


5.823.010..36 


3.5 


1883 


61 


61,462.700 


46,553,846.16!..34 


1,595,000,245.37 


151.637,935.88 


5.195,440.54 


3.4 


1883 


63 


61,163,700 


40,293,165,237.65 


1,568,9S3,196.15 


132,&18,306.77 


6,161,128.93 





The system in u.se by the Kew York Clearing-House is so perfect 
that of the enormous transactions made through it, no eiTor or differ- 
ence of any Icind exists in any of its records ; neither has any bank 
belonging to the association sustained any loss in its connection by the 
failure of any bank, or othcirwise, •while a member. Its o])erations 
amount to over sixty- five ])er cent of the total exchanges of the twenty- 
three clearing-bouses of the country. It has proved of great sei-vice 
during financial emergencies, notably the great business revulsion of 
1857 and the panic of 1873. In the latter case, by combining the 
resoui'ces of the members through the maciiinery of the Clesiring- 
Ilouse, they were enabled to greatly modify the dangers which so seri- 
ouslv threatened the whole country. 



TIIIKK DKCADK, lH.->(VlMlin. fi<53 

Tlif liiuuu-ii.l ivviilsi()i\ 111" ls:«7 was tVarl'ul in llif city of Now York, 
whilo tlio i)anic it ciiusi-d liistcd. The country liail Itccn prospunms for 
seviM-.il yciii-s, or at least seuineil prosperous. I'usiness of every kind 
Wius ivnmnerative. coninierce was flourisliinir, ci-edit was on an appar- 
ently sound basis, tliougli it was stretched to its utmost liniils, and 
there was scarcely a sign of an ajiproaching temjie-st before it liroke in 
fury ujKiu the business cfininumity. 

Late in August, 1S.-|7, the Ohio Life and Trust Conii)any, an institu- 
tion which had been regarded as sjife beyond suspicion, suspended for 
the enormous sum (jf $7,iH>(»,(ion. This suspension fell like a thunder- 
lK)lt from an unclouded firmament. It shook the financial community 
to its very centre. A month later the banks of I'liiladelphia sus])ended 
specie i)ayments. The other banks in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the 
District of Columbia, and Rhode Islanil soon followed suit. A feai-ful 
panic seized the business community everywhere. The wheels of 
industry were stopped. As in ls:}7, the credit system suddenly fell 
with a cr.i.sh. Confidence was destroyed, and merchants and mann- 
facturei-s were driven int(3 bankruptcy- 
Thousands of ])ooi)le, dependent upon their daily labor for daily 
bread, were depi-ived of employment. The destitute in New York 
City, influenced by demagogues, as in the case of the flour riots, as.seni- 
bled in the City Hall Park, and clamored for bread, accusing specula- 
toi-s as the authoi-s of their distress, and threatening to procure food at 
all hazards. The municipal government came to their relief as far a.s 
ix)ssil)le. ^Many laborei-s wcne put to work on the Centi-.il Park and 
other public works. Soup-houses were speedily opened throughout the 
city, and private associations wore formed for the relief of the suffer- 
ing. P(X)d Avas in abundance in the "West. Grain lay mouldi'ring for 
want f)f money to move it to the seaboard. Money, too, was plentiful, 
but the holders of it, alanncd, would neither lend nor invest, but kejit 
their cotTci-s locked. 

Early in October tliere was ;•. lun on the Xew York City banks, and 
they all soon suspended specie payments. The country banks of the 
State followed, so also did the banks of Ma.ssiichusetts. The panic 
among the bank managers for a few days, as the ])ressure for si)ecie 
increased, was very great. The effect of the susjiension in New York 
was quite remarkable. There was a sense of relief felt everywhere. 
Bankei-s and merchants and other business men met each other with 
smiling faces. They felt as if there had been a tivmendous thund(>r- 
clap, but nobody was huit. "With a sigh of relief, they ac(|uirc(l confi- 
dence. Mattei-s in nmnev circles immediately improved. .\s spring 



664 HISTORY OF NKW YORK CITY. 

advanced, business revived. Maniifac.-turers resumed 'work, but the 
seal's of the wounds received in the general crash were many, and long 
continued to irritate and annoy. The failures in business for tlie year 
ending in the summer of 1858 numbered 5133, and the liabilities 
amounted to over $291,000,000. 

A curious episode in tlie social history of the city of Isew York 
occurred during this great business revulsion. Indeed, it seems to have 
been a product of that event. In June the consistory of the Reformed 
Dutch Church was led to employ a suitable pei'sou to visit famihes in 
the vicinit}^ of the Xorth Chui'ch, corner of Fulton and William streets, 
to induce them to attend the church and bring their cliildren into tho 
Sunday-school. For this service a pious and earnest layman, J. C. 
Lanpliier, was employed. He ehtered upon the important duties with 
great zeal. He visited from house to house, and was generally success- 
ful. He finally conceived the idea of having noonday prayer-meetings 
in the Consistory Building,in the rear of the church, for business men, 
mechanics, and laborei's. It was a general habit for aU to have one 
hour for dinner, between twelve and one o'clock. 

It was at first intended to have the day prayer-meeting once a 
week, and a handbill to that effect was circidated throughout the 
city, inviting persons to the Consistory Building at twelve o'clock 
on September 23, 1S57. At that hour Mr. Lanphier took his seat 
to await the response. Grradually one after another came in, and six 
composed the fii-st gathering. The next week there were twenty, 
and on October 7 there were forty. The panic was then at its 
height. ]\rany persons were out of employment, and many were 
earnestly seeking relief from distress of mind and body. Such was 
the interest manifested that it was resolved to liold a daily prayer- 
meeting at the same hour, Sundays excepted, and a placard to that 
effect, printed in large letters, was hung at the door of entrance to the 
consistory- rooms, in Fulton Street. 

The first daily prayer-meeting was held at noon on October 8, 1857. 
It was numerously attended. ^Vlerchants and other business men, 
teamsters, porters, merchants' clerks, laboring men, and working and 
other women in the neighborhood filled the room day after day. 
Persons of both sexes from all parts of the city and strangei-s from the 
comitry were soon attracted to these meetings. 

This social phenomenon appearing in the midst of the most active 
business portion of the city continued to interest the connnunity montli 
after month, and year after year. It is no longer a phenomenon, but 
seems to be a fixed institution, for tlu^ Fulton Street Xoon Praver- 



■lllllU) DLCAUi:, i8J()- 18(10. *''^'> 

Meeting has been ct)ntimie(l for iiciiily a (|uartr"r of a century under 
tlio c-hartre of tlio ssinio earnest layman, Mr. Lan|)liier. Itequests for 
pi-.iyei-s fT)r jx-rsons have been a feature of tliese noon jii-iiyer-nu'etings, 
and' ahnost every (hiy sudi rwiuests are made orally, or l)y letteiN, some 
of which come from over the sea. 

The year Isr.T was notalile in the history of the city of New York, 
not only for the great financial disturhance in the autunm, hut for 
other conspicuous events— the demolition of one of its ancient land- 
marks, the erection of the Ihst statue out of diMU-s in the city, the 
amendnuMit of the city charter, and scenes f.f riot and disorder growing 
out of conflicting claims to the exercise of numicii)al jMiwer. 

The fii-st-mentioncd event was the taking down of the old P.rick 
Church edifice, which, with its atljuncts, occupied the acute triangular 
piece of grounil on Beekman and Xassiiu streets and Park Row. It 
had stood there for nearly a century, a witness of stirring historic 
scenes when the Park near by was The Fields. The last serxice held 
in it was on ^lay 20, 1856. On the northern portion of its site novv 
stands the Hue i)ublishing hou.se of the Xew York Ihi!/;/ Tiimx. 

The work of art alluded U) was the ecjuestrian statue of Washington 
in Union Squaiv, executed in lironze by Henry Kirke Brown, now 
(1883) living at Xewburgh. It is confesseilly the finest work of the 
kind in the city, as it was tlie lii-st. 

The amendment of the city charter alluded to was nu-ule by act of 
the Legislature passed Ajiril 14, 18.-)7. The growing abases in the. 
city government had for some time called for an amendment 
of the charter. It was jiainfully apparent to all observers that 
the citv was absolutely controlled by the votes of the unlearned, 
the landless, and often vicious citizens, who were larg.^ly of foreign 
birth, with scarcely any knowledge of the privileges and value of 
American citizenship. This class elected the puijlic officei-s, and 
naturally chose men who would pander to their gi-eed or their vices, 
while men of property, of education, of moral and intellectual worth, 
^•irtuous and religious— men who constitute a state— were made jwliti- 
c^dly subordinate to the other cla-ss. Hitherto the charter and State 
elections ha<l been held on the same day ; by the amended charter iu 
the spring <jf IS.". 7 tliese were separated, and the day for the charter 
election was fixed on the fii-st Tuesday in December. It was provided 
that the mayor and common council and the comptroller were to be 
elected Ijy tlic people, the common council or city legislature to consist 
of a boai-d of aldennen and si.x councilmen, elected fi-om each senatorial 
district, to be elected annually. The almshoaso and fire departments 



066 HISTORY OF NEW VOKK CITY. 

remained unchaii^^ed, but tlie superintendence of the Centr'ul Park was 
given to a board, to be appointed by the State authorities. 

These anienchnents were acquiesced in, yet not without some protest 
concerning the management of tlie Central Park ; but a law known as 
the Metropohtan Police act, which transferred the pohce department 
of the city of Xew York to the control of the State, jiroduced intense 
excitement in tlie citj'^. The necessity for this innovation was the 
alleged inefficient, partisan, and corrupt character of the police under 
the management of venal poUticians. That act created a pohce 
district, comprising the counties of JSTew York, Kings, Westches- 
ter, and Ilichmond. A board of commissioners was also created, 
to be apjiointed for five years bj^ the governor, with the consent of the 
Senate, they to have the sole control of the appointment, trial, and 
management of the pohce force, which was not to number more than 
two thousand at any time, and to apjioint the chief of pohce and minor 
pohce officers. It was the prescribed duty of these commissioners to 
secure the peace and protection of the city, to insiu-e quiet and order at 
the elections, and to supervise arrangements for the public health.* 

Is^ow came a sti'uggle for " municipal independence — for home rule." 
Fernando Wood was then mayor of the city of Xew York. He had 
strenuoiisly opposed the bill while it was before the Legislature ; now 
he detennined to resist its operation, and to test its constitutionahty to 
the uttermost. He refused to rehnquish his control of the city police, 
and for a while there was the curious spectacle of a dual government in 
one part of the municipal system — the Metropolitan Police imder the 
commissioners, and the Municipal Police under the mayor. These 
contended for tlie mastery. After exhausting all resources to evade the 
act, the mayor and the city government referred the matter to the 
Court of Aj)])eals. Before a decision came down, violent scenes hiu\ 
occuiTed in the cit\\ 

Governor King had appointed D. I). Conover a street contoiissioner 
to ffil a vacancy caused by death. When he attempted to take posses- 
sion of his office, on Jime Ifi, he was met by an appointee of the 
mayor, who had possession, and who refused to give up the place, and 
Conover was violently ejected from the City Hall. Conover uumedi- 
ately procured a warrant from the recorder for the arrest of tlie mayor 
on a charge of inciting a riot, and another from Judge Hoffman for tlu! 

* Tho board of commissioners appointed tinder this law consisted of Simeon Drajier, 
James W. Kye, and Jacob Caldwell, of New York ; James S. T. Stranahan, of Kings 
County, and James Bowers, of Westchester County. The mayors of New York and Brook- 
lyn were fx-nfficio members of this board. 



■riiini> i>i;c.\i)K, iw:.o-i8i)0. oiiT 

violence t>lfei"e(l liiiu pei-soiuilly. Tlie iiiayor IiimI lilletl tlie City Hall 
with iiriued ])ulicemea under his control, ami when an oIKcer attempted 
to gain access to the mayor to serve the wairant, ami (onover was at 
the City Hall with his (h)cumdnts and lifty Metropolitan I'olice, they 
weie attacked hy the mayor's force inside. A lierce alFray ensued, in 
which a dozen policemen were siM'iously injured. 

Meanwhile a large crowd of the disorderly classes, who wen- parti- 
SJias of th(; mayor, had assemhled in the Park and the neighboring 
stivets, and a serious riot was threatened. A more noisy, riotous, and 
desper-iite mob was never seen in the streets of Xew York. 

At this critical moment the Seventh Regiment National Guard was 
pa.ssing down J'roadway on its way to P.oston. P>y order of (ieneral 
Ilall, it nuirched into the Park and soon forced its way through the 
mob to the steps of the City Hall. ' A wholesome remembrance of the 
lesson taught the mob at the Astor Place lliot in 184'.) restrained the 
crowd. 

General Sandford, accompanied by the sheriff and Conover, now 
entered the City Hall, remonstrated with the mayor upon his revt)lu- 
tionary conduct, and told liim that unless he immediately submitted 
to arrest, the whole miUtary force of the city would be used, if neces- 
sary, to secure his submission. The mayor, seeing further resistance to 
be futile, submitted. On the first of July tlie C(jurt of Ajipeals decided 
that the Metropolitan Police act was constitutional. The mayor 
seemed disposed to acquiesce, and it was supjwsed tlioi-c would l>e no 
mori» disturl>ance. 

Not so. The dangerous classes, who keenly perceived the weakness 
of the police foi-ce, ]iroceeded to act ^\^thout fear of restraint, filling 
the whole city with abirm and anxiety. Organized gangs of rowdies 
|)atrolled the streets that evening, and o])])osing roughs had a feai-ful 
tight the next morning in Pavard Street, near tlie Bowery. The pave- 
ments were torn up, and stones, clubs, and firearms were freely used. 
They seized drays, tnicks, and whatever else they could lay their hands 
on, to make barricailes. A small ])olice force sent to quell the disturl)- 
ance was driven away, and the riotei-s ceased their infernal sport only 
when they l)ecame exhausted, late in the afternoon. Six men had been 
killed and about one hundred wounded. 

On the aftenuMm of the next day (Sunday) mob violence bmke out 
furiously at the Five Points. All attempts of the ^Metropolitan Police 
to (|uell the disturbance were in vain. The Seventh Regiment was 
summr)ned to arms. The bare knowledge of its approach frightened 
awav the riotei-s. and when it reached the arsenal on Ebn Street the 



668 HISTORY OK NEW YOUK CITY. 

mob ha<l dispei-sed. But the I'iotous element ia the city "was still ram- 
pant, and a week later the regiment was called upon to quell a danger- 
ous mob in Mackerelville, in the eastern jmrt of the city, where a fierce 
attack had been made on the Metropolitan Pohce. At ten o'clock in 
the evening it was assembled in Lafayette Hall, but its services were 
not needed. Before it was summoned several pereons had been killed 
and many Avounded. The peace of the city was gradually restoi'ed, 
and from 1857 to 1S63 military assistance Avas not required to preserve 
order. 

The Potter's Field — "a place to bury strangei-s in,'' otherndse 
paupers—first occupied (present) "Washington Square. In 1823 the 
remains in that field were removed to the site of the distributing reser- 
voir, Fifth Avenue and Fortieth and Forty-second streets. After- 
ward, when this site was selected for the reservoir, they Avere again 
removed to a new Potter's Field, between Fourth and Lexington 
avenues, in the vicinity of Fiftieth Street. This ground was granted 
to the Woman's Hospital by the coq^oration, and in 185T the remains 
of 100,000 pau2)ers and strangers were transferred from the city limits 
to Ward's Island, where seventy-five acres had been set a]iart for a 
pauper cemetery. 

The Woman's Hospital, above mentioned, was incorporated in 1855, 
and is among the noble institutions founded during this decade. The 
incorporatoi-s were seven benevolent ladies of Xew York City, and its 
sole object was the treatment of those diseases only that are pecuhar to 
women, especially the surgical cm-e of vesico-vaginal fistula discovered 
by Dr. J. Clarion Sims, which had been previously regarded by the 
medical profession as incurable. T)r. Sims was the chief founder of this 
hospital. He died in Xew York in Xovember, 1883, at the age of 
nearly seventy 3'ears. 

This hospital is not designed by its founders as a free institution, but 
to be made self-sustaining from the board and washing of the patients, 
the beds in the wards, and the private rooms. For these, charges 
are made according to the abifity of the patients to pay. The full 
capacity of the establislnnent was one hundred and thirty beds. 

AU women, of every grade and position in society, the humble and 
the exalted, who, from pecuniary disabiUty or from whatever cause, are 
unable to employ a surgeon for the treatment of those diseases pecuhar 
to the sex, have the right of admission to the institution without any 
charge for surgical or medical treatment, their whole expenses being 
limited to charges for board and washing and their ntedical supplies. 
To this great privilege women of everv nationahtv are admitted. 



I 

p 





TIIIIU) DKCADK, ia")0 IHOO. ''tiO 

Its board of sur^'cons i-iiilinu-c some of tin- most (listin-^uislietl of tlifir 
proffssiou in this spociiilty, wliose services jire rendered gratuitously. 
The cUnics are open to invaliils every day excepting Sunday.* 

• The officers of tlio Woiimu's HoK|)itiil for 18X2 were : Edwin D. MnrKiin, [iresiaent ; 
George T. >I. Uiivis. vice-prcsidt-nt ; Chiirk'e N. Talbot, secretary ; Clinton (lilbtrt, trcus- 
uier ; imil a boiird of governors, twenty-seven in number. There is also a board of lady 
supervisors, twenty-five in number, and of managers, six in nvimber. Of this board Mrs. 
Lewis C. .Tones is president, Mrs, .Joseph XI. Cooper vicepreaident, Jlrs. Henry Day 
seeretar>', and Mrs. liussell Sage treasurer. 

Dr. Sims, the chief founder of this hospital, was bom in Lancaster District, South 
Carolina, on .January 2.5, 1813. He graduated at the South Carolina College. Columbia, 
and in 18;».") he was graduated at the .Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia. He settled 
as a physician and surgeon in New York City in 1K."»:1. Dr. Sims ranked among the fore- 
most surgeons of our time. After patient study and many experiments he made tho 
discovery mentioned in tho text, which gave him very great reputation in both heuii- 
Bpheros. Dr. Valentine iJott once said to Dr. Sims : " Yon will have, in all time, an 
enduring monument ; that monument will be the gratitude of women. " Dr. Sims's death 
■was very sudden, caused by a disease of the heart. 



CHAPTER Yl. 

THE Cooper Union, an institution speciall}' devoted to the intellect- 
ual and temporal well-being of the young of both sexes in the 
metropolis, was founded by Peter Coopel-, the philanthropist. It was 
incorporated on February 17, 1857, with the title of TnE Cooper Union 
FOR THE Advancement of Science and Art. The founder erected for 
this institution a building of brown freestone, rhomboidal in shape, 
and seven stories in height. It is situated on a block of ground 
bounded on the north by Astor Place, east by Third Avenue, south by 
Seventh Street, and west by Fourth Avenue. The building was 
erected at a cost of $G30,000, and the institution was, at the beginning, 
endowed with $200,000 for the support of a free library and reading- 
room. For its administration and government a body corporate 
was instituted by the Legislature, consisting of the founder, his 
son, Edward Cooper ; his son-in-law, Abram S. Hewitt ; Daniel F. 
Tiemann, Wilson G. Hunt, and John E. Parsons ; no member of the 
board to receive any compensation for his services. These trustees 
were empoM'ered to associate with themselves other persons, if they 
should see fit, and organize a society with the title of The Associates 
of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the 
purpose of which should be the encouragement of science, arts, manu- 
factures, and commerce ; the bestowal of rewards for usefid inventions 
and im])i'ovements, for meritorious works in various departments of the 
fine arts, and by lectures and other means to assist in tlie ])ractical 
apphcation of every department of science in connection with the arts, 
manufactures, and commerce of the country. The trustees of the 
. Union were empowered to confer degrees and di^Jomas for ])roficiency 
in the studies pursued in the instituticm, and its graduates should con- 
stitute a portion of tiie membership of the association. By a deed of 
ti-ust, executed on April 29, 1859, Mr. Cooper and his wife Sarah 
dedicated the institution, Avith all its property, to the use of the working 
classes of the city of New Yoi-k forever. 

The general ]jlan of the Coojier Union includes free schools of science 
and art, and a free reading-room and lilirarv. There are evening 



TlllKlt DKt'ADK. la-.O-lUlill. *!71 

sflKMjls, attomliHl mostly by young inon from tli<^ mpcluiniciil tr.ulcs 
anil (ttJRM' iK-cii|tati()ns in the city. Nunc aiv iulmitte<l to these sciiuols 
wiiuare under liiteen youi-s of iige, and who are n(jt aetjuainted with 
tiie rudiments of reading, writing, and aritiimetic. (iirls and women 
aix> admitted ti» tiie ieetures ami the scientific chusses, but not to tiie art 
classes, as a special art schiH)l is provided for women in tii(! daytime.* 

The ba.sement of the l>uilding is occupied by a large hall, in wliicii a 
caul's)? of free lectures is given during the winter months every Sat- 
urday night. The libniry contains alnrnt iri,ono voluuvs, among 
which is a conipk-te set of Patent OtHce re])oi'ts, which are con.stiintly 
consulted. The aver.ige numi)er of readei-s ilaily is about 2."iO(i. The 
reading-room contains over lOO domestic and foreign magjizines, and 
18(1 daily and weekly nowspapei's. 

A portitm of the Union iiuilding is devoteil t<j an exhibition of 
machinery in motion, steam being the motor. The income of the insti- 
tuti(m is derivetl from the rental of the ground floor and other a] tart- 
men ts for business purposes, and from the endowments of Mr. (.'oopcr.f 

* The conrso of study in tUo scientific ilepartnient em'iraees a very thorongh prelimi- 
nary course of mntbeiuiitics. The rejjnlur course of fiveyoai-s iui-linles algebra, geometry, 
trigonometry, analyticul and ilcscriptive geometry, differential ami integral calcnhis, 
natural philosophy, olemcnUiry and analytical chemistry, astronomy, mechanics, and 
mechanical drawing. 

In the art school for boys and young men are taught dniwiug from casts, form, per- 
spective, mechanical, architectural, indastrial, ornamental, figure and rmlimcutal draw- 
ing, and modelling in clay. Several prizes have been instituted by individuals in the 
yarious departments. 

In the women's art school about 3-50 pupils receive gratnitous instruction every year. 
The poplU are divided into drawing, photo-crayon, photo-color, oil-color painting, re- 
toucUiug, normal teaching, wood-engraving, and pottery painting. In these in the 
morning hours free instruction is given. The pupils are able to earn considerable money 
by their labor while under instruction. The aggregate of these earnings for a year, in- 
cluding those of the former graduating class, ending with May, 1H82, amounted to about 
$29,(XW. There was such a pressure of applicants for this department that an amateur 
clo.ss has been formed of those who can afford to pay $1.5 for a course of thirty lessons to 
be given in the space of ten weeks. These and a pottery class, where the fee is $3 for a 
course of lessons, are the only clas.scs of any kind in this institution in which instmction 
is not absolutely free. 

In the English department of the institution instruction is given in belles-lettres, 
rhetoric, and elocution. There is also a school of telegraphy. 

+ The trnslee.s of the Cooper Fninn in 18S3 were : Peter Cooper, president ; Wilson G. 
Hunt, treasurer ; .\bram .S. Hewitt, secretary, and Peter Cooper. Daniel F. Tieraann, 
.lohn E. Parsons, Wilson G. Hunt, Edward Cooper, and Abraui S. Hewitt, trustees. 
There is an advisorj- council of the School of Design for Women, consisting of eighteen 
ladies. The curator is Dr. .J. C. Znchos, and the clerk is W. H. Powell. 

Inventor, manufacturer, and philanthroi)ist. These are titles given to Peter Cooper, 
one of the most distinguished citizens of our Republic, whose useful life extended over 



672 HISTORY OK NEW VUKK CITY. 

Tlu' privati' anil }iiil)lic l)iiikliugs in the city of Ne^y York nearly two 
generations ago exiiibitetl the sudden flowering of a Icind of architecture 
which was a feeble imitation of the Greek temple. This style became 

nearly a century of years. These characteristics constitute the proudest patent of 
genuine nobility. 

Peter Cooper was born in New Y'ork City on February 12, 1791. His father was ap 
officer in the Continental Army ; his mother was a daughter of John Campbell, who wac 
also an officer during the old war for indei^endence, and was an alderman of the city ot 
New York. He received a meagre English education, and at an early age began to learn 
hat^making with his father. He was industrious and studious, ardently seeking knowl- 
edge from books and personal observation. He grew up a most earnest young man. Id 
very early life experiencing the hindrances of a lack of education, he resolved that if he 
should prosper he would devote a portion of his means and energy to the assistance of 
young men in the pursuit of knowledge. 

At the age of seventeen years Peter Cooper was apprenticed to a coachmaker. During 
his apprenticeship he invented a mortising-machine, which was of great use and profit to 
his master. Soon after his majority he engaged in the manufacture of patent machines 
for shearing cloth, and prospered during the war of 1812. At its close the business was 
broken up, when young Cooper engaged in cabinet-making. Not being successful in this 
he became a grocer, in which business he continued about three years, and then began 
the manufacture of glue and isinglass. This business he earned on for more than thirty 
years. Meanwhile his attention had been called to iron manufacture, and about 1828 he 
bought a large tract of land within the city limits of Baltimore, and established the Can- 
ton Iron Works. There, in 1830, he built, after his own design, a small tractor engine, 
which drew a car with a number of Baltimoreans out to the Kelay House on a trial-trip. 
It was the first American-built locomotive put in use on a railroad, and this track was 
the beginning of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 

In 1845 Mr. Cooper removed his iron works to Trenton, N. J., where he established 
the largest rolling mill in the United States, and manufactured railroad iron and ii-on 
beams for fire-proof buildings. He was one of the founders of the system of ocean teleg- 
raphy, having been one of the six capitalists who, at the house of Cyrus W. Field, formed 
the first Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1854. Mr. Cooper was its first president. He 
also became deeply interested in the land telegraph of the country. 

In his native city Mr. Cooper was always active in the promotion of every good work 
for public benefit. He served in (he common council in both branches, was an earnest 
advocate of the Croton Aqueduct, was one of the earliest trustees of the Public School 
Society, and afterward a commissioner of education. His success in business finally 
enabled him to found the institution T\hich bears his name, for the benefit of the work- 
ing classes forever of New York, both masciiline and feminine, and to erect for its use a 
costly building. Besides large expenditures upon the institution almost every year, ho 
gave it, on the occasion of his golden wedding, in 1863, SIO.OOO ; on his eightieth birth- 
day he gave it $150,000 ; and on his ninetieth birthday, $40,000, and receijjts in full for 
$70,000 which he had expended upon it. The Cooper Union is the crowning glory of 
Peter Cooper's long life, the realiaxtion of a dream of his youth. 

Mr. Cooper steadily refused nominations for any political office other than municipal, 
until 187r>, when he was eiglity-five years of age. He then accepted a nomination for the 
office of President of the United States, from a party in a hopeless minority, known as 
the (ireenback party, an organization which advocates legal tender by paper currency. 
He made a vigorous canvass, but was defeated, of course. 



TiiiiM) DKfAiii:, iN.-(0-is(in. 'IT:} 

a cnize in Kn;:l;mil aiicl llif riiitftl Stati-s. ;mil tnw ri and cnnnlfV aliki* 
were dotted witli llicse striietures. Tliis cTaZ(> lasted fur neuiiy a <ren- 
eiatiun, wlien it was supplanted In' anotiier, the Mansard style. Now 
another stylf, lii;;ldy ornate, ealled the (^ueen Anne, for some inexpli- 
oahle reason, is " all the ra^^,.."' It may l)eseen in all its extra va'^ance, 
its beauties, an<l its monstrosities, as sjKH-iniens of art, between Kifty- 
seeond Street and Central I'ark, and the fiushionalile avenues. 

In all the jH-riod alluded to stood the classic fity Hall— classic and 
cha-ste in style of aix'iiitecture — as a model and a reiiukc, but its teach- 
ings and its censure seem to have been little heeded for a long time 
past. The buildings in Xew York City have appeared to be largely 
under the control of uneducated architects, and it was not until the 
erection of Trinity Church, after designs by yiv. Upjohn, ami (iraco 
Church, after <lesigns by Mr. Ren wick, in ls4r), that the genius of a 
truly educated architect was manifest in the domestic, commercial, 
and ecclesiastical architecture of the city for many years. 

Trinity Church edilice, on lower Broa<lway, is the third Imilding 
erected on that site for the congreg-ation. The first w;i.s completed in 
U1O7. The second was almost an entirely new one, constructed in 
1737, and sto<id until the Revolution. It was destroyed in the great 
conflagration of 177(1. It was not rebuilt until ]7ss. ilie congregaticm 
worship])ing in the mean time in St. Paul's Chai>el. The editice erected 
in 17f>s stood until 183t>, when, being proved unsafe, it was taken down, 
and the present eleg-ant stnicturc was erected in its place. It was 
completed in lS-f5. 

Trinity Church is still one of tlic finest specimens of (lothic archi- 

In 1813 Mr. Cooper married Sarah Beilell, of Hempstead, L. I., by wliom he had six 
children. Four of them died in childhood ; the other two (the late mayor, Edward S. 
Cooper, and Mrs. .\l>ram Hewitt) now (ISSI!) survive him. Mrs. Cooper died in 1H67. 
She was followed by her husband on .Vpril t, 18S:t, whose death was sincerely motirned 
by every class ot citizens. His private benefactions for the relief of the destitute poor 
were multitudinous. He was a Christian in the highest sense. In theology be was a 
Unitarian, and he was a member of All Saints' Church. 

Jlr. Cooper was a continual recipient of grateful expre.ssions, either orally or in writing, 
from the beneticiaries of tlie institution. These expressions were generally accompanied 
by statements that indicated the vast benefits which the institution had bestowed. One 
or two examples of the grateful acknowledgments of pupils of the art school for women 
innst suffice. " I have come," said a young girl who called on Mr. Cooper, " to tell you I 
have saved $.300 this year by painting photograplis, and anything else I could get hold of, 
and I want to thank you for it." "My daughter," said a plain man in middle life, 
" has earned $1300 in a year, teaching drawing and painting in a Brooklyn school. I 
never earned $1200 in a year in my life " -V young woman from California called on Jlr. 
Cooper and said, " I oanie to thank you. 1 feel as rich as a qaoen, for I have thirty 
pupils in wood-engraving." 



674 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tecture in the city of Neir York. The miiterial used in its construc- 
tion, brown fi'eestone, gives a fine contrast — not an unpleasant one — 
to the otlier buildings in its neighborhood. Its lofty spire rises two 
hundi-ed and eighty-four feet from the ground. It stands at the head 
of Wall Street, and through that arena of daily conflict between 
" bulls" and " bears," the music of its sweet chimes float, it is hoped 
with hallowing influence. Its doors are almost continually open in the 
daytime. In the space of a few minutes the weary worker may escape 
from the bellowing thunder of the Stock Exchange into the sanctuary, 
where, under the soft gray arches of the interior and the subdued light 
of the windows, reigns a solemn silence which fifls the soul with the 
thought : " The Lord is in liis lioly temple, let all the earth keep 
silence before Mm. ' ' 

Grace Church edifice is next to Trinity Church in the purity of its 
(irothic style. It is also the possessor of perhaps the wealthiest congre- 
gation, next to Trinity, among the Episcopal churches of New York 
City. The congregation first worshipped in a builcUng erected, as we 
have observed, by the Lutherans, on the corner of Broadway and 
Eector Street, and therein they worshipped until they took possession 
of their new edifice, in lS-t5. The architect was James Ken\v.(-k. 
The design was furnished, and accepted by the vestry, when he was 
only twenty-three years of age. He made aU the designs and working 
drawings with his own hands. This was the exceUent beginning of his 
successful career as an architect.* 

* James Renwick, son of Professor James Kenwick, of Columbia College, was born at 
Bloomingdale, in the city of New York, in 1819. He is of Scotch descent, deriving his 
lineage from the Rev. James Renwick, one of the last of the martyred Scotch Covenanters. 
His mother was a daiighter of Henry Brevoort, one of the best of the Knickerbocker 
stock. Young Renwick's father, in addition to his varied acquirements, had mastered 
the study of Greek and Roman architecture, and had furnished plans for and superin- 
tended the building of edifices for his friends. Perceiving in his son a genius for archi- 
tecture and a strong desire to " become an architect and to build a cathedral," he gave 
him every opportunity to gratify his wishes. 

At the age of fourteen ho entered Columbia College as a student, lost one year on 
account of an accident to one of his eyes while experimenting in his father's laboratory, 
and graduated when ho was nineteen. Having served as an engineer for a short time, he 
accepted the position of assistant engineer on the Croton Aqueduct. He superintended the 
building of the distributing reservoir, between Fortieth and Forty-second streets. When 
property-owners around Union Square resolved to place a fountain in it, Mr. Renwick 
volunteered to famish a plan and superintend its construction. At about that time he 
was informed that Grace Church intended to erect a new edifice up town. He was intro- 
duced to the vestry, and was selected as one of the competing architects. His plans 
were adopted, and this young architect now saw with joy the beginning of the realization 
of his fondest dreams. The completed church was satisfactory to all concerned, and he 



Tllllil) HKi'Alti;, ISW 18110. ''75 

Till' materials of wliicli (iracc Cluii'cli cililici' is built is wliito 
inarldc, ami its style a eliaste lint onumiental (iotliie. Its |i(isition is 
tlie liest of any rlimvli in the tity tu show its urchiteftural lieauties. 
standing at the |ioint wheri- l5i'oa<hvay <li'|iarts from a straight line, at 
Tenth Stivet, and turns to the noith-west. The |iorch ami steeple 
eom|ileteIy elost> the view from the south. The rectory of the ehurch 
is of the sjinie material ami similar in design, standing hack from noisy 
IJroadway. There is also an adjoining huiUling, the gift of MLss 
Catharine Wolfe, which is used for the daily service. Another building, 
erected in ISiSO, connecting the; church and the rectory, is used as a 
vestry, robing-rcKMii, and study by the rector and his ius.sistant. Just 
liack of the church, tin Fourth Avenue, is a <hiy nursery, erected by 
the Hon. Levi P. Morton, in memory of his wife, for tiie rece])tion of 
young children during the liours their mothei's are at work. It is 
known as Grace Memorial Home. 

Late in this decade the most beautiful, chaste, and imposing church 
eilifi(;e in this country, St. Patrick's Cathedral, was begun on Fifth 
Avenue. Its front occupies the space between Fiftieth and Fifty-first 
streets, on the cast side of the avenue, and the building extends nearly 
to iladison Avenue. This grand cdilice is also from the desigrLs and 
working drawings of Mr. Renwick. The superintendence of its con- 
struction was at first intrusted by Mr. Renwick to Mr. R<jdrigue. but 

was at once brought into a large ami lucrativo business. Ho woh selected as the architect 
of Calvarj' Church, on Fourth .\venue, the Church of the Puritans, on Unimi S(juarc, and 
many domestic and business edifices. IIo was chosen the architect of the building of 
the Sniithsnuian Institution at Wa.shinglon, by the board of regents. He was then only 
twenty-seven years of age. Jlr. Renwick was also appointed architect of the board of 
charities and correction of the city of New York, and remained in that jiosition until 1874. 

In 18.53 Sir. Renwick comijetcd for the plans of the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, 
and he was successful. Archbishop Hughes adopted his plans, and the work was begun 
in lM.58. Now the ambitious desires of his youth to "build a cathedral" were fully 
gratified, and he planned one of the most beautiful edifices in the world. The selection 
of Mr. Renwick as the architect was a high compliment to his genius and to the wis- 
dom of .\rchbishop Hughes. The Cathedral is not yet (1883) completed. A very brief 
general description of it is given in the text of this chapter. 

Among Mr. Renwick's other works are the Corcoran (Jallery, at Washington ; the City 
Hospital, Small-pox Hospital, WorkhoUHc. and Lunatic and Inebriate .\sylums, on Ward's 
Island ; the City Foundling Hosj)ital, on Ramlall's Islaml ; Vassar College, ot I'ough- 
keepsie, on the Hudson ; thecardinarsresidcnce, on Madison .Avenue ; St. Hartholomew's, 
and the church on Park Avenue and Thirty-lifth Street, both in the Byzantine style ; the 
.Second Presbyterian Church, on Fifth .\venne ; St. Ann's Church, in Brooklyn : the 
Congregational Church nt Chicago, and a great number of churches throughout the t'nited 
States. In connection with his late jiartner, Mr. Sands, Mr. Renwick planned the build- 
ing of the Young Men's Christian .\ssociation. Booth's Theatre .Vpplitons' store in 
Broadway, and many other fine buildings in the city. 



676 HISTORY OF NEW VOIJK CITY. 

failing liealtli compelled the latter to relinquish tlie tusk, when it was 
given to William Joyce, who still holds the position, tor the structui'e 
is not yet completed. 

This cathedral was projected by Archbishop Hughes about the year 
1S50. The plans were drawn soon afterward by Mr. Ren wick, and 
accepted by the archbishop, who proceeded cautiously upon wise busi- 
ness principles. The comer-stone was laid on August 15, 1858, in the 
j)resence of a nmltitude of jjeople, estimated at 100,000 in number. At 
that time Fifth Avenue in that vicinity was almost a wilderness, so far 
as fine houses are concerned, much open common, and unregulated 
streets. There was no house to be seen between Fifth and Sixth 
avenues in that vicinity at the time ; now the ground is covered with 
palatial residences. 

The ground plan of the Cathedral is in the form of a Latin cross. 
Its chmensions are as follows : Exterior length, 335 feet ; interior 
length, 306 feet ; breadth of nave and choir, 96 feet without the 
chapels, and 120 with them ; length of the transept, 140 feet ; height 
in centre, 108 feet, and height of side aisles, 5-1: feet. With the Chapel 
of Our Lady, which is embraced in the design, the structui'e will 
occupy the entire square between Fifth and Madison avenues. 

The architecture of the Cathedral is of the decorated or geometric 
style which prevailed in Eiu'ope in the thirteenth century, such as the 
cathedrals at Rheinis and at Cologne exhibit. The interior architecture 
in every part is grand and beautiful. The high altar is 12 feet in 
length. The table, or altar proper, is of the finest marble, made in 
Ital}', and is the gift of Cardinal McCloskey. It is inlaid with semi- 
precious stones. The reredos, of Poitier's stone, is 50 feet in height 
and 32 feet in width, and is the gift of the clergy of the diocese. There 
are three other altars, rich and beautiful in structure, the whole costing 
about $100,000. The archbishop's throne is on the right side of the 
sanctuary, and is of Gothic design. 

The seating capacity of the Cathedral is 2600, in 408 pews, built of 
ash, and the aisles will afford standing-room for neai'ly as many more. 
The Cathedral is lighted by To windows, 37 of which are memorial 
windows. Most of these were made in France, and cost about 
$10(1,000. The windows were presented by parishioners and individ- 
uals throughout the country. Tlun-Q are also a number of line paint- 
ings in the Cathedral* The total cost of the new Cathedral up to 

* A full description of these windows, the paintings, and of the exterior and interior 
of the Cathedral may he fmind in a little volume printed at the New Y'ork Catholic Pro- 
tectory in 1879. 



TlllKll Dl-XADK. 1850 ISflO. 

18S3 wiisaboiit f;'2.0<Mi,O0i>. It is ostijiiated that liy tlic time it sliail 1)(> 
cinplftfa acronling to tlie aesij,m it will cost ^ii',-"'' •","•""• Tli.; ^^n-at 
«liuirli was dwlicati-il on Suiulay, May 20, isTH, l.y C'anlinal McClos- 
kov.* It is opi'ii all tiay.un Sunday, and on ollior days until nine 
o\l(xk in the evening. 

The Cathedral progresses toward eoinpletion lui fast as funds an- 
provided. One of the most successful efforts to provide money for the 

» John McCloskey, Cnnlinul iiii.l Koiimn (.•atlu.lic .Vrolil.i.iUf.p ol Now York, wiw bc.ra 
in Drooklyn, L. I., on March 20, ISIO. His imrent.s ciiuie to .Viiicrioii froiu Ucrry f.mnty, 
Ireliinil, imil were in comfortable tircnnistttnceK. ThiK Hon wiis baptized in St. Peter's 
Chiireh, in New York, one of the two Rouiiin Catholic churches iu the city. He lost his 
father when ho was ten years of aye. His iiinther, who hail been left with n competence, 
affortleil him a liberal education. His collegiate coiirse was tinishod at Mount St. Mary's 
College, at Eiiimilt.sburg, Md.. in 1S27, when he was seventeen years of age. He grndn- 
ttted with the highest honors, prepared for the ministry, and was ordnintd a priest l>y 
Bishop Dubois in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, in .January, 1H34. In November 
of the same year he left for Europe, where he remained three years, a part of the time in 
France, and a part in Kome. On his return he was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's 
Church, which position he filled seven years. On the organization of St. John's College, 
at Fnrdham, in 1811, this young but learned clergyman was appointed to the presidency 
by Bishop Hughes. There he remained about a year, when he resumed the charge of his 
parish. In 18-14. when only thirty-four years of age, ho was consecrated coadjul.u to 
Bishop Hughes, but continued his pastorate of St. Joseph's. When the diocese of 
Albany was created, in 1847, he was transferred thither. There were then only 40 
churches and a few priests in it : when he left it, seventeen years afterward, there were 
in the diocese 113 churches, 8 chapels, .54 ini.s.sion stations, 8.5 missionaries, 3 academies 
for boys and 1 tor girls, 6 orphan asylums, and 1.5 parochial schools. 

On the death of Archbishop Hughes, in m'A. Dr. McCloskey became his successor. 
He tilled the exalted station with great ability and untiring zeal. The progress of the 
Cathedral was an object of his s]>ecial care, and he gave it much of his personal super- 
vision, especially of its interior arrangements. He went to Europe in 1874, chiefly to 
look after the constructir>n of the altars, the stjitues, stained windows, and other 
interior decorations of the sanotuarj-, and to this work he contributed $30,000 of his 
income. 

In the Consistory, held at the Vatican on March 15, 1875. Archbishop McCloskey was 
elevated to the high dignity of a cardinal — the first in America. The ceremony of im- 
posing the beretta took place at St. Patrick's Cathedral in April following, the Arch- 
bishop of Baltimore officiating. The cardinal has made a number of visits to Rome 
in connection with his exalted office. The Church, in him, finds a zealor.s and efficient 
leailer. In person he is above the medium height, sparsely made, and erect. His coun- 
tenance is strongly expressive of amiability and benevolence. In his manner he is digni- 
fied, courteous, and kindly. The late Poi.e Pius IX. said of hiin. " He has the bearing 
of a prince." He is a ripe scholar and a bold and devoted churchman. " His elocinence," " 
says a late writer. " is of the tender, deeidy religious kind, uttered with fenent sincerity, 
and in language at once of simplicity and elegance. A man of energj- and of sleepless 
vigilance in the discharge of his duty, still he always seeks the most unostentatious 
manner of performing it. H.- provokes no conllicls and ofTers no opinions, but with 
htimiUly and prn.vorfnlness toils on in the sphere of his own duties." 



678 iiisroKV OK m;\v youk iti'Y. 

poi'pose was that ol' a great fair lield within its walls, the net proceeds 
of which amounted to $lT5,0(tO. 

The beginning of tliis decade was marked by a long-remembered 
event in the social history of New York Git3^ It was the advent of 
Jenny Lind, who was called the "Swedish Nightingale." She was 
the sweetest songstress that ever visited America, and was one of the 
best of women in ])rivate life. She sang in the United States under 
the admirable management of P. T. Barnum. She was twenty-nine 
yeai"s of age when she anived in New York, in 1850, having been 
born in Stocldiolm in 1821. She had already acquired a Em'0])ean 
reputation. Uer father was a teacher of languages. She sang in 
vaudevilles at the age of ten years, and at sixteen was the prime 
favorite of the Stockliolm opera, where she made her first appearance 
as Agatha, in Der Freischiots. She became a pupil of Garcia, and was 
engaged by Meyerbeer for the opera at Berlin. 

Jenny Lind arrived at New York in September, and made her fii'st 
appearance at Castle Garden, where she was greeted by a br-illiant 
company of the elite of New York society, who crowded the vast 
auditorium to its utmost capacity. The company was spellbound by 
her marvellous voice. She sang in the principal cities in the Union, 
and everywhere her progress was hke a triumphal march. Her in- 
come was large, and so was her heart, manifested by her deeds of 
charity, in the United States, in which slie distributed about $50,000. 
While here she married Otto GoJdschmidt, an eminent pianist, re- 
turned to Euro])e in 1852, abandoned ]iublic singing, and took up her 
abode in Lonilon, in the enjoyment of a happy domestic life. At the 
ag'e of sixty-two her eyes are as bright and blue as ever', and her voice 
still as rich and sweet, but she has lost the capacity for producing the 
higher notes. It is said she is a great favorite of the royal family of 
England. The Princess Helena ])asses much time with her. 

At the time we are considering, Barnum's lecture-room, at his 
Museum, at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street (site of the Herald 
office), Avas a place of great resort. In it was a stage whereon were 
given theatrical ])erfonnances, dances, etc. Crowds of persons, who 
would slum the theatre as a place of wickedness, felt no admonitions of 
conscience in Barnum's lecture-room, where the Drunkard and other 
" moral plays," with Clarke as a star, drew crowded houses. 

Castle (rarden, where Jenny Lind made her first bow to an Ameri- 
can audience, has a history. It was oi'iginally a fortification, named 
Castle Clinton, in honor of De "Witt Clinton. Like Castle Williams, on 
Governor's Island in the hai-bor, it was circular in form and pierced for 




\ % 




rilllil) DKCADK. lHr,0 IHOO 



fiT'J 



many yiiiis puiiitin;,' soawanl. It was .>r.-clf<l .m a IhmI nf rucks a sliort 
(listiiiKC I'roni tlic sca-IVont <>l" wliat is now I'.attcry I'aik, ami was ei.ii- 
m-cteil witli tlio main l>y a ilniwl)ri(l;,'e. When it was no lon;,'fr need- 
ed for miiitarv i)iir|>oses, tlie I'astlc was eon veiled into a summer <:;:ir- 
den or plaee of social resort and public amusement, ami named Castlo 
CJarden. It was the place of rocoi)tion for distinjruished visitoi-s to the 
city comin<,' l>y water. There Lafayette wius received hy the civil and 
military authorities of New Yoi-k, when he revisited this country in 
1S24 ; there President Jackson had a grand reception, in \s-A-2 ; there 
President Tyler was puMiely received in 1S4;^ ; and there Kossuth, the 
great llun;jrarian patriot, received his lii-st welcome to America, in 
1851. Never before was sul-Ii a vast concourse of citizens seen in 
the streets of New York a.s welcomed the Hungarian exile and his 
friends on that cold liut serene December day. It was a foretaste 
of his warm reception i)y the hearts of the whole nation. 

Castle Garden became a concert-hall and plac(> for summer theatrical 
and operatic performances, and finally, in is.-)."), it was transformed 
into an emigrant ilepot for the rece])tion of transatlantic emigrants, 
under the charge of the commissionei's of emigration, a lioai-d estali- 
lished in 1S47. To these commissionei-s was, at lii-st. transferred the 
:Marine Hospital, on the eastern end of Statoii Island, with the exclusive 
control of it and all the buildings connected with it, excejjting in regard 
to the sanitary treatment of the inmates, which was left to the minis- 
trations of pei-sons under the direction of the Ijoard of health, or health 
commissioners. 

The commissionei-s of emigration imrchased land and erected build- 
ino-s on Ward's Islanrl from time to time as necessity demanded. At 
length it was perceived that some central dejjot for newly-landed emi- 
grants was an urgent necessity, and, ius we have oliserved, the State of 
New York made Castle Garden that depot in 1S.5."). It wiis still con- 
nected with the main by a bridge. Since then the Hattery Park has 
lieen enlarged, and solid gi-ound extended out to the Castle, around 
which suitable buildings have been erected for the accommodation of 
the thousands of unbidden P^uropcan guests who land on the shores of 
Manhattan Island. 

This reception-house for the strangers, with its present arrange- 
ments, is a gi-eat bh^ssing for the emigrants. For a time they were 
subjected to the frauds and the greed of "emigrant runners," who 
infested the Garden, and who preyed upon the strangeis, many of 
whom could not understand a word of English. That evil has been 
remedied. Now the European steaniers laml the emigrants at Castle 



080 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Garden directly, wliere they and tlioir luggage are taken charge of and 
protected. Tlie strangei"s are sheltered, fed, and transported to any 
depot or landing-place whence tliey may depart— largely to the fertile 
regions of the great West. The emigrants rarely remain at Castle 
Garden over twenty-four hours, so ])erfect are the arrangements for 
" forwarding" them. At times from five hundred to one thousand 
emigrants are sheltered at the Garden at one time, and present a 
most interesting appearance. There are accommodations in the Garden- 
for three thousand emigrants and their luggage, and for all the offices.* 

In the year of the advent of Jenny Lind (1850), the wonderful singer, 
tliere arrived in jS'ew York from Germany a musical-instrument maker, 
Avho with liis sons planted there the germ of an establishment which 
to-da\% it is said, is of greater magnitude than anj^ of its kind in the 
world. That immigrant was Henry Engelliard Steinway, founder of 
the great pianoforte manufactory in Kew York, who was born in a 
hamlet of the Hartz Mountains, in the Duchy of Brunswick. His 
ancestor's were patricians of the city of Stralsund, on the Baltic Sea, 
one of whom while mayor made himself famous by his gallant defence 
of the town dm'ing its siege by the famous General AYallenstein. 

Mr. Steinway and his three grown-up sons worked for three yeai-s in 
piano factories in 'New York. In 1853 they founded the famous house 
of Steinway & Sons, known all over the musical world. They began 
modestly in a rented small rear building in Varick Street, and made 
square pianos at the rate of one a week. 

From the beginning their work attracted wide attention among pi'o- 
fessors of music. Very soon their business (juarters were too narrow, 

* During the year 1882 the number of emigrants who landed at Castle Garden was 
520,3.55, of whom 476,080 were aliens, and 44,269 were citizens of the United States or 
had previously visited the country. It was the largest number arriving in one year since 
the establishment of the commission. By far the largest projjortion of them were from 
Germany. The number from that empire was 198.468. There were nearly 60,000 from 
Scandinavia ; from England, 41,000, and from Ireland, 52,768. The avowed destination 
of nearly 167,000 of these emigninls who arrived was New York State. 

There are nine commissioners of emigration, six of whom are appointed by the gov- 
ernor of the State of New York. The other three are the mayor of the city and the 
presidents of the Irish Emigration Society and the German Society. The cost of the 
maintenance of the bureau devolves upon the State of New York. The amount for 1882 
was SI 60,000. 

The commissioners of emigration for 1883 were : Henry A. Hurlbut, president ; 
George J. Forrest, George Starr, Charles F. TJlrich, Edmund Stephenson, Charles N- 
Taintor, Franklin Edson, mayor ; James Lynch, president of the Irish Emigration 
Society, and Charles Hnnselt, president of the German Society. H. J. Jackson is treas- 
urer. Gnlian C. Verplanck was president of the commission from 1848 until his death, 
in 1870. 



IIIIISK DKCADK. 1 H.-|0 - 1 SCO. Ohl 

and llicy Inok iiinrc s|i:K-imi.s ones in Walker Street, near I'r<)a<l\vav. 
Wlien tliey lia<l In-eii only ono year in ()i»ei-:ilion they were awarded 
tlie Hist prize for pianos at a fair lield at tlie national capital. The 
same year they carried otT the lii-st prize— a gold ine(hil — at the fair of 
tho American Institute. Soon afterwanl they constructed a .scpiaii- 
liiano on a system which achieve<l such .success that Steinway iV: Sons 
invariaiily received the Hist prize at all exhiliitions. It lias sinc3 
remained the standard of consti-uction for sipiare pianos, and is now 
u.sed hy all manufactureis. 

The business of the linn increa.sed so rapi<lly that in ls.")'.t thev ])U"- 
chased almost an entire liUx-k of <i;round hetweeii Fourth and Lexin'^'ton 
avenues, at Fifty-second and Fifty-third streets, on which they havi> 
built a colu.ssal establishment, in modern Italian style of architecture. 
The factory buildings proijcr cover twenty city lots, and the thxjis of 
the buildings have a surface of IT.'*,!-!*! sijuare feet. Beneath the 
ground they have .stor.ige vaults for coal and four .steam boilers, of 
an aggregate of ;34i>-hoise power, by which steam is genenited to 
serve 7t'>,(i(M) feet of iron pipe for heating the workshops and drivin"- 
a hirge steam-engine to move the machinery. 

In 18f>;} the ^lessis. Steinway built a new warehouse, v.-hite marble 
front, on Ea.st Fourteenth Street, near Irving Place. In ISfit? thev 
built Steinway Hall, in the rear of their new warehou.se — a concert- 
room 1:>3 feet in length, 75 feet in width, and 4-2 feet in height. To 
accomiiKKlate their ever-increasing business they have erected an 
immense factory at Astoria, on Long Island. Their land hiis a water 
frontage of more than half a mile. There they manufacture nearly 
everything needed in making a piano. They have a large school for 
children, in which English, German,' and music are tuught ; a largo 
bath, with Hfty dressing-rooms, and a beautiful little ])ark adjoining, 
all for the free use of their workmen and their familie^s. They have in 
their employ in New York and at Astoria about one thousjind work- 
men. At the close of lSs2 they completed their piano Xo. .")(!,< » hi. 

The founder of the house of Steinway il- Sons died in Febniary, 
1871, aged seventy-four years. The bu.sine.ss is now conducted by his 
oldest son, C. F. Theodore Steinway, and liis brotlier William, and 
several grandsons of the founder.* 

* Henrj- Englelinrd Steinway was bom in Wolfshagcn, a forest hamlet in the Duchy of 
Brnnswiek, on February 15, 17',I7. Hu was the youngest of a family of twelve children, 
of whom, when he was fiftoen years of age, he wiw the sole survivor. In the summer of 
1812 he wa.s, with his father, three brothers, and two hired men, caught in a severe 
thunderstorm, and took she'.ter in a uoUior's hut. While Henry was starting a tire 1 1 dry 



683 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY, 

During tliis decaile several eminent (or at least ]i()])uhir) musical 
and theatrical characters appeared in New York. Catharine Sinclair, 
the recently divorced wife of Edwin Forrest (who assumed her maiden 
name), made her first ajipearance on any stage, under the instruction 
of (leorge Vandenliuff, at Brougham's Lyceum, in 1852, as T.ady 
Teazle, in tlie School for Scandal. She was a daughter of John 
Sinclair, an Englisii vocalist. Her brief stage career was successful, if 
drawing full liouses may be taken as a criterion of success. Perhaps 
her social position at that time made the public anxious to see her. 

It was at about that time that Brougham's Lyceum passed into the 
hands of James Wallack. It was opened as WaDack's Theatre in Sep- 
teml)er, 1852, with Lester "Wallack as stage manager. It soon became 
a model playhouse, and remains so until this tune (1883). It rivalled 
and soon superseded Burton's Theatre. Taste, ^wopriety, dignity, and 
the liand of genius were displayed in its management from the begin- 
ning. 

Late in 1851 Lola Montez, the Countess of Lansfeldt, a wayward 
Irish girl, appeared as a dancer at the Broadway Theatre, as Betty 
the Tyrolean. Her real name was Maria Dolores Eosanna Gilbert, 
and she was then thirty-three jeaxs of age. Her career in Europe 
seems not to have been an exemplary one. As a dancer she was a 
failure, but curiosity to see the famous woman gave her full houses for 
a short time. ' ' She was graceful but not brilliant, beautiful but reck- 
less, and finally died in New York of paralj^sis, a repentant and humlile 
Christian, in 1861, at the age of forty -three years." * 

Madame Sontag, one of the renowned singers of the world, began a 
series of concerts at Xiblo's Garden, in September, 1852. A native? of 

their clothes, the hiit was struck by lightning, an<I all but himself were slain by the bolt. 
Robbed of his inheritance by public plunderers, he was left penniless to tight the battle 
of life. He served a.s a conscript for a time. Having a natural fondness for music, he 
whiled away the tedium of garrison life by acquiring a knowledge of it, and in construct- 
ing a good musical instrument. He learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, and in time. 
after many difficulties, became a pianoforte-maker. He married a beautiful young girl, 
prospered in business, had many children, and on account of great depression in his 
trade caused by public acts, he came to America in 18.i0, leaving his eldest son, C. F. 
Theodore, in the same business in Germany. His family then consisted of himself, 
wife, and four sons and three daughters, the eldest of his sons who came with him being 
twenty-one years of age. The prominent events of his life after his arrival here have 
been mentioned in the text. At his death, on February 7, 1871, he was buried by the 
side of his two deceased sons and a daughter, in his family vault in Greenwood Ceme- 
tery, which he had caused to be constructed at a cost of SSO.flOO. It is built of granite, 
on Chapel Hill, and is one of the mo.st imposing structures in the (■cnictcrv. 
* Ireland's " Records of (he New York Stage," vol. ii. 



TIIIUIJ DKCADK. 18.JO-18«0. 083 

CoMcntz, I'russia, she was iiitnxliK'cd as a vocalist, at l*i'a<;iii', wlion she 
was niiio yi'ai-s of a;^(,'. Slii; lu'caiiic an idolizi'd favorite in Ltnidoii 
about l>>2i!. In Is-'in sliu numiwl Count Kossi, and rctiivd from tlie 
sta^e. Hit liusl)an(l liaviny been ruined by the tempest of revohition 
wliieli swejit over Euro])e in 1S4S, slie devoted lier tulents to tlie suji- 
port of her family. Her voice was a tine soprano, anil she wa.s un- 
surpassed in opera. After sinking in the United States anil ^lexico, 
she was about to return to New York, when she died of cholera at 
Vera Cruz, in June, 1S54, in the fort}' ninth year of her age. She was 
succeeded in Xew York by Monsieur JuUien. 

Castle Garden was occupied by Marety.ek in the sununer of ls.")4. 
Hackett opened a brief operatic sea.son there in September, is."i4, with 
Gi'isi and Mario, then the most l)rilliant stars in the nmsical firmament. 
This company wa.s transferred to the new Acailemy of Music as soon as 
it was finished, and opened a sea.si>n tliere early in October, Is.^-i, with 
tlie opera of Xonna. 

The Acailemy of Music was built on the corner of Fourteenth Street 
and Irving Place b}' a companj' of gentlemen in 1854. It is devote*! 
pi'inci[)ally to Italian opera. The building was burned on the night of 
May 22, 1SG(!, and was rebuilt the siime year. It is one of tin; best 
appointed buildings for its purposes in the coimtry. The cost of the 
present building with its decorations was about 5i;W(i,o(»o. It is occa- 
sionally used in winter for fashionable public balls and other entertain- 
ments.* Ole IJull, who became lessee of the Academy of ilusic in 
1855, was unsucces.sful, and sfK)n gave it up. Then ^flle. Rachel and 
a company directed by her brother began a series of performances ux 
September, 1S55. She was regarded Jis the first tragic actress in the 
world. Her name was Elizabeth Rachel Felix, Iwrn in S^Nntzerland in 
1820. Her parents were Jew ))eddiers. She rose to eminence from 
the depths of poverty. Before she came to America she had amassed 
a fortune which gave her an income of ^So.Oiio a year. Her perform- 
ance in New York ceased in about a month after its beginning. After 
visiting Boston slie retumetl to Xew York, and ])layed a short time at 
the Academy of Music in November. She then went to Havana, 
thence to France, where she died of consumption in 185^. the result of 
a heavy cold taken in New York. 

* .V new opera-honse has jnst been built at Broadway and Seventh Avenne, Thirty- 
ninth and Fortieth streets, and is the finest bniUling nf its kind in this country. It was 
built at a cost of $l,-tOil,000, furnished by seventy men, who each contributed S20,(K)(i. 
It is said to be the .lafcst public building ever constructed, having no loss than seventeen 
ways of eJUt to the street. It is built of brick rt!id iron. 



()84 HISTOUY OF NEW YOliK CITY. 

Liuira Kcene became the energetic manager of the Metropolitan 
Theatre late in 1855. She, and Sti'ako.sch at the Academy of Music, 
Matilda Heron at Wallack's, Cliai'les Matthews the younger at the 
Broadway, and Edwin Bootii at Burton's, (hvided tiie patronage of the 
theatres in JS'ew York iluring the last half of the third decade. At 
near the close of the decade the Metropolitan took the name of Winter 
Garden, and was opened with Boucicault's version of " The Cricket 
on the Hearth,'" called I)ot. 

Edwin Booth was fii-st introduced to a Xew York audience by his 
father, Junius Brutus Booth, in the play of the Iron Chest, his father 
taking the part of Sir Edward Mortimer. He was then about sixteen 
years of age. He afterward went to California, the Sandwich Islands, 
and Australia on a professional tour. When he returned to New York, 
in 1857, he " burst upon the town" with great brilliancy at Burton's 
Theatre, in Ms father's great character of Ilichard III. He made a 
professional tour in England in 1861, and studied his art on the conti- 
nent. At the Winter Garden in New York he plaj^ed Hamlet one 
hundred nights consecutively to full houses. It was a great triumph. 
His course in his profession has been steadily upward, and now he 
ranks as the first American tragic actor. In 1883-83 Mr. Booth made 
a professional tour in Europe, and won unbounded ajtplause every- 
where. 

One of the most imjiortant educational institutions in a commercial 
city is a school in which the best methods of conducting business of 
every kind and of keeping accounts may be thorouglily learned, theo- 
retically and practically. Such an institution was founded in the city 
of New York toward the close of this decade, twenty- five years ago, 
by Silas S. Packard, one of the most energetic of men and successful 
organizer's. 

Having had some ('X|»eri(!nce as a teacluir of writing and bof)kkoep- 
ing, ilr. Packard became associated with Bryant & Stratton, in tiie 
fall of 1856, in the management of a business school in Buffalo. From 
that city he went to C-hicago, where, with the help of Mr. Stratton, 
he established the Bryant & Stratton Business College. In May, 1858, 
in connection with ^Ir. Sti'atton, lie founded in the city of New York 
the institution so widely and favorably known as Packard's Business 
College. He soon afterward prei)ared the Bryant & Stratton series of 
text-boolcs for insti-uction in bookkeeping, ^\•hich became A^ery popular 
at once, and are still more extensively used tlian any other tcxt-ljooks 
on the same subject in our country. 

In the management of his college Mr. Packard seems to have had 



■rmiU) DEl-'ADE. 18.V) 18U0. '''^'' 



'The 'ukanl business CV.lk-ge occu,.ios a large p..rt.on ot tl.o hve- 
su, • 1.U 1 .^ on the corner of Broadway and Eleventh btreet, uhere .s 

Sl^ as ute of elegant and connnodious nx.n. wUh every a,, .ance 
fo Liruetion in the various .le,artn.cnts. lo -- '^^^'^ ;;: 
diploma is given, which is a sure pa^^sport to euiployment. lie sa>s 

' Their di,^on.as do not n-con.nen.l thenx as bank cashun. or pres. 

aL, or L n.anage.-s of large or sn.all enterprises but snn,> y .. 

. tvin.' a kn.nvledge of the duties of accountantslnp. 1 hey nu-ely fad 

to fuUil reasonable expectations, and they are not responsd.le for uni.a- 

^1n tS'hl was an average daily attendance at: the coUege of t.vc, 

hun.lred and liftv pupils, of whom thirty were young women, «ho, 

"tv as readilV as young n^en acc,nire business knowledge, become 

o« b."kkeie,. and'-in n.atte.. of short-hand and typowr.tn^ 

thev excel The voung women take the same mstrv.ct.on as the 

';;».. men, both go in^o the same classes, are subject to the .une 

restrictions, and they hold an even hand m all tl-n- woi^ 

During the twentv-tive years of its existence 1 ackaul s Business 
Cc^lege has had fully six thousand pupils, a.d it - -1--" f >^ ^ 
glhuites in the business houses in every city and large to. n n tl. 
Kepublic, and in many cities abroa.l. And they are found, al.o, in 
everv profession.* 

His .xneestor. were >.mong the o«rl,c.t settlors ° /^« ^ j^^,^^^^ p.^^.^.^,,. 

They were o£ English nativity, atul -"r ^ '7 Z^^"^;^™ , and settled about ten 
the father of Silas, with his Ave boys, -"-S™^-;;" ^^"^ ^^^ ' ^, ,,;, ,,,.,u ,.„s the 

canvas, an., making his own brnshes for h.s art »"^;^J^" ^'.^j,^';^,,;", Commerei.a 
Cincinnati, whore he was employed as a teac kt of 1>-™""^»"7^J™ ,, „;,, Marion 
College There he remained two years. In the snnunor of 18.->0 he marr.e i 
H CrocUor. of Now York, and removed, first to ^"^:-^^^:^-;::^t ::^:::i 
New York, teaching writing, bookkeeping. a..d draw ng. " ;^'' 7;;^;,^,,,,, 4,;, h« 



the text. 



686 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Thirty years ago the name of business college was unJvnown in this 
couutr}'^ ; now (1S88) there are over two hundred distinct schools, with 
an average daily attendance of between thirty and forty thousand 
pupils. They constitute immense forces in the educational institutions 
of our country. 

Possessed of varied talents, Professor Packard has bent aU his energies for a quarter 
of a centnry to the work of imparting a thorough business education to young men and 
women, with remarkable success. His business college in New York is warmly cherished 
by the best citizens in the metropolis as a most valuable institution. The celebration of 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of its establishment, in March, 1883, at the Academy of 
Music, was a most gratifying demonstration of the public appreciation of its worth. 
Chief -Justice Noah Davis presided on the occasion, and fifty pupils were graduated. 
Eulogistic addresses were given by distinguished speakers to a large assembly, among 
whom were many enterprising and successful business men of the city who were gradu- 
ates of the college. 



C'liArTEK vri. 

AM(JN(t tlie j)ul)lic charities founded during this decade, The Aew 
YdKK JivKNii.E AsYUM a|)])eai"S conspicuous. It Wius incorim- 
i-ated in June, l!S51.* It is tlie outgrowth and enlargement of an 
Jissociation of benevolent ladies formed in the autumn of Isod, who 
called their sheltering arrangements the Asylum for Friendless Boys. 
The Juvenile Asylum was founded on the sjime htusis of intentions, but 
included both se.xes. Its prime oi>ject was and is to provide a refuge 
for neglected children between the age of seven and fourteen years, 
and to procure good homes for them. When it was foundeil it was the 
only institution of the kind in the city. Indeed the whole subject of 
juvenile reform was tiien in its infancy in this country. This associa- 
tion led, In' a few months, the more extended efforts in the siime direc- 
tion of the Children's Aid Society. 

The class of ciiildren for which, under its charter, the asylum was 
founded, is designated as " truant, disoliedient to parents or guardians, 
keeping bad company, jjilfering, found in the streets or pui)lic ])laces in 
circumstances of want, suffering, abandonment, exposure, or neglect, or 
of be^fintf." Such children may be committed by an order from a jxilice 
magistrate. Children who have no friends to care for them, or whose 
friends choose to give them up wholly to the care of the a.sylum. are ])ro- 
vided with homes in the country. They are taken to the House of Re- 
ception, wiiere they areke])t a few weeks, and then sent to the asylum, 
where they remain until finally discharged. While in the asylum 
they attend school daily. 

Provision was made in the charter for the board to a.sk of the city 
authorities the sum of iS.")0,(tO(>, so soon ius the a.ssociation siumld raise 
a like sum liv VDJuntary subscriptions. This sum v/as secured very 

• The corporators nnmcd in the charter were : Robert B. Mintnm, Mradert Vnn 
Schftick, Robert SI. Stratton, Solomon Jenner, Albert Gilbert, Stewart Brown. Francis 
R. Tilton, Pa^iil S. Kennedy, .Joseph B.Collins, Benjamin F. Butler. Isaac T. Hopper, 
Charles Pnrtriilije. I.,nther Bradish. Christopher Y. Wemple, Charles O'Conor. .lohii D. 
Ross, John Diier, I'etcr Cooper, ApoUos R. Wetmore, Frederick S. Winston, James 
Kelley, Silas C. Herring, Rensselaer N. Havens, and John W. Edmonds. 



<>88 niSTOHY OK NEW YUHK Cri'V. 

spe(Hlily. The remaining sum of $50,f)(J() was appropriated by tlie public 
authorities. By this action the asylum was vested with the right of 
claiming from the city or from the commissionei-s of emigration the 
sum of S^-" annually for ever}- pujjil kept and instracted by it, thereby 
placing it among the permanent institutions in the city. 

The asylum fii'st opened its sheltering amis in a buikliug in Bank 
Street on January 1, 1S53, and to its care the children of the Asylum 
for Friendless Boys was transferred. Luther Bradish was appointed 
its first 2)resident, and John I). Euss secretary. From its inception 
until now (1883) the society has pursued its objects with faithfulness 
and untiring vigor. It immediately proceeded to erect suitable build- 
ings at One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Street and Tenth Avenue (on 
Washington Heights, opposite High Bridge), where it has accommoda- 
tions for eight hundred children. The building is spacious, being fom- 
.stories in height. The grounds contain about twenty acres of land, of 
which twelve acres are devoted to fann and garden purposes. There 
is a fine oak grove of four acres, and the remaining four acres are 
occui)ied by the buildings and yards, which are inclosed on three sides 
by a brick wall eight feet in height. 

Tlie asyhun consists of the asylum proper, and its two branches — 
the House of Eeception, in West Thirteenth Street, and a West- 
ern agency, near Bloomington, Hlinois, where homes are pro- 
vided for children sent to the West. At the close of the j^ear 
1882 there were at the asylum 64:0 boys and 172 girls, at the 
House of Reception 111 boys, making the total 883. The total 
number cared for since the institution wna opened was 22,809. 
One of the most active raanagei's of this important institution is the 
Hon. Clarkson Crolius, who obtained its charter while he was in the 
State Senate, and who has lieen connected with it from its foundation."' 
Of thechQ(h-en received during 1882 tliere were conunitted 307 for dis- 
obedience to parents and for truancy, 32 for pilfering, 14 for vagrancy, 
251 for destitution, and 8 for begging. 

It was deemed advisable, after long yeare of trial, to have the sexes 
sejxirated, and when a new building for girls was completed, in 1881, 
this was done. In addition to the daily instruction in the schools, in 

* The officers of the New York Juvenile Asylum for 1883 were : Ezra M. Kingsley, 
president ; Peter Cooper and Benjamin B. Sherman, vice-presidents ; Peter Carter, secre- 
tary, and Henry Tallmadge, treasurer. It has a board of twenty-four chosen directors 
and three ex-officio directors. The latter are : Franklin Edson, mayor ; John Eeilley, 
president of the board of aldermen, and Henry H. Porter, president of the board of 
charities and coi-rection. The superintendent of the asylum is Elisha M. Cai-penter ; of 
the House of Beception, E. D. Carpenter. 







/^.A 



I'llIUli DKCADK, 18")() 1H«0. (>M 

till' oi'diiiarv Kiij^lisli ln-anclics, tlic cliildrcn arc can-t'iilly drillcil in 
vix-al imisif. Tlio boys are einployoil in niakiiii: iiiid mending shoes 
anil garments, so tliat they become (|uite expert slioemakers and 
tailors. They alst) work on tlie farm and in tlie gartlen, whih- tlie 
girls iiro taught sewing and the making of feminine garments. These 
employments :in- madi- prolitalde in furnisliing sujiplies for the in- 
stitution. 

TuK Dkmii.i I)l^l■l;.\sAUY was established in is;".!, to meet the wants 
of the siek poor in the eastern ]>art of the city above Fourteenth 
Street. Temporary medical relief had been given by the Associatifiii 
for the Im]m)vement of the Condition of the Poor for two or three 
yeai-s, l)ut that society was compelled to withhold it in is.jl, where- 
upon an effort was put forth to establish a dispensary in that district. 
Meetings Wi^w held, and finally, at a gathering at the church on Fourth 
Avenue, corner of Twenty-second Street, in March, ls,">l, it w;ls resolved 
to take jueasui'es to establish "■ a medical dispensjirv for the north- 
eastern part of the city." A conunittee was appointed to cany out 
the measure. 

There were two maiden sisters in the city, named Eliz;il)et1i and 
Sarah Domilt, who were friends of medical charities. They both died 
in 1S4'.>, and left to the three dispensaries then in the city 8-". "00. 
After the al)ove-named committee had perfected the arrangements for 
establishing a <lispensarv, Mr. (ieorge T. Trimble, a friend of tlui 
Demilt sisters, called on the committee, told them he was the residuary- 
legatee of the deceased women, and that what he received from the 
estate he intendetl to devote to some charity such as they would 
approve if living. Having i)rofound respect for their ineuujry, he 
desired that some worthy chai-ity should |)eq)etuate it, and i)ropose(l 
to give §;.">UOt> to the new institution if they would name it the Demilt 
Dispensary. The offer was accepted with its conditions, and so the dis- 
pensary receiveil its name. A lot was jnircha.sed, a building erected, 
and in it the managers held their fii-st meeting on ^Nlarch 21, 1S."),3. 

The dispensiiry building is situated on the corner of Second Avenue 
and Twenty-third Street. It is four stories in height, with a high b:jse- 
ment. For two years the subject of dietetic regimen for its ])atients 
engaged the attention of its managers. In 1ST3 .some benevolent ladies 
established the Xew York Dietetic Kitchen <vs an adjunct to the 
Demilt, thereby securing the co.o]ieration of its house and visiting phy- 
sicians. The two orgivnizations work in hannony with great success. 

During the year ISS-J the tiumber of new ])atients treated in the 
Demilt Dispensary was '2-2 JW, of whom Sl.-.c w,.,-,- children. Of the 



0!lO IIISTOltY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

whole number, IS, 428 were treated at the dispensarv, and 40(')S at their 
homes. The number of persons treated since the opening of the dis- 
pensary (thirty years ago) to the close of 1S83 was 759,134, and the 
whole number of prescrii)tions fm-nished during that time was 
1,569,182.* 

All of the city of Xew York south of a line from the North Eiver 
through Eightieth Street to Fifth Avenue, and througli that avenue to 
Seventy -fourth Street, and through that street to the East River, and 
comprising a population exceeiling 850,000 at the census of 1880, is 
divided into six dispensary distincts, of which one is occupied and cared 
for by each of the foUowing tlispensaries : The New York, incorpo- 
rated in 1795 ; the Northern, in 1827 ; the Eastern, in 1832 ; the De- 
milt, in 1851 ; the North-western, in 1852 ; the North-eastern, in 1862. 

Tlie Jews of the city of New York are doing much in the way of 
charity and benevolence in behalf of their people who suffer and are 
unfoi-tunate. Their or}:)han asylmn has akeadj^ been noticed in these 
pages. They have, besides, a well-apjjointed hospital (Mount Sinai), a 
EeUef Society, a Sheltering Arms Guardian Societj'^, a Deborah 
Nursery, a Society for the Improvement of the Sanitary Condition of 
the Poor, and a Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews. 

Mo^^'T SiJJAi HosprrAL was founded hj Sampson Louison, a wealthy 
Hebrew, who donated ground in Twenty-eighth Street for the institu- 
tion. It was incorpoi-ated by the Legislatm-e on February 12, 1852 
(Adar 5612). A building was erected in Twenty-eighth Street, 
and was opened for patients in 1858. The first officei-s were : Samp- 
son Louison, president ; John J. Hart, vice-president ; Henry Hen- 
dricks, treasurer, rnd Benjamin Nathan, secretary. It was estab- 
lished for the " purpose of affording medical and surgical aid and 
comfort and protection in sickness to deserving and needy IsraeUtes 
and others, and for all purposes pertaining to hospitals and dispen- 
saries." 

The sympathj' of this hospital is wider than tiiis definition of its 
purposes, for the directors have always opened their doors to pei-sons 
of whatever creed. The superintendent is instracted to admit all sick 
or wounded pereons, unless they have infectious or incurable diseases. 
There is also a ward set apart for lying-in women. They have a stock 
of clothing for the most destitute patients, and Iiave a Ijurial plot, and 

* The ofiScers of the Demilt Dispensury for 1883 were : Charles Tracy, jn-esident ; 
"William Phelps and Joseph Gillet, vice-presidents ; .John W. Cochrane, treasurer, and 
Alfred E. Kimball, secretary. It has twenty-five managers, of whom Charles Tracy and 
Charles C. Savage have been in the board from the beginning. 



091 

TllUtK UKlAUK, lfCiO-18«0. 



an tpHlnmc ^ Sixtv-sixtli Street. It luis a 

-r t :;i:r:;;;,4™» y- ■-- -'^ -^,^:: - 

,„l ,,li„m ami r.J.*m imrscrirtions wore fuinislH«l. Tlii» i» .i pure 
c^;!"^' :.:,»>• Laving' ,»on'recciv„l f..,- ..,,li„l ..lv,„.. sn, os. „r 

'''X .....ul.-.- "t l»tionl, ,ul..utto,l U, tlu. l..»,.iti>Uin™ it was o,K.,.«l, 

: tn,™t t,.r ..aining .»«, wa. cs,a„li,.,e.l. Thi. -w ,,,-,.an.m,..n 

arc consultin,. surgeons. It luus a ^vnagogue att.K-he,l t, « > 

patient ,nay caU fm- a ministerof hisovvncreed. [^l-^^/^!^/^;^ ^ 

iJ:l;;:c:t of 2lle.- aonatlons an.l ....uests, some of then of coas.den.- 
bio amount.* ...,. r»vi FiM-iiup\i 

^e l^^^ f^th of the Episcopal Cl.uvch, in whicl. t^.y had h^u 
Ztize.l. An association was fonned for the purpose of organ./.mg a 
m of which the first office,, were : the Rt. Rev. J- M- ^\ a.nwnght 
DP president : the Rev. Francis L. Uawks, DJ)., v.ce-pres.dent 
the Re- W E. Eigenbrodt, secreUtry, and John Warren, treasurer.! 

The Home heg>m its work in a room in Robinson Street w.th two 
beneficiaries. ARer several removals and a considerable .nc,-ease m 
themunberof its inmates, it foun.l a permanent place ot res.dence m 

. The officers of Mount Sinai Hospital in 1883 were : ^y^'^'^'^oST^oor'^^- 

IZ - r^Zo^. Lr wli^.; io", cl^U^n CroUo. .., Heur. K. Bo«ert. Ada. 
Norrio, and Stephen Cimbreling. un.l « committee of eighteen ladies. 



69;2 mSTOUY OF NEW YOIJK CITY. 

Forty-ninth Street, near Lexington Avenue. At first il was managed 
by a board of directoi's consisting of gentlemen, l)ut after a \vhile this 
trust was transferred to a board of lady managers, representatives of 
all the larger parishes in the city. Its simple name. Orphans' Home, 
was changed when it was incorporated, in June, 18.59, to Orphans' ilome 
and Asylum of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The present site of 
the Home wa.s leased at a nominal rate from the city corporation. 
Funds were raised, and the present fine and commodious building was 
soon erected. The Home is supported by annual subscriptions, hfe 
memberships, donations, collections in churches, etc. 

ChilcU-en are admitted into this institution only between three and 
eight years of age, and may be retained, the boys until they are 
twelve, and the girls until they are fourteen years old.. Only full or 
half orphans are received, and no cluld is received unless absolute 
control of it is given to the board. The asylum is not the private 
enterprise of a few individuals, but is a foster institution of the Church.* 

St. Yixcext de Paul Orph.\x Asylum (Eonian Cathohc) was organ- 
ized in 185S, under the auspices of the Rev. A. La Fond, pastor of the 
Church of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Ladies Patronesses of the 
church. The institution began with only two children. The objects 
of the institution are to provide for destitute and unprotected orphan 
and half-orphan children of both sexes, of French birth or parentage, 
and others, and to educate them in the Eoman Catholic faith. 

The asylum occupies a building of its own at Xo. 21!) West Thirtj^- 
ninth Street. The institution is under the charge of the Sisters 
Marianites of the Holy Cross, a rehgious order whose mother-house is 
at Mans, in France. Their aim is to inculcate, with a good moral, 
CathoUc education, a knowledge of the French and English languages, 
and all that pertains to tlie practical kno\vledge of the useful pursuits 
of hfe, such as sewing, hiundrying, cooking, etc. There were in the 
asylum, at the beginning of 1883, 54 boys and 107 girls. The managers 
contemplate adding to their benevolent work a day nursery for the 
care of babies ^vl^ile their mothers ai'e out at work.f 

* The officers of the Home for 1882 were : Mrs. Eugene Dutilh, first director ; Jliss 
.\nna Potter, second director ; Miss Anna L. Peck, secretary ; Mrs. Elisha A. Packer, 
treasurer. There is a board of twelve lady trustees beside the board of lady managers, 
and a committee of advice, consisting of the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., 
D.C.L. ; the Revs. John Henry Hobart, D.D., Isaac H. Tuttle, D.D., Thomas Gallaudet, 
D.D., Theodore Eaton, D.D., Morgan Dix, D.D., and Messrs. Alexander Smith, Stephen 
P. Nash, Frederick W. Stevens, and Gordon Norrie. 

f The officers of the asylum for 1883 were : the Rev. Gaston Septier, president ; L. B. 
Binsse, secretary , H. L. Hogaet, treasurer, and a board of nine trustees. The institu- 



TIUUU DKiAUE, ls.-,o-lM(li), 003 

An nffoetivi' aiul siiec-t'.s.sliil iuslruiiu'iilality in tlic work of liciicli- 
cenvo anil social rofunn in the city of 2su\v York is Tin; Xru-iKicv and 
('uii.k's Hosimtvi., at tlio cormM' of Lexington Avenue ami I'"ifty-lii*st 
Street. 

Early iti l^.">4 Messis. Mutt aii<l llaliiday eXjioscd tlirough the n<.'\vs- 
papeis the hoi'i-ofs of " l)al)y farming;," ami also showed that the 
mortality among mfants sent to tlie alinsiiouse Wius over ninety per 
cent. It wius alleged, without contradiction, that nearly all the infants 
conunitted to the care of wet-nurses ilieil, and of those sent to the 
ahnsIiou.se, finv survived many weeks. It was also shown that many 
cruelties were iiiHicted on these unfortunate infants i)y heartless (jr 
ignorant nurses. 

Mrs. Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet related to some friends tiie stoi-y of 
a most pitifiU event which had come under her own oh.servation. It 
was the suffering and exposure to di.sease, starvation, and ileath of the 
hahy of a wet-nurse, wlio was compelled to *' farm out" her own 
infant while she served another. The story Wiis told to ilrs. Cornelius 
Duhois, and it awakened in her such a desire to do something for 
infants de[)rived of the constant care of a mother that she immediately 
interested others, and in less than a month a Xui-serv for the Children 
of Poor Women was organized (March 1. 18.")+), an<l ^lo.ooo were 
subscribetl by generous friends. These women procured a charter, and 
began their work vigorously and hopefully in a liuilding in St. Mark's 
Pliice, on the first of May following. The nursery wius very soon 
overcrowded. Want of oxj)erience brought with it many unlooked-for 
troui)les and discouragements, but these generous women, with sui)lime 
faith, persevered and triumphed. 

The great numb.-r of sick children brought to the nursery showed 
the need of a hospital, where the sick might be cared for separate from 
the healthy. The authorities of the New York IIosi)ital generously 
gave til tlie managei's of the nursery a wooden cottage which had been 
temporarily erected. It was removed to and reconstnicted on vacant 
lots on Sixth Avenue, near Eourteenth Street, in lS5i>. A new 
charter gave to the institution its present title of The Nurserv and 
Child's Hospital. 

A i)uilding for a permanent liome for the institution was completed in 
^fay. ls.58. Soon afterward it was pro])osed to establish a fomidling 
hospital in connection with the nursery, and on lots adjoining it. .V 

tion is iintlur tUo charge of Sister Xliiry o£ Archangel. It is suiipurtcd by subacriiitious 
unil donations. 



G!)4 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

huildiii;:^- fur tlic purjMJse was ei'ected, largely through the untiring ex- 
ertions of Mrs. Dubois, assisted by the conmion council, just as the 
Civil War broke out. 

Tills institution met a most pressing social want — tlie protection of 
illegitinuite children and their erring mothers. Infanticide and the 
suicide of unfortunate mothers was becoming fearfully jirevalent. It 
was for the salvation of these that this institution, called the Infants' 
Home, was establislied. 

Again these good women applied for a charter giving them power to 
open a lying-in hospital. It was granted, and in December, 1S65, 
this additional refuge was opened. After much tribulation the man- 
agers secured from the city authorities a peqietuul lease of the Imild- 
ings and lots which the institution now occupies. 

The mortality among children in the city during the summer mouths, 
chiefly from cholera infantum, caused the opening of the Country 
Branch of the Nursery and Child's Hospital, on Staten Island, on July 
4, 1870. Thirteen cottages were built for the purpose. This was 
accomphshed by legislative aid. The result has been most satisfactory. 
During the year ending in March, 1882, the institution cared for 2322 
pei-sons— in the City Nursery 1138, and in the Country Branch 1184. 
There were 772 women and 1552 children.* 

An efficient institution designed for social reform is The New Yoek 
Inkikmary roil AVo!\[en and Children, established early in this decade. 
It was incorporated in December, 1853, for the following purposes : 
1. To afford ])oor women the opportunity of consulting physicians of 
their own sex ; 2. To assist educated women in the practical stutly of 
medicine, and 3. To form a school fen- instruction in nursing and the 
laws of health. 

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell and her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, assist- 
ed by a few generous fi-iends, founded this institution. They had re- 
ceived so many aiijilications for advice from poor women that they per- 
ceived that only by the establishment of a charitable medical institution 
could such advice be effectively given. They determined to found one 
upon a base so broad that it could be a school for the mutual instruc- 

* The officers of this institution in 1882 were : Mrs. Cornelius Dubois, first direo. 
tress ; Mrs. A. S. Sullivan, second directress ; Mrs. J. W. Ellis, third directress ; Mrs. J. 
Howard Wright, treasurer ; Miss M. E. Smith, assistant treasurer ; Mrs. IX. H. L. Town- 
send, secretary, and Miss M. D. Van Winkle, assistant secretary. There was a board o£ 
thirty-two lady managers. Mrs. McEvoy was the matron. Of the country branch, Mrs. 
Theodore F. Eadie was treasurer, and Miss AVebster secretary. Some of the best medical 
men of the city are attending or consulting; physicians. 



IIIIUI) DKCADt:, 1850-1HU(I. ♦'^'> 



tion or wonu.u a.ul ^ivo an ..i.,,..rtu,.ity f-.r stu-l.-nls of tl.-ir own s-x to 
s.-e ami tako pail in actual piafliw. 

Uthor oonsiaeralions also led to giving to tin- n.-N. .nst.tut.on 11. 
fnrn. of a lu.spital rather than that of a colk-g.. It wa.s necss^try to 
,n -0 that onlinavv n.eaical practice coul.l W succcsslully comluclcl 
,, ,,„„,„, ,,ul this coul.l n,ost effectually he done hy pubhc pnu-t.ce 
aiuong the poor. An infinna.y was established, and begun as a d.s. 
pens;,rv, in a single n^.m near Tompkins S.,uare, ^N-ith a capital of So-, 
attendi'il three times a week by a single physician.-* 

When, three yoa.s afterwar.l (is.-.r,, the medical staff of the institu- 
tion was increaJcl by the return of Dr. Emily lUackwell ^-'-^ ^-^-^ 
and the arrival in Xow York of Dr. Marie E. La K^nvsk^t a house, 
was taken and the hospital department was added. This step xvius 
und.M-taken in the face of solemn warnings and the most ihscouragmg 
pn.phecios, for preju.lices against - fe.mde d.K-tors,' not only m the 
public mind but in the profession, were then very powerful. 1 he ro- 
ectoi-s were told that no one would U-t a house for the purpose : that 
'' female doctors" would be looked on with so inu.-h suspicion that the 
.K.hce would interefere ; that if deaths occurred their <leath certihcates 
would not be recognized ; that they wouUl be resorte.l to by cUusses 
and pei-soiis whom it would be an insult to be calle.l upon to deal with , 
that without men as resident physicians they would not be able to 
control the patients ; that if any accident occurrtMl, not the med.cal 
profession all.ne would Idame the trustees for supporting such an 
undertaking ; and, finally, that they would never be able to collect 
monev for such an unpopular enterprise. . i k„ tl.n 

The isolation of these few -woman ,locto.-s is illustrated In the 
following circumstance : When, for the lii-st time, an operation was to 
be performed cm a patient at the intirmaiy, one of the consulting ph>- 
sieians was aske.l to be present. The little group of worn m physicians 
waited more than an hour for his appearance. The del ly w.us caused 
l,v his deeming it necessaiy t<. consult an eminent me.lical gent einan 
a.s to the iiropriety an.l wisdom of siinctioning such a proceeding by Ins 

. ThiH institntion was orgamze,! with the foUowing-named person, as it. ^"<^^<^^^^^ 
Trustees, Stacy «. Collins, Charles lii.t.er, Robert Hay.ln.:k Theoaore ^«1«»"J;^.7 
W. Fiel.1 Sime.m Dra,er. Horace Greeley. Dennis Ilarr.s, Charl^ ^^ . F"-; -• H^!^ ' " 
Raymond Charles \. Dana. Richard II. Manning, Richard 11. Bowne. « '•"';/' 'I*;- 
eZTc. West, nenia-nin Flanders, Marcus Sprin,. ^^-^^^ :^!^^^^'^'^ 
phvsician. Dr. Eli.O.eth Blackwell ; consulting physicians. Drs. V .Hard P-l^f ^ ^- ^^ 
Ki;8am, I-saac E. Taylor, and George P. Cummaua : consulting surgeons, Dr. \ alent.no 
Mott and Dr. John Watson. 






y. Mt 




nilUD DIXAKK, is.".) I'-Mi. 'jy^ 

111 l>t;:»ii iliarUT was oWtaiiii'd for a Woman's NLiuhai. Coi.i.kge, 
ill coniifftioii with tlio Inliriiiaiy to'" Women and (.liiliirfn. It w:uj 
o|MMU'<l with a lull anil ellicifnt faculty. A chair of hy^ncnc was 
foniKlcil, tlie lii-st of the kind in a medical colk'f,'e in the United States. 
A Ijoaril of examinei-s was estal)lislie<l, inde|)eudent of the faculty. 
The Hist class •rraduate<l in lM(t. Candidates for graduation, aft.-r 
having jiassed tlu! faculty <if the college, gtj before the hoard of e.xain- 
inei's, composed of professoi-s in the several ine<lical colleges in the city. 

The students of this college have the best cUnical advantages, as the 
inlirmarv places before them annually several thoustuul patients, ami 
all the dispensaries of the city are open to them.* 

In is.^ci the Xkw Yokk Ophtiialmk" IIosi-itai. was founded, and l>egan 
operations under the general incoiiioration sict. Its prime object was 
to afford gratuitous treatment for iliseases of the eye to needy jjci-sons, 
and the instniction of medical students in a knowledge of these diseases. 
In 18t59 the directors oljtained permi.ssion from the State to treat 
diseases of the ear as w<>ll as of the eye. It Wius at this juncture that 
a board of directors were elected, who imule it a homcBopathic institu- 
tion, and took measures for obtaining funds for the erection of a 
permanent building for the hospital. After collecting about s;7ii.(»M», 
they purchased a lot on the corner of Third Avcnu :> and Twonty-tliird 
Street. There they had laid the corner-ston3 and began work in a 
moderate way, when Mrs. Emma A. Keep (now widow of tlie kite 
Judge Schley) presented the directors with the munificent sum of 
§UM»,00(>. Their fine buililing, five stories in height, was completeil 
and occupied in 187'2. 

In 187!» the directors procured fi-om the State Legislature ])ower to 
confer on (lualilied students the degree of Surgeon of the Eye and Ear, 
a distinction enjoyed by no other simikar institution in the world. For 

• The [.resilient of the Woman's Medical CoUeHe for 1882 w,»s Samuel Willets. and the 
secrotan- Rnl.ert Haydock. The hoard of examiners consisted of Drs. Willard Parker, 
B. \V. jicCr.?udy. Stephen Smith, .\. L. Loomis, William M. Polk. E. O. .Inneway, and 
William H. Welch. At the heiul of the faculty was Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., 
emeritus professor of principles and practice of medicine. 

Sliss Blackwell is a native of Bristol, England, where she was bom in 18-21. She came 
to Xew York with h.-r father in 18:11, went to Cincinnati in 1837, where she taught school 
several years ; studied medicine in Charleston, S. C, while teaching music, and finally 
took the degree of M.D. at the medical college. Geneva, N. Y.. in 1849. She is the first 
woman upon wh..ni that degree was conferred. She pursued clinical studies in Phila- 
delphia and midwifery in Paris, aflcr which she was allowed to " walk the hospital " of 
St. Bartholomew, in London. She began the practice of her profession in New York 
City, and there, with her sister Emily, opene.l the New York Infirmary for Women and 
Children in 1851. 



(J98 HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

three veal's the institution exercised tiiis power in graduiitin<»- students 
and in 18S2 the directoi-s proceeded to organize the college by the 
appointment of a faculty of instruction antl the adoption of a compre- 
hensive coui-se of study, under which physicians are made accompUshed 
experts in chseases of the eye and ear. By this organization the highest 
conception of a hospital was obtained, an idea carried out at an earlier 
day by the Xew York Infirmary for Women and Childj-en and tlie 
Woman's Hospital — namely, a hospital affording rehef to human 
suffering and a college in connection for the advancement of medical 
and surgical science. The hospital- and the college are successful 
co-workera.* 

Nearly every pubhc charity in Xew York City is the product of 
some tiny seed planted in good soil. An excellent institution which 
had its origin in the heart of the rector of St. Luke's Church (the Rev. 
Isaac Tuttle) is a case in point. One day an aged woman, gentle in 
her bearing and eA-idently well bred, who had seen better days, called on 
the rector and inquired whether there was an asylum or a home of the 
Episcopal Clmrch where a woman fourscore years of age might find a 
retreat for the remainder of her hfe. 

"Madam," said the rector, "I am sorry to say our Cliurcli has 
none; but by the grace of God it shall have." 

The rector soon preached a discourse on tlie necessit}^ of sucli a 
home. He invited some of his congregation to a conference, and the 
result was the organization, in 18.51, of St. Luke's Home foe Ixdigext 
Cheistiax Females. Furnished rooms were hired, and these only, 
Avith fuel, were given to the first inmates, they generally being able to 
earn their food. It was sinijjy a shelter. The more feeble were aided 
by individuals or by St. Luke's Parish. The institution was under the 
care of efficient ladies of the congregation. For several years it 
remained a paroclual cliargc, but its blessed work becoming more 
widely Imown, there was a generally expressed desire to make it a 
Clmrch affau% and to extend its benefits. Leading clergjnnen recom- 
mended it to the consideration of their parishioners. 

In 1S5G, thi'ough the earnest efforts of benevolent women from 
several parishes, the institution was changed from a parochial to a 

* The officers of the institution in 1882 were : Thomas C. Smith, president ; George W. 
Clarke, vice-president ; Elias C. Benedict, treasurer ; R. C. Root, secretiirj-; .John Mackay, 
assistant secretary. There is a board of fifteen directors. Its successive presidents since 
185.S have been the Hon. Caleb S. WoodiiuU, the Kev. Isaac Ferris, D.D., Peter Cooper, 
Solomon Jenner, John M. Seaman, and Thomas C. Smith. The latter has been president 
since 1871. 



TIIIUI) OKCAnK, 1850-lsfln. 



090 



pcnoral<mc, aiitl iiui>r|M>i"it(Ml. Funds wi-rc soon funiislicil to ]iurclia.se 
ii coiiimiHliims lunise next to St. Luko'sC'liurcli, tlioii in Ilmlsuii Street. 
An a.ssDc-iate board of wonuin nianai^oi-s wa.s a]>pointed to take cliarge 
of its internal atfaii-s, wliile men managed the propeity of tlie institu- 
tion. 

This Home now occupies a commo«lioiis building of its (j\\ ii on the 
corner of Madison Avenue and Eighty-ninth Street, while St. Luke's 
Church remains at its old l(n-ation and is in charge of the same rector, 
in whose In-art the seed of the Home was planted.* 

In 1><.">S an organization designed for the temi>ond, moral, and s])irit- 
ual welfare of young women wjio are dependent on their own labor for 
sui)p<M-t, wa.s effected by a few benevolent women. It was called the 
Ladies' Christian Union of the City of New York. In this woik Mi-s. 
Mai-shall O. Roberts was conspicuous. The hulies established the Young 
Women's Home, also the Young Ladies' I'.ranch of the Christian Union. 
The latter separated from tlie parent society in 1S73, and it was organ- 
ized under the title of the Yorxit AVomkx's Christian- Associ.vtion. It 
has a free circulating liljrary, and educational classes in phonogi"ii)hy, 
type-writing, and retouching photo-negatives. Those classes and the 
library are open to young women from eighteen to thii-ty-five years of 
ago who desire to study to prepare for self-support. It has also an 
Employment Bureau, an Industrial Dejiartment, and a Fresh Air 
Fund.+ 

The ]\Ietiio(lists of the city of New York also established a homo for 
iiged and indigent momliei-s of their society early in this decade. The 
idea originated with the membei-s of the Greene Street Church, who 
had unsuccessfidly endeavored to provide a home for the aged destitute 
of tlieir congregation. A ]ilan was conceived in 1850 for estaiilishing 
such a o-eneral home for the old and needy in the several churches in 
the city. Meetings were held at private houses. Finally, in 1851, at 
a public meeting in the Mulberry Street Church, a Ladies' Union Aid 
Society was formed, anil was incoqiorated in June of that year. Mi-s. 
Mary Mason Wiis the first president of it, and was i-e-elected seven 

* The oflSccrs o£ the Home in 1883 were : The Et. Kev. Horatio Potter, bishop of the 
diocese, president ; the Rev. Isaac Tnttle, D.D., vice-president ; Francis Pott, secretarj- ; 
John H. Caswell, treasurer. There is a board of managers, composed of clergymen and 
la.vmen, nineteen in number, and nnmcrons assistant managers, composed of ladies 
from the various Episcopal churches of the city. 

I The officers for 188,1 were : Mrs. Clarence E. Beebe, president ; llrs. Mary J. 
McCready.and Mrs. W. W. Hoppin, Jr., vice-presidents ; Mrs. R. A. Bush, treasurer; 
Miss Emily B. Fabian, corresponding secretarj' ; and Miss M. L. Perlee, recording secre- 
tary. 



700 HISTOKY Ol- NEW YdRK (ITY. 

successive years. A house was liired in Horatio Street, wliicli would 
accoiuniodate tinrty pereons. Under tlio original charter tiie associa- 
tion worked until 1878, when it was amended and the name changed 
to METuonisr Ei'is(xipal CnuRcit IIomk for Aged axd Infirm Members. 

Very soon there was a jjressing tlemand for an enlargement of the 
Home. Four lots were given to the society by William Seaman, in 
West Forty-second Street, on wliich they built their present structm-e, 
(52 by 82 feet in size on the ground and four stories in height. It is 
capable of accommodating seventy-five inmates. It was dedicated in 
April, 1857, by l>isho]) Janes. 

Persons of all conditions belonging to the Methodist (Miurch may 
there find a comfortable and agreeable resting-place in old age. No 
entrance fee is required. The more needy and lonely their condition, 
the more readily do the}' find admission to the Home. When '' life's 
fitful fever is over' ' their remains are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, 
in a lot appropriated for the purpose, unless their fiiends provide a 
place of sepulture for them.* 

The Baptists also have an institution to provide the aged, infirm, or 
destitute members of the Baptist churches of Xew Yoi-k City with a 
comfortable residence ; with board, clothing, skilful medical attend- 
ance ; with their accustomed religious services, and at their death with 
respectful burial. This mstitution was incorporated in ^larch, 1869, 
under the title of Tue Baptist Home for Aged and Infirm Persons. 
The names of the trustees which appear in the charter are : Amanda 
F. Hays, Apauline IT. Ambler, Ann Letitia Murphy, Isabella E. Brace, 
Frances M. Xewton, Maria Miner, Anna ^I. Holme, Susan F. Colgate, 
Mary A. Pettus, Sarah J. Spaulding, and Eliza J. Merwin. 

The society Avas organized in February, 1869, and in June, 1870, a 
temporary home was opened in Grove Street. In May, 1874, the in- 
mates were removed to the handsome structure, five stories in height 
above a high basement, which stands on Sixty-eighth Street, near Lex- 
ington Avenue. ;Many social gatherings have been held at the Home, 
and the hfe of the inmates there is made as happy as kindness, re- 
Ugious ministrations, and general contentment can afford, f 

* The officers of the Homo for 1883 were : Jlrs. Bishop Harris, president ; Jlrs. 
Lemuel Bangs, vice-president ; Mrs. Rith.ira Kelly, treasurer ; Mrs. Lafayette Olney, 
recording secretary ; Mrs. George H. Jlonison, corresponding secretary. 

t The officers of the institution for 1882 were : Mrs. D. C. Hays, first directress ; Mrs. 
S. M. .\mhler, second directress ; Mrs. William D. Murphy, third directress ; Mrs. J. M. 
Bruce, treasurer ; Mrs. T. H. Butler, coiTesponding secretai-y, and Mrs. William J. Todd, 
recording secretary. 



TIIIIM) DK .ADI-;, I850-I8«f). ^il 

Tlieix' was int'nriiDratod, in IS.'il', in tlic city of Xow York a Ivoinaii 
("atliolic orphan asylum. It was an institution fonuoil hy tiic union of 
an orplian asylum and lialt-orplian asylum |)r(fviously existing. Tlio 
orplian asylum liail Wci-n founded in IslT under the aus])iees of IJisliop 
Connelly. Its location w;us in Prince Stntet. The inmates were in 
chai-j^'e of the .Sistei-s of ("liarity. This and the Half-Orphan Asylum 
were consolidated in ls."):i into one corporation, undei' the name of Tni-; 
Ro^rA.N ('.\Tnoi.ic OiuMiA.N Asvi.i M idi; Tui; ("nv OK Ni:w Yokk, the 
corpor.ite power to he held hy a Imanl of managei"s, twenty-live in 
number.* 

The huilding in Prince Street wius erected in 1825. It occupies 
nearly half a hloiU, and is four stories ahove the basement. It was 
originally occupied e.vclusively Ijv girls. Subse(|uently spacious l)uild- 
ings of brick were erected in tht^ upper jjart of the city for both sexes. 
The building for boys occupies a large jjortion of a l)k)ck of ground on 
Fifth Avenue, between Fifty-lii'st and Fifty -second streets. The 
building for girls occupies a jjortioii of a block bounded by Madison 
and Fourth avenuas and Fifty-fu-st and Fifty-second .stieets. The 
institution can now acconunodato fully two thousand children of lioth 
sexes. From the commencement, in Isl", the Roman Catholic Orphan 
Asylum has been su|)ported by voluntary gifts in various forms.+ 

At the l)eginning of this decatle a very important institution for the 
diffusion of knowledge was founded in the city of Sow York. It is a 
lil)rarv of reference, arranged on a scale of munificence in expenditure 
for making it equal to any institution of tlu^ kind in the world. 

This library was founded by John Jacob Astor, then the most 
o])ulent citizen of the metroptjlis, if not of the Republic. On Januaiy 
18, 1841), it was incor])orated under the title of The Trustees of the 
AsTOR Library. The gentlemen named in the charter were : 
Wiishington Irving, William B. xVstor, Daniel Lord, James G. King, 
Joseph G. Cogswell, Fitz-Greene Ilalleck, Samuel P). Ruggles, Sanuiel 
"Ward, and Charles Astor P.risted. These trustees an* all deceased. 

For the establisiiment of this library Mr. Astor, who died in 1^+8,* 

♦ The first officers elected under tlio new charter were : Archbishop .Tolin Hughes, 
president ; the Rev. .John Longhlin nnd Hngh Sweeuv. vice-presidents : I). Carnlin, 
trett.snrer ; M. .J. O'Donnell, secreUirv, and Lonis B. Binsse, assistant soiretjirv. 

f Tlie officers of the asylum in HS2 were : the Rev. William Qiiinn, president ; John 
C. JlcCarthy, treasurer, and Francis Twomey, secretary. 

{ .Tohn .lacob Astor was bom in the village of Waldorf, not far from Heidelberg, Ger- 
many, \u midsummer, ITCiIl. His parents occupied a humble sphere in life. At an early 
age he manifested ambition for Inn-el and traffic. While yet a mere stripling he left 
home and travelled to London, starting for a seaport mi foot with all his "orldly goods 



702 HISTUUV OF NKW YORK CITY. 

bequeathed $-l(M),O00. The original building was completed at the 
close of 1853, and was opened on Fei)ruary 1, 1854, with Su,OnO 
volumes, selected chiefly by Dr. J. (i. ("ogswell, the firet appointed 
librarian. William B. Astor, sou of the founder, afterward erected an. 
adjoining building of the same dimensions as the firet. The enlarged 

in a bundle hanging over his shoulder. Kesting in the shadow of a linden tree, he 
thought of his future, and resolved to be honest and industrious, and to avoid gambling. 
Upon this moral basis he built the superstructure of his fame and fortune. 

Young Astor left London for America in November, 1783, bringing with him some 
merchandise for traffic. He was then twenty years of age. An elder brother, who had 
been in .Vmerica several years, had written to him on the advantages offered young men 
of enterprise in this country. Obtaining from a countryman in New York engaged in 
the furrier business all necessary information concerning that jjnrsuit, he invested the 
proceeds of the sale of his merchandise in furs, and was successful from the beginning. 
His enterprise, guided by great sagacity, always kept ahead of his capital, and year after 
year his business expanded. He made regular visits to Montreal, where he boiight furs 
of the Hudson Bay Company and shipped them to London. So soon as commercial 
treaties permitted, he sent furs to all parts of the United States, and for many years he 
carried on a very lucrative trade with Canton, China. After spending many years as a 
second hand operator, and having accumulated a large fortune, he resolved to do business 
on his own account. He traded directly with the Indians, who were supplying the 
North- Western Fur Company with the choicest furs. He soon became the rival of this 
company. In 180'J the Legislature of New Y'ork incorporated the American Fur Com- 
pany, with a capital of 81,000,000, with the privilege of extending it to 82,000,000. Mr. 
Astor was the president and director — in a word, he was the company ; the capital and 
management were his own. In 1811 he bought out the North-Western Company. With 
some associates he formed the South- Western Fiu- Company, and they controlled the vast 
fur trade in the middle regions of America. Mr. Astor conceived a still greater enter- 
prise. He saw the great possibilities of the Pacific coast in connection with the trade of 
the East Indies, and he contemplated the control of that trade. He resolved to control 
at least the fur trade with China. His plan was to have a line of trading-posts across the 
continent to the mouth of the Columbia River, lately discovered, and ship furs from that 
point to Asia. He established a fortified post at the mouth of the Columbia, which was 
called Astoria. It was the germ of the State of Oregon. Then began a series of opera- 
tions on a scale altogether greater than any hitherto attempted by individual enterprise. 
The history of it is full of wildest romance ; it has been told by Irving in two volumes. 
The grand scheme soon failed. There was war with England. A. British armed 
schooner captured Astoria, and British fur-traders entered upon the rich field. The 
United States Government declined to assist Mr. Astor in recovering his possessions. 
His associates disappointed him, and bis dream of an empire beyond the mountains, 
" peopled by free and independent Americans, and linked to us by ties of blood and 
interest," vanished like the morning dew. It has since become a reality. 

After the failure of this enterprise Mr. .\stor gradually withdrew from commercial life. 
He was the owner of much real estate on Manhattan Island, for his sagacity foresaw the 
growth of the city and great appreciation in the value of the land. He was also the 
holder of a large amount of public, stocks. His later years were chiefly spent in the 
management of his large and rapidly augmenting estate, which, at his death, in March, 
18-18, amounted in value to several million dollars. The Astor Libraiy is his enduring 
monument. 



I ilhtli l>K( AKK. 1~.".0 1800. 7<>3 

library was npciiiMl to tin; |)ul)lif Si'ptciiilier 1, is.'i'.i, willi llnjioi) 
voliiiiies. William 1?. Astor dicil in IST"), leaviii',' ii l)C(|iiest which, 
Avith fonncr ;,'il't.s, amidiuti'il to ii|)Wiir(l of ^S.".:.ii,ni»ii. .lolm Jacob 
Astor, a j,nanilson of tlic foiuulcr. sub.sc(|iioiitly erected another adjoin- 
ing buililing, corresponding in size ami style with the others. an<l trans- 
ferred the entrance to the middle building. He also made extensive 
improvements in the interior. The completed library w;is opened to 
the public in ISSl with nearly -jnu.ooo volumes. The library is c<>n- 
tinuallv increasing. In lss2 the luimber of volumes wa.s over !2<>o,<'0(i. 

The lil)rary buildings have a frontage on l.afayette Place f>f near 2nii 
feet, and are 1<m( feet in depth. Tliey are built of brown freestone and 
brick in the Byzantine style. Tlie main floor is about twenty feet 
above the ground floor, and is reached by a marble staircase. There 
are three communicating halls o|)ened through a third floor to the i-oof 
and surround(Hl by large skyliglits. 

The books of the library are arranged in alcoves around the lialls, 
■with room for :](iit,(»i to volumes, while the ground floor might accom- 
mmlate :>i »»,(»( hi more. 

This library was previously designed for students and literary and 
scientiflc woikei-s. It is a reference library only, and as such it is very 
complete, being a comi)rehensive collection of the ])rincipal authorities 
in every branch of human learning. It is sjiecially rich in technologicjd 
and linguistic subjects, (Jriental literature, mathematics, and history. 
Its jiatent department is very complt^te, aff'ording, by means of several 
thousand volumes, information for nu-chanics and inventors not to be 
found elsewhere outside of the city of Washington. 

Strangers are admitted to the alcoves of the liin-ary on jiropei- intm- 
duction .by letter or pei-sonally by some well-known citizen of New- 
York. The ordinary use of the libraiy is free to all. It is ojn-n from 
ten o'clock in the moriiing until four in the afternoon. The printed 
catalogue, by Dr. Cogswell, embraces about one half the contents of the 
libniry. A similar catalogue for the remaining portion down to ISSo is 
in preparation. C"on-es])onding to the fii-st is a printed inde.\ of subjects, 
and to the second a card catalogue of accessions, ginng authoi-sand sub- 
jects briefly in one alphabet. At the same time the full title of the 
accession is entered U[>on a large caixl, which is used in a publication of 
a periotlical list of recent accessions, afterward to fonn a classed 
catalogue. 

The value of such a library may be estimateil by the use that is 
niiulc of it. The nund)er of persons who used it during 1882 vras 
51.851!, or an average of more than 200 daiiv while the library was 



704 mSTOHY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

open. The topic wliich attracted tlie larger number of alcove reailers 
was i)olitical economy. The umnber was 4380. United States history 
had the next highest number — 668, and theology received attention 
from the next highest number — 369. The total of alcove readers was 
7915. 

The endowment of the lil)rary at the close of 1882 was $1,167,600. 
The fii-st i)i-esident of the association was Washington Irving, and the 
first superintendent was Joseph G. Cogswell, LL.D.,* who selected 
and ]iurchasod tjit^ original collection of 80,000 volumes, classified and 
arranged them, and prepared a catalogue in five volumes. f 

It was not long after the ojjening of the Astor Library to the pubUc, 
with its wealth of scientific works, when a ])ul)lishing house of books 
on science exclusively was established in the city of New York by 
David Van Xostrantl, an enterprising business man of middle age and 
solid attainments, who had experience in the business of bookselling. 
The pul)lica,tion of such works as a specialty liad never before been 
undei'taken in our country. The business has groivn from its infancy, 
less than thirty j^ears ago, into a colossal establishment. 

* Joseph Green Cogswell, LL.D., was born in Ipswicb, Mass., September 27, 1782, and 
died at Cambridge, Mass., in November, 1871. He was graduated at Harvard University 
in 1806, and then went to the East Indies in a merchant ship as supercargo. On his 
return he studied law with Fisher Ames, and began its practice in Belfast, Maine, where 
he married a daughter of Governor Oilman, of New Hampshire, who lived but a few 
years. Jn 181-1 he accepted the position of tutor at Cambridge, and two years later went 
to Europe and studied at the University of Gottingen and other German seminaries, 
with his friends Edward Everett and George Ticknor. On his return in 1820 he was 
made professor of mineridogy and geology in Harvard College, and its librarian. In 1823 
he and George Bancroft established the famous Round Hill School at Northampton, 
Mass. He was afterward at the head of a similar school in North Carolina, but before 
1839 he settled in New York, when he became editor of the New York liei-iew. He was 
introduced to John Jacob Astor by Fitz-Greene Halleck, and became his principal adviser 
in the development of a project for establishing a great piiblic library in the city. 
Indeed it was Mr. Cogswell who suggested it to Mr. Astor. He w-as appointed one of its 
trustees, and was designated by them as superintendent of the library. He made three 
visits to Europe in collecting the books for it before it was opened, and he presented 
his own bibliographical collection to that institution. It was one of the largest and most 
valuable in this country. In \HV<^ Harvard University conferred on him the honorary 
degree of LL.D. 

During his connection with the .\stor Library Dr. Cogswell prepared a valuable alpha- 
betical and analytical catalogue of its contents. He retired from his position at the 
library in 18G0, and two years later made his permanent abode at Cambridge, where he 
died, at the age of eighty-five years. 

f The president in 1882 was Alexander Hamilton, the secretary was Henry Drisler, 
LL.D. ; the treasurer, John Jacob .Vstor ; the sui)erintendent, Robbins Little : and the 
librarian, Frederick .Saunders. 




PL-riiiPM>"rrk 




riiiiih hkcakk. is.-,o-im(1o. Tii."> 

l*r<)l)iil)ly no pulilishcr liius ii wider coiTcspoiulciicc' tliiiii Mr. \ an 
^'ostrantl, Snr his publications lind ready acceptance all over the civil- 
ized world — North and South America, Kurope, Australia, China, 
Japan, and the Sandwit-h Islands. They conipri.se thoi-ouj^h treatises, 
many of them fully illu.strated, on aivhitecture, carpentry, liuildinjr, 
astronomy, navi;Lration, shi]ii)uildin;^, meteorology, brewing, distilling, 
wine-making, chemistry, ])liysics, philosophy, coal, coal oil, gas, <lra\v- 
ing, ])ainting, photogniphy, electricity, electric telegraph, engineering, 
machinery, mechanics, geology, mineralogy, mining, metallurgy, liy- 
dniulics, hydrostatics, iron, steel, life insurance, mathematics — imleed, 
almost every specialty in science and art. 

Mr. Van Nostrand carries on an extensive trade in foreign scientilic 
pubhcations and the issues of other American publishers. His priced 
catalogue for ls,s3 contains the works of no less than 1140 authors, 
some of them of the highest character and most costly in ])ro(luction. 
One of these is .Tomini's " Life of Napoleon," in which all his battles 
are jirofusely illustrated with maps and plans which aj)peared in the 
original.* 



• Mr. Van Nostmnd is a native of the city of Now York, where he was bom in ISll. 
At the af-e of ahont fifteen years he entered the bookstore of John V. Haven, on the 
corner of Broadway and John Street, New York, as a clerk. With him young Van 
Nostrand remained as clerk and jiartner aViout eight years, when with William K. Uwight 
ho opened a bookstore on his own account, and did a successful business for several 
years. 

In 1837 Sir. Van Nostrand became associated with General Baruanl as an employe in 
his office. That ofSier was then directing the construction of fortifications at New 
Orleans, and having a strong proclivity toward scientific studies, Mr. Van Nostrand 
profited by the opportunity then afiforded bim. For about twelve years he was not 
directly connected with bookselling. Having acquired a fondness for military science, 
lie gradually fell into the business of importing foreign military scientific works for 
United States officers, who availed themselves of his former experience as a bookseller. 
His orders steadily increased until he une-tpectedly found an excellent trade in his hamls. 
Very soon the United States Military Academy at West Point and other military institu- 
tions gave him their orders, until finally, early in this decade, he settled down to the 
business of a regular dealer in scientific books, in a store which ho hired on the comer 
of Broadway and John Street, exactly opposite the place where he began his apprentice- 
ship at bookselling. His store became the favorite resort of military men as well as all 
lovers of science in general. 

It was not long before Mr. Van Nostrand ventured to attempt the pnblicjition of scien- 
tific works of various kinds, and from that time (about ISofi) until now (1883) he has 
pursued that business with persistent, untiring, judicious, conscientious, and successful 
labor, until he presents an establishment which is the admiration of the scientific world. 

This, in brief, is the genesis of a new business introduced into New York. Mr. Van 
Nostrand occupies two stories (the second and fifth) of a building at No. 23 Slurray 
Street. His commodious quarters extend from Murray Stn.i tlu-.nr'li t..W!irr,ii Sh.mi 



70C IlISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

A neTV business was introduced into IS'ew York at about 1843, pre- 
\'ious to this decade, which has grown to colossal proportions. When 
the national postage system was changed by the inauguration of cheap 
postage and the use of postage-stamps on envelopes, tlie manufactm-e 
of the latter soon became an extensive business. 

Among the earlier and most successful of the envelope-makers in tliis 
country was Samuel Eaynor, now of Xos. 115 and 117 William Street, 
New York, where he and partners occupy Ijuildings six stories in 
lieight and extending through to John Street, for the prosecution of 
their business. They have six machines for cutting paper into proper 
size and shajie, wliicli turn out three hundred to five hun(b'ed envelopes 
at a time, according to the thickness of the paper vised. They also 
have thirty machines of the Eaynor pattern, which are automatic in the 
folding anil gumming process, and are capable of turning out 30,000 
envelopes ready for use in a. day. 

The liouse of Samuel Eaynor & Co. makes TOO different styles of 
envelo])es. Their consumption of isaper in 1882 was 23,325 reams. 
In tliat year the product of the estabhshment amounted to 200,000,000 
envelopes. They employ two hundred persons, of whom one hundred 
and fifty are females. * 

So costly and extensive are his technical works that he is obliged to can-j- (to use a com- 
mercial phrase) fully $100,000 worth at a time. 

Mr. Van Nostrand is one of the oldest members of the Union Leagaie Club, of which he 
was an officer for more than seven years ; an old member of the Centm-y Club, one of 
the founders of the St. Nicholas Club, and a member of the St. Nicholas Society, the 
New York Historical Society, and many other societies and organizations. 

* Samuel Eaynor is a native of Hempstead, L. I., where he was born in August, 1810, 
the son of a farmer. Wlien he was less than thirteen years of age he followed his older 
brothers to the city of New Y'ork and became a clerk in a dry-goods store in the Bowery. 
He afterward became a clerk in Caleb Bartlett's bookstore, and was a partner in the 
concern with Bartlett's brother in 1832, under the firm name of K. Bartlett * S. Eaynor. 
The firm was changed by circumstances in time, and at the end of twenty-nine years' 
service in the book business, air. Eaynor abandoned it and became half owner of an 
envelope manufactory in 18.")0. In 1858 he engaged in that business alone, opposite his 
present location in William Street. 

Mr. Eaynor soon perceived that the demand for envelopes would require greater 
facilities for their production than were then known to supply the demand. At that 
time one expert girl could fold by hand about 4000 envelopes a day. He introduced 
machinery that enabled the same girl to fold 25,000 envelopes a day. The house 
with which Mr. Eaj-nor had been connected, though one of the three principal houses 
in the trade, could turn out only about 200,000 envelopes a day ; his house now 
])roduces over 700,000 envelopes a day. It is estimated that there are 10,000,000 of 
various kinds of envelopes used in the United States each day, or about 3,000,000,000 
a year. They are not only used for letters, circulars, and mailable matter generally, 
but also by shopkeepers of every kind— druggists, dealers in fancy articles, and other 



TllllU) DKCADE. lM,-)0-18fiO 707 

Tliem were other industries, liitlieito uiiiviiown or of feeble growth, 
which si)rang up in New York during this decade, and there were old 
industries wiiieh were aniuiateil witii new life and energy and rapidly 
ex|)anded into enormous proi>ortions at this jx-iiod of reawakening 
business. Among tiie latter may be mentioned, ;ls an illustratic^n, the 
J. L. Mott Ii-on AVorks, situated beyond the Harlem IJiver, the busi- 
ness of which it is the successor has so enormously increased since the 
organization of the company, in Is.");',, that it is far in advance of any 
rival in the world in the pix)iluction of its peculiar wares. This estai>- 
lishment was founded by the late Jortlan I.. Mott,* an eminent 

business. There are uiillions of smnll envelopes made yeni-ly for oiunilms iind street- 
railway tickets. 

In 1865 Mr. Raynor associated with him in bnsiness his son and bis chief clerk, and 
the next year they removed to their present more spacions (|aarters. 

• Jordan L. Mott was born in New York City in the year 1798. He was of English 
lineage. The ancestors of both jjan-uts landed in America almost siuiultaueoiisly. His 
paternal ancestor arrived at Boston in Ui'M'>, and his maternal ancestor arrived in .\merica 
in 163.5, probably at New Amsterdam. The former settled at Hempstead, I.. I., in li;i;5, 
the latter settled immediately at Flushing, and was one of the patentees of Flushing 
Manor. Both were commissioners appointed to determine the boundary lictweon New 
England and New Amsterdam, one on the side of the Dutch and the other un the side of 
«^he English. 

The subject of our sketch was too delicate in health, in his youth, to permit his close 
application to study or business. The ample fortune of his father rendered ap|>lic4ition 
to business unnecessarj', and he grew toward young manhood without any association or 
preparation for one. The timincial revulsion of 1818 swept away the fortune of his 
father, and he found himself obliged to rely Tipon his own exertions in the battle of life. 
His inventive genius, which had been early manifested, was stimulated by this circum- 
stance, and many useful inventions were the fruit of the exercise of it. 

In 1820 Jlr. Mott began the business of a grocer, and continued it a few years. At 
nl>out that time anthracite began to be generally nsed for fuel in open grates, while the 
smaller size—" chestnut coal " — was cast aside as useless. Mr. Motfs inventive genius 
set to work, and after many experiments he produced the first CDokinij-sl'irr in which 
anthracite was used as fuel. The castings were made at a blast furnace in Pennsylvania, 
rough and heavy. Mr. Slott erected a cupola furnace, and made his stove castings from 
melted iron, smooth and beautiful ; and from that time the cupola furnace has been in 
general use in the manufacture of stoves. Mott's cooking-stoves became very popular, 
and then was laid the foundation of the prosperous business now carried on by the 
J. L. Mott Iron Works. In 18.S'.) Sir. Mott erected a foundry in the rear of his warehouse 
in Water Street, and in 1841 he built another on the site now occupied by the .1. L. 
Mott Iron Works. This establishment was twice destroyed by fire, but immediately 
rebuilt. While the fire was raging (the last time) Mr. Mott contracted for the rebuilding 
of the foundry, and before the flames were extinguished mechanics were at work pre- 
paring for building the new edifice. In nineteen days the works were again in full 
operation. 

Mr. Mott devoted much attention to the reformation and perfecting of the patent 
laws. President Buchanan offered him the position of Commissioner of Patents, but, 



708 HISTORY 01^ NEW YOliK CITY. 

Anieric-aii inventor, whose cooking-stoves iuul ranges wei'e unrivuUed 
in popularity and excellence for many yeais. lie IkuI been successful 
in the nianufactui'e of stoves, when, early in this decade, he formed the 
company known as the J. L. Mott Iron ^yorks, and withckew from 
active particii)ation in the business, of which his son, Jordan L. Mott, 
Jr., is now the head. The special products of this establishment are 
stoves and ranges, hot-air furnaces, parlor grates and fenders, fire 
irons, caldrons and kettles, statuary, candelabra, fountains, garden 
seats, vases, iron pipes of eveiy kind, water tanks, etc. 

A notable event of national importance, at the same time having a 
special bearing upon the commercial intei'ests of the city of New York, 
occurred during the latter part of this decade. It Avas the opening of 
commercial intercourse between the United States and the Empire of 
Ja])an, which liad hitherto been denied. This had been effected 
through the peaceful instrumentalities of diplomacy. 

In 1853 President Fillmore sent Commodoi'e M. C. Perry, Avith seven 
ships of war, to convey a letter from our chief magisti'ate to the ruler 
of Japan, asking him to open his ports to American couunerce and to 
make a treaty of mutual friendship. The request was compUed with 
at the end of eight months' deliberation. Commodore Perry negoti- 
ated a treaty, and in 1S60 a large embassy from Japan came to 
America. That embassy reached Washington by way of San Fran- 
cisco, and at the middle of June, 1S60, they became guests of the city 
of New York for a few days. They landed at Castle Garden, and were 
escorted by the Seventh Regiment Na.tional Guard to the Metropolitan 
Hotel, where preparations had been made for their reception. A 
grand ball was given in their honor at Xiblo's Theatre, and after visit- 
ing the leading institutions in the city they left on Ju'y 1st. At about 
that time tJie Prince dr Joinville, a son of ex-King Louis Pliilippe, of 



true to his detcrminatiou not to accept public employment of any kind, he tleclined. 
With great sagacity he foresaw the rapid growth of the city toward the Harlem River, 
and he bought a large tract of land upon which his iron works and the village of Mott 
Haven (so named in his honor) were subsequently erected. He was one of three trustees 
of a building association who w'^ere appointed in 1850 to purchase the laud and lay out 
the village of Morrisania, in Westchester County, adjoining the Harlem River. The 
population of that region then did not exceed 1000, now (1883) the population is over 
40,000, and both villages are included in the city of New York. 

Sir. Mott was a most energetic, enterprising, judicious, and successful business man. 
Courteous and kind in manners, affectionate in disposition, generous in his sympathies, 
and public spirited, he was ever ready to lend his geuiiis and his fortune to promote the 
well-being of society and the honor and prosperity of his native city. Ho died at his 
residence in New York on May 8, 18GG. 



TillKD DECADE. 1850-1800. 709 

Fninco, visited New York ; also Lady Knmklin, the wife f)f t\w lost 
arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin, intent upon her fruitless (piest. 

The Japanese had scarcely departed when the hirgest steamship ever 
Imilt — the Great Kaxfern — entered the harhor of >«ew York, and was 
soon followed by a more notahle visitor — notable in social r.ink — than 
had ever before been seen in New York. That visitor was the Prince 
of Wales, who w;is received with honoi-s and most hos|)itably enter- 
tained because he Wius the son of a noble mother, the exemplary ruler 
of a mighty kingdom, C^ueen Victoria of England. 

The Prince of Wales landed at Castle (iarden early in OctolRM-. llo 
wijs received by a military escort 7000 strong, and conducted to the 
City Hall, wiiere a reception by the municii)al authorities awaited him. 
Thence up Broadway to the Fiftii Avenue Hotel, he Wiis greeted by 
nearly 2o(),(hi() citizens, who filled the sidewalks. The street was giiyly 
deconited with American and British flags in combination. A gi-and 
compUmentary ball was given him at the Academy of ilusic, and the 
largest firemen's torchlight procession ever seen in the city paraded 
in his honor. 

The Prince of Wales left Xew York just before a notable national 
election took place, the result of which was used by disloyal ])oliticians 
as a pre'text for ])lunging our country into a most frightful civil war. 
That war was ]>rolonged and intensified by the shameful conduct of the 
British CTOvernment and the British iiristocracy towanl the loyal 
Americans who were struggling to defend the Republic agjiinst the 
deadly l)k)ws of a.ssjissins. In tiiat conduct the gi^id (jueen had not 
participated ; she lamented it. 



FOURTH DECADE, 1860-1870. 



CIIAPTKR I. 

AT thebcginninjjof the Fourth Dccado (lsr,0-18Tt'>)thc city of New 
York was t'aiily eiititlctl to tlie distinction of l>ein<r the coninioi'- 
cial nu'tmiK)Us of tiic nati(jn. The city was then (juito conijiactly Imiit 
fi-oin river to river as far north !is tlie distnl.utinfr reservoir in tiio 
centre, and was rajiidly extendinif toward tiio Ilarlcin River. Its 
poindation was then a httie more than S(Mi.(iu(», an increase of nearly 

ITC, in five years. The foreign coninieire of tlie district, ex])orts 

and iniiiorts, amounted in value, in ISOO, to about $:iT3,00(i,(iflO, an 
increase of §;."■>( i.m "•,<»( mi in live yeai-s. Its manufactures of ahnost 
every kind iiad so i-apidly increaseil in variety and extent tliat it was 
approaching a position as tlie largest manufacturing city of the 
Itepublic. 

New York was then thoroughly cosmopolitan in the comi)osition of 
its population, nationalities of antii>odcs meeting and commingling 
there. It had a twofold asjioct — one political, the other civil. Active 
politicians of every hue moulded tlie features of the former, earnest 
patriotism moulded the features of the latter. Politically the poli- 
ticians ruled the whole. New Yoik was then a decided commercial 
city, and commerce fashioned its policies to a great extent. The best 
condition for commerce is peace, and the fii-st storm-clouds of civil war 
were gathering. New York, by a large majority of its business men, 
was ready to make enomious saci-ifices of sentiment for the siike of 

])eace. 

"We now enter upon a most interesting ])eriod in the pohtical and 
civil history of the city— the decade in which civil war convulsed the 
nation, and great swial, financial, and economical changes were 
wrought in the Republic. 

The election of Aliraham Lincoln to the Presidency in the autumn 
of ISfiO was the signal for insurrectionary movements in several of the 
slaveholding States. The politicians in seven of them met in conven- 
tion and declared their several States withdr.iwn fi-om the Union- 
seceded. At the close of IStlu insurgents in f'harleston Harbor inaugu- 
i-ated civil war by Hring on a national vessel entering their watei-s with 
sup])lies for the garrison of I'ort Sumt(>r. 



714 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

The citizens of Xew York luul u-utchod tlio aj)i)ro;icliing- tempest as it 
gathered energy', witli mingled increthdit}' and uneasiness. Now they 
])erceived with alarm tiiat a fearful crisis was at hand. They anx- 
iously observed the evident timidity of the K^ational Government in 
this hour of peril with gloomy forebodings. Ever}"- loy;il soul in the 
land was distui-bed by doubts concerning the future of the Republic. 
Ti-eason was rampant and defiant at the national capital. Sappers and 
minei-s, secret and open, were working for the destmction of the great 
temple of liberty in the West — the only sure refuge for the lovere of 
freedom everywhere. At that moment the ringing voice of General 
Dix, a Kew Yorker, and then Secretarj^ of the Treasury, gave hope 
and joy and strength to every depressed mind and fainting heart, 
saying to an officer in the revenue service at New Orleans, " If any 
one attempts to haul down the United States flag, shoot him on the 
spot I" That utterance was a sure prophecy of salvation.* 

* .John Adams Dix was born at Boscawen, N. H., .July 24, 1798, and died in New York 
April 21, 1879. He was educated at Exeter Academy, N. H., at a college in Montreal, 
and while his father, an officer of the army, was stationed at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, he 
pursued his studies at St. Mary's College. He entered the army as a cadet in 1812, and 
was appointed an ensign in 1813. He was soon promoted, and made adjutant of an 
independent battalion of nine companies, .\fter the war he remained in the army, and 
in 1825 was commissioned captain. In 1828 ho left the mililaiy service. His father 
died, November 14, 1813, of inflammation of the lungs, at French Mills, on the 
Salmon Kiver, on the frontier of Canada, while with his regiment, the Fourteenth 
U. S. Infantry, of which he was lieutenant-colonel, the regiment being then in winter 
quarters. Upon his father's death the care of the family and the paternal estate de- 
volved on him. 

While in the army Captain Dix had studied law. His health became impaired, and he 
visited Europe for its recovery. On his return he settled in Cooijerstown, N. Y., as a 
practising lawyer, and soon became warmly engaged in politics. Governor Throop 
appointed him adjutant of the State in 1830, and in 1833 he was appointed Secretary of 
State of New Y'ork. That office made him an'e.r-o^cio member of the board of regents of 
the State, in which capacity he rendered efficient service. It was chiefly through his 
exertions that public libraries were introduced into the school districts of the State, and 
the school laws systematized. In 1842 he was a member of the State .Assembly, and from 
1845 to 1849 he was a member of the United States Senate. In the discussion of the 
subjects of the annexation of Texas and of slavery be was an exponent of the views of 
the Free-Soil party, and became its candidate for governor in 1848. In 1859 he was 
appointed postmaster of the city of New York. 

When, early in 18G1, Buchanan's Cabinet was dissolved. General Dix was called to fill 
the office of Secretary of the Treasury. In that capacity ho issued the famous order 
above alluded to. In Jlay following he was commissioned majorgoneral of volunteers. 
He was in command first at Baltimore, then at Fortress ilonroe, and then in the 
■V'irginia Teninsula. In September, 1802, he was jilaced in command of the Seventh 
Army Corjis. He also was chosen president of the Union Pacific Railway. In 1866 he 
was appointed minister at the French Court, which position he filled until 1809. In 




¥ 



cx^a 



^^2.^'Z>'-<^^^-^'^ 




Kul'liTir 1>KC.\I)K, 1S(!0-1«70. 715 

At tliat tiini' rrriuniilo AVuihI \v;is ;i;;;iiii iiKiyor f>f tlit- i-itv of New 
York, olcfU'd hy tlu' Di'iiKuratif party. lie syinpiitlii/.cd with tlio 
secessionists. In a incssa^^c which lie sent to tlic coinniuii council on 
January 7, ist'.l, lie virtually I'cconiuiendcd the secession of the city of 
New York from the rest of the State and the establishment of an 
independent sovereignty of its own.* 

The mayor, havin/,' made tiie revolutionary suggestions incnticjiied in 
the note below, seems to have been startled by his own tr<'asonable 
woi'ds, for he immediately added : " Vet I am not pre))ared to recom- 
mend the violence implied in these views." The common council, in 
sympathy with the mayor, ordered three thou.sand co])ies of this 
message to be printed in pampiilct fonn for free circulation among the 
people. 

The loyal citizens of New York condemned this revolutionary 
movement with severity of utterance and by j)atriotic deetls. Four 
days afterward the Legislature of the State, by a series of i*esolutions, 
tendered to the Presitlent of the I'nited States " whatever aid in men 
and money might be required to enable him to enforce the laws and 
U|)liold the authority of the National (Government." A few days later 
General Sandford offered the services of the whole Fii"st Division of 
the militia of the State of New York (in the city) in supjwrt of the 
government. 

The seditious suggestions of the mayor and the ])atriotic action of 
the Legislature alarmed the commercial classes, and large capitalists 
hastened to seek some method for pacifying the Southern insurgents. 
Without such |)acification war seemed inevitable. Such a calamity 

1872 he was elected governor o£ the State of New York, and at the end of two years of 
service in that office he retired to private life. 

General Dix was a tine classical scholar, as several translations by him testify. In 
1883 a most iuterestin^ biography ot him was published in t\io volumes, prepared by his 
son, the Kev. ilorgan Uix. D.D., rector of Trinity Church, New York. 

• " Why should not New York City," he asked, " instead of supporting by her contri- 
butions in revenues two thirds of the expenses of the I'nited States, become also equal- 
ly independent ? .\s a free city, with but a nominal duty on imports, her local govern- 
ment could be supported without taxation upon her people. Thus we could live free 
from taxes, and have cheap goods, nearly duty free. In this we should have the whole 
and united support of the Southern States as well as of all other States to whose interests 
and rights under the Constitution she has always been trne. . . . When disunion has 
become a fixed and certain fact, why may not New York disrupt the bands which bind 
her to a venal and corrupt master— to a people and a party that have plundered her 
revenues, attempted to ruin her commerce, taken away the power of self-government, 
and destroyed the confederacy of which she was the proud empire city . . . New York 
OH a free city may shed the only light and hope for a future reconciliation of oar beloved 
confederacy." 



716 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

would make the bills receivable of Southern debtors as worthless as 
soiled blank paper to Xew York merchants, their creditors, and the 
losses to the latter might be counted by millions of dollars. This 
material consideration, with an intense desire for peace, caused a quick 
movement among business men in favor of every concession to the 
insurgents consistent with honor. A memoi'ial in favor of comproniise 
measures, largely signed by merchants, manufacturers, and capital- 
ists, was sent to Congress on January 12, 18B1, and suggested the 
famous Crittenden Compromise. On the 18th a large meeting wa.s 
held in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, when a raemorial of 
similar iinport was adopted, and this was taken to Washington early 
in February, with 40,000 names attached. On the 28th an immense 
meeting of citizens at the Cooper Union appointed three commis- 
sionei's — James T. Brady, C. K. Garrison, and Appleton Oakes Smith 
— to confer with the " delegates of the people" of six seceded States 
in convention assembled in regard to " the best measures calculated 
to restore the peace and integrity of the Union." 

Meanwhile the pro-slavery element in ]S"ew York had l)een aroused 
into active sympathy with the insurgent slaveholders. An association 
was speedily fomied, styled the American Society for the Promotion 
of Xational Union, with Professor S. F. B. Morse as president. Its 
avowed objects were " to promote the union and welfare of our 
common country, l)y addresses, publications, and all other suitable 
means adapted to elucidate and inculcate, in accordance with the Word 
of God, the duties of American citizens, especially in relation to 
slavery." * 

The city of Xew York was like a seething caldron for some weeks. 
It was determined by loyal citizens to stop the ex])ortation of arms to 
Southern insurgents, which had been begim. On January 22d (1861) 
the Metropolitan Police, mider the direction of its efficient chief, John 
A. Kennedy, seized nearly forty boxes of arms consigned to the insm-- 

* In its programme this society denounced the seminal doctrine of the Declaration of 
Independence, that " all men are created equal," and said : " Our attention will not be 
confined to slavery, but this will be, at present, our main topic. Four millions of im- 
mortal beings, incapable of self-care, and indisposed to industry and foresight, are prov- 
identially committed to the hands of our Southern friends. This stupendous trust they 
cannot put from them, if they would. Emancipation, were it possible, would be rebel- 
lion against Providence, and destruction to the colored race in onr land." 

How strangely mediseval such utterances appear in the light of history to-day, less than 
a quarter of a century since they were put forth. This New Y'ork society was the germ 
and the powerful coadjutor of the peace faction which played such ;i conspicuous part 
daring the last three years of the Civil War. 



Konrrii iiKtAUK. ihiio-ihto. 717 

"•c-nts in tliL' States <if (icorgiii :mil Alaliaiiia, wiiicli liad boon jiIucimI 
on iKjanl u vessel hound for Savannali. Tlie faet was telef^raplied to 
the ji^overnor of (ie<ir^ia at Milledgcvillt'. Ilohert Toonilis, a jirivate 
citizen, took tiie matter into iiis own hands, and in an insolent manner 
demanded of Mayor Wood an iinniediate answer to his (|iu'stion, 
whetiier sneh a seizui-c iiad heen made. The mayor ol)se(iuiously 
obeyed, saying, *' Yes," but "' I have no authority over tlie })olice. If 
I had the power I siiouid summarily punish the authois of this illej^'al 
and luijustiliable seizure of i)rivate i)ro])erty. " Retaliatory measures 
wen.' adopted, and there was nmeii exeitenuMit for a while. 

The insun-ection spread in the slave-labor States, and in I'eliruary 
delegates from the seceded States met in convention at Montf^omery, 
Alabama, fonneil a ])rf)visi<mal government, adt^pted a ])rovisional con- 
stitution, chose Jeffei-son Davis President and Alexander II. Ste])hens 
Vice-President of the "Confederate States of America,"' adopted a 
flag for the new " nation," raised armies, commissioned ]irivateers, 
pi-oceeded to make wav against the I'nited States on land and sea, and 
endeavoi-ed to seize the seat of the Xati<inal Government. In A]iril 
South Carolina insurgents as.sailed Fort Sumter, in Charleston Ilar- 
l)or, with L'(t(t cannon, causing its evacuation and its posses.sion by 
rebels in arms.* This act ended the long forbearance of the National 
Government, and in the middle of Aiu-il President Lincoln called ujxm 
the several States to furnisii an aggi-egate of ?.'>,< •no militia to serve for 
three months in suppressing the rebelhou. A teri'ible civil war, in the 
burdens of whicli the city of Xew York most generously ])articipated, 
was then begun in earnest, and lasted four yeai"s. 

The attack on Fort Sumter and the call of the President produ(e<l 
a marvellous uprising of the loyal people in the free-labor States. The 
response to the President's proclamation was prompt and magnani- 
mous. Xew York State was called u])on to furnish 13,1 mio men for the 
military service ; the Legislature authorized the enlistment of 3(>,imiO 
men for two years instead of three months, and appropriated S3,0fio,000 
for the war. 

The writer was in New Orleans when Fort Sumter was evacuated. 



* It is worlliy nf rri-or.l tli.'it It New York policfmnn, PetiT Hart, serving iinJer Xliijor 
Anderson in Fort Sumter, saved the Americnn flnt; in thiit first bnttle ot the war. He 
had been a sergeant with Anderson in Mexico. When in the thickest of the fipht the Bag 
was shot down, the bnive and faithfnl Hart vohinteered to raise it again. He clinihed a 
temporary flagstaff which hail been erected, and in the; face of a tempest nf shot and 
shell he fastened the tattered banner at its top^ where it remained until it was taken 
down bv the commander at the evfw.nstioa of the fort. 



718 HISTUUY UF NEU' YORK CITY. 

Jlu arrived in the city of JS'ew York on the first of May. What a 
transformation since he left it for the South, hxte in March I Every- 
where between Cincinnati and Jersey City lie had seen tlie great u]iris- 
ing. The whole country seemed to have I'esponded to " Our Country's 
Call, "by Bryant : 

" Lay down tlie axe, fling by the spatle, 

Leave in its track the toiling plough ; 
The rifle and the baj-onet blade 

For anus like yours are fitter now ; 
And let the hands that p]y the pen 

Quit the light task, and learn to wield 
The horseman's crooked brand, and rein 

The charger on the battle-tield." 

■\Vlien he crossed the Hudson River into the great city of almost a 
million inhabitants, it seemed to him hke a vast mihtary camp. The 
sti-eets were swarming with soldiers. Among the stately trees in 
Battery Park white tents were standing and sentinels were pacing. 
Rude barracks filled with men were covering portions of the City Hall 
Park, and heavy cannon were arranged in a line near the fountain, 
surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, many of them in the gay costume 
of the Zouave. Already the blood of Massachusetts patriots, rushing 
to save the imperilled national capital, had been shed in the streets of 
Baltimore ; already thousands of volunteers had gone out from among 
the citizens of Xew York, or had passed through the city from other 
parts of the State or from New England ; and already the commercial 
metropolis of the RepubHc, whose disloyal mayor, less than four 
months before, had argued officially in favor of its raising the standard 
of secession and revolt, had spoken out for the Union at a monster 
meeting of men of all political \iews and all reUgious creeds gathered 
around the statue of Washington at Union Square. Then and there 
all partisan feeling waskeirt in abeyance, and only one sentiment— the 
Union shall be 1'kesi:r\ei)— was the bui-den of all the oratory.* 

When the great meeting at Union Square was held (April 20, 1801), 
the conspirators against the life of the nation were urging their deluded 
followers onward to seize the national capital. A cry had come up 

* The meeting originated in this wise ; On the evening of the day when the President's 
call for troops appeared, several gentlemen met at the house of E. H. McCurdy, Esq., 
and resolved to take immediate measures for the support of the government. On the 
following day they invited, by a printed circular, other citizens to join them in making 
arrangements for a mass-meeting of citizens of all parties at Union Square, " to sustain 
the Federal Government in the present crisis." They met at the Chamber of Commerce 
and made arrangements for the great meeting. 



Fonrni iii:r,\nK. isoo-iftTo. ri;> 

fiimi l»'l()\v tlic IJonmikc, " Press on to Wiisliiii^tiin I" Virginia poli- 
ticians liatl |)a.ssc'(l an ordinance of st'cessinii and invited troops from 
tlio Oulf States to tlii'ir soil. Harper's Ferry and the (Josixjrt Xavv- 
Yaitl were piussin^i,' into tiie liands of insurgents, and tiie national 
capital, with its treasuiy and archives, were in imminent peril, for 
Marvland secessionists at its dooi-s were active. 

So large was the giitiiering at I'nion Square that tin- multitude was 
divided into four .sections, with a presiilent for each. At tlie |)rincipal 
stand (ieneral Dix, late of Ikichanan's Cabinet, ])resided. The other 
])residents were Ilamiltoii Fish, ex-Mayor IFavemeyer, and ^[oses JI. 
Grinnell. General Dix spoke of the rebellion being without provoca- 
tion, ami sjiid : '' I regard the pending contest with the .sec(!ssionists 
as a death-struggle for constitutional liberty and law — a contest which, 
if successful on their ))art, could only end in the estaldislnnent of a 
despotic government, and blot out, wherever they were in the a.scend- 
ant, every vestige of national freedom." Other eloijuent speakeis, 
most of them veterans in the nmks of the Democratic |)arty, .sjioko 
earnestly in the same strain, denouncing the Iciulei-s in the rebellion 
in unmeasured terms. Patriotic resolutions were adopted. 

For many months after this great meeting and others of its kind in 
the cities and villages of our land, the government had few obstacles 
cast in its waj' by political oiijionents. It was only when inferior men 
— trading politicians, who loved party more than country — came to the 
front and sissumed the functions of leadei-s of a great organization wiiile 
the veterans of their party were pntriotically fighting the battles of the 
nation in the forum or in the fieltl, that the government found an 
orgiinized o]iposition ])crsistently engaged in thwarting its efforts to 
save the Hopublic. 

The great war-nieeting at Union Square elTectually removed the false 
impression that the greed of conunerce had taken possession of the 
New York comnnuiity, and that the citizens were willing to .secure 
peace at the sacri lire of principle. It silenced forever the slanders of 
the misinformed correspondent of the London Tiin<>^ (Dr. Russell), 
who spoke of his friends as " all men of position in Xew York society," 
who were " iis little anxious for the future or excited by tiie ])resent as 
a ])arty of sjivans chronicling the movements of a nuignetic storm." 
The patriotism of the citizens was also indicated by tiie wrath which 
that meeting excited at the South. The Kichmond l))»pnffh said : 
" New York will be remembered with special hatred Ity the South, for 
all time." At that meeting a Committee of Safety was appointed, 
com{X)sed of some of the most distinguished citizens of Xew York, of 



720 HISTORY UF NEW YUHK (.ITV. 

all parties. They met tliat evening ami organized the famous I'liiuii 
Defence Committee, composed as follows : John A. Dix, chairman ; 
Simeon Draper, vice-chairman ; William M. Evai'ts, secretary ; 
Theodore Dehon, treasm-cr ; Moses Taylor,* Richard M. Blatchford, 

* Among the greater merchants of the city of New York, the late Moses Taylor appears 
conspicuous. He was born at the corner of Broadway anrl Morris Street, in the city of 
New Y'ork, on January 11, 1806. He was of English lineage. His great-grandfatlier, 
Mo-ses Taylor, came to New York from England in 1736. In 1750 he was in business " in 
the comer house, opposite the Fly (Vly) Market." His son Jacob, father of the subject 
of this sketch, was a prominent citizen, active in the municipal government, and a con- 
temporary and associate of Philip Hone, Stephen Allen, and other eminent citizens. 

At the age of fifteen Moses Taylor became a clerk in the mercantile house of G. G. & 
S. Rowland, who were then extensively engaged in foreign trade. His activity and 
fidelity won for him the respect and confidence of his employers and many warm personal 
friends. Having, with the consent of the Messrs. Howland, made some ventures in 
business on his own account, he found himself, at the age of twenty-six, possessed of a 
moderate capital, with which, in the year 1832, he established the house of Moses 
Taylor & Co. His store was in the area swept by the great fire of 1835. He lost much 
property, but neither hope nor courage. He oi)ened an office for business in his house 
in Morris Street, and with quick foresight he made importations to supply the deficien- 
cies in the market caused by the conflagration. His profits soon covered his losses by 
the fire. 

Mr. Taylor's chief field of foreign commerce was the island of Cuba. In that field he 
concentrated his extraordinary business powers. These, united with unflinching probity 
and unstained honor and genei'ous dealing on all occasions, gave his house the highest 
standing in commercial circles at home and abroad — a standing which it yet maintains 
in the hands of his business successors. 

Mr. Taylor became president of the City Bank in 1855, and held that position until 
his death. He was ever a wise counsellor, not only of the directors of his own institu- 
tion, but in financial circles during the storms of panics and business revulsions which 
have from time to time disturbed the community. Diuing the late Civil War he was 
untiring in his labors for the salvation of the Eepublic. As chairman of the Loan 
Committee he devoted much time and strength to the duties imposed upon him, and in 
the darkest period of the struggle he labored incessantly with his colleagues in sustain- 
ing the credit of the government. President Lincoln, the Secretaries of the Treasury, 
and the Finance Committees of both houses of Congress held intimate relations with 
him both personally and by letters. Mr. Taylor was one of the most active members of 
the Union Defence Committee in the city of New Y'ork. 

Many largo corporate ente>"prises in the city of New Y'ork and elsewhere owe their 
success in a great degree to the wise counsels of Moses Taylor. He was eminently con- 
servative, yet boldly enterjirising in the management of trusts confided to his direction. 

In the establishment and uiamigement of great railroad and mining enterprises in the 
coal regions of the Wyoniing and Lackawanna valleys, Mr. Taylor's name and hand 
always furnished trustworthy support. Especially was he interested in the promotion 
of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, and the Lackawanna 
Coal and Iron Company, and among tlie later acts of his life was the liberal endowment 
of the hospital bearing his name at Scranton, in Pennsylvania, for the special benefit 
of the operatives of those corporations. In the early development of railroads in Texas, 
and in the Central Kailroad and Banking Company of Georgia, his active interest 



rtlllMMl UKfAhF".. l^<im ISTO. 7'U 

Kdwiinls Pifiropont,* Aloxande!- T. Stewart, Sainuol Sloan, .Inlm 
.lai'oh Astor, Jr., Jolm J. I'isc-o, .lames S. Wadswuitli, Isaai liell. 
James r.(Kinnaii, Cliailes II. Mai-sliall, Ui)lM'rt II. ileCunly, .Mi»ses 
II. Griunoll, Koyal Phelps, AViJliam E. Dinlj^e, (ireene ('. linmsiifi, 

and cnpilat were genpronHly employed, niid in ninny of the great Western lines of mil- 
ronds he held very liirno interests. Indeed the iirineipiil nndeitakin^'H of Mr. Taylor' .s 
later years were directed to the development of the indnstrinl resonrees of the eounlry. 

Dnring a long life ilr. Taylor contracted many close, warm, and lasting friendships. 
His heart ami hand were ever ofjcn for sympathy and Berviee for those who needed and 
deserved aid. Of him Freennin Hunt wrote, in his Merehanig' Magaziue, many year.) ago : 
" What he achieved has been done by his own unaided powers. Ho laid the foundations 
of his business life so broad and deep that what has been accomplished in it seems to 
have resulted naturally from what was done nt the commencement. He started upon his 
career with a good name, justice, truth, honor, and uprightness ; these he inherited, and 
these he never sacrificed." Mr. Toylor died full of years and honors, leaving a widow, 
two sons, and three daughters to inherit his good name and fortune. His death occurred 
on the 2.Sd of JIny, 1882. 

* Edwards Pierrepont, LL.D., D.C.L., was one of the most active members of the Tnion 
Defence Committee, and zealous and effective in giving aid in raising troops for the war. 
He is a native of North Haven. Conn., where ha was bom in 1817. He is a lineal descend- 
ant of the Rev. James Pierrepont, one of the founders of Yale College. Prepared for collego 
under the instruction of the present president of Yale, the Eev. Noah Porter, he entered 
that institution as a student, and graduated with very high honor in 1837. Studying law 
in New Haven, he entered upon its practice in Columbus, Ohio, in 1840. He subse- 
quently took nji his abode in New Y'ork, where he rose rapidly in his profession. In 181C 
he married the ilaughter of Samuel Willoughby, of Brooklyn, N. Y'. In 1857 he was 
elected a judge of the Snprenie Court of New York City, to sueceeed Chief-.Instice T. .1. 
Oakley, deceased. A philosophical observer of events, .Judge Pierrepont predicted the 
Civil War a year and a half before it broke out, in his first public fpecch, which wns on 
the death of Theodore Sedgwick. Referring to his prediction, he said : " Sure as the 
punishment of .sin, great troubles are coming in the distance which wo shall be called upon 
to meet. I have said this much, being well aware that I speak in advance of the times ; 
but I leave the times to overtake these fleeting words, and leave the wisdom or the folly 
of whot I have said to be determined by (he years which shall come in onr lifilime " 

.Judge Pierrepont left the bench in October, IfifiO, and resumed the practice of (he law, 
at the same time taking an active part in public affairs preceding the great crisis of the 
nation. He was prominent in the stirring scenes in the city of New Y'ork in the spring 
of 1861. In 1802 he wns appointed by the President, with General Dix, to try the pris- 
oners of state then confined in various prisons in the Republic. In 1864 he wns zealous 
in organizing the War Democrats in favor of the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, and all 
through the war ho was an ardent supporter of the measures of the ndministrntion. In 
the convention thnt framed a new eonstilniion for the State of New York in 18G7. Judge 
Pierrepont was one of (he Judiciary Comniittrp. He wns employed in the same year by 
the Secretnry of State (Mr. Sewnrd) and the Attorney-General (Mr. Stnnsberj-') of the 
United States to conduct the prosecution, on the ])nrt of the government, of J. H. Sur- 
rntt, indicted for niding in the ns.s«ssination of President Lincoln. This eeUbraled trial 
was begun in Wiushington on the fith of .Tune, and lasted until the 10th of August. 
Successfully engaged as counsel in several other important suits. Judge Pierreponl's 
services have been eau'erlv .-.nu'lit nfl.r 1 v t-Mii, ration.; Tii isr.o Presidint Grunt 



722 HISTOUY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

Hamilton Fish, "William F. Ilavemeyer, Cliarles H. Russell, James T. 
Bra{l\% Riulolph A. Witthaus, Abiel A. Low, Prosper M. Wetniore, 
A. C. llichaiils, and the mayor, comptroller, and presidents of the two 
boards of the common council of the city of New \ ork. The com- 
mittee had rooms at Xo. 30 Pine Street, open all day, and at the Fifth 
Avenue Hotel, open in the evening. The original and specific duties 
assigned to the committee by the great meeting that created it were 
" to i-epresent the citizens in the collection of funds, and the transac- 
tions of such other business, in aid of the movements of the govern- 
ment, as the pubhc interests may require." 

During the existence of this conmiittee, which continued about a 
vear, it disbursed ahnost a million dollai-s, which the corporation of 
New Torlc had appropriated for war puiijoses, and placed at its dis- 
posal. It assisted in the organization, equipment, etc. of forty-nine 
regiments, or about forty thousand men. For military purposes it 
spent, of the city fund, nearly seven hundred and fifty-nine thousand 
dollars, and for tlie relief of soldiers' families two hundred and thirty 
thousand dollars. 



appointed him United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, which 
office he resigned in Jul}', 1870, and soon afterward was one of the most active members 
of the Committee of Seventy against the frands of the Tweed Ring. In 1871 he received 
from Columbian College, Washington, D. C, the honorary degree of LL.D , and in 1873 
the same degree was confened upon him by his alma mater, Y'ale College. In liny of 
that year he was appointed minister to the Russian Court, but he declined the honor 
and the sei-vice. In June, 1874, Judge Pierrepont delivered a remarkable oration in New 
Haven before the alumni of Yale College, which was afterward published. In the spring 
of 1875 he was appointed .\ttorney-General of the United States, and remained in Presi- 
dent Grant's Cabinet until May, 1876, when he was appointed envoy extraordinary and 
minister plenipotentiai-y to the Court of Great Britain. He already had a European 
reputation throngh the promulgation of his opinions while Attorney-General, on ques- 
tions of natural and acquired nationality and the rights of a citizen of the United States, 
who, while a minor, had returned to Prussia with his father, the latter having under the 
treaty resumed his Prussian allegiance. 

Judge Pierrepont held his high diplomatic position until 1878. Delicate and important 
questions engaged his official attention while in England, and these were met by him 
with gi-eat tact and ability. Ex-President Grant became his guest on his visit to that 
country. Before Grant's arrival, Mr. Pierrepont urged upon Queen Victoria's ministers 
the propriety of according the same precedence to the retired head of the government 
of the United States as had been given to the ex-Emperor of France. It was done. .\t a 
dinner given to the Prince of Wales by Minister Pierrepont, General Grant, by common 
consent, was placed on the right of the Prince. Other governments followed this ex- 
ample. During his official residence in England Judge Pierrepont received from Oxford 
University the honorary degree of D.C.L., the highest honor in its gift. On his return 
from England he resumed the practice of his profession, in which he is yet actively and 
extensively engaged. 



KoCUTU DEfADK, 1800-1>70. 72:5 

The telegraph liud aliv.i<l_v (lashi'd inU-lligonco nil ovor tlie l.iiid of 
tlic> imirilernus attack u|m>h tlie ^[assaohusctts troops in tlio streets of 
Ualtiinore ami tlie isolation and ])eril of the eiiiiital, and the fii-st Imsi- 
ncs^ of tlio Union Defence ( "oinniittee was tf> facilitate the equipment 
and outtit of ivginients of volunteei- militia anil their despatch to the 
seat of •rovernment. So zealously did they labor that, within ten 
days after the President's call for troojts, no less than siioo well- 
e(|uippe<l and fully-armed men had gone to the field from the city of 
Xe^v York. "Already, before tlu; organization of the committee, the 
famous Seventh Regiment National Guard, of New York, Colonel 
Marshall Lefferts, had left for AVashington, and on the day after the 
great meeting (Sunday, A])ril 21) three other regiments ha<l follnued 
— namely, the Sixth, Colonel Pinekney ; the Twelfth, Colonel IJutter- 
field, and the Seventy lii-st,* Colonel Voshurg. 

ifajor-(Teneral Wool, commander of the Eastern Department, which 
comprised the whole country ejistward of the Mississippi, was at his 
home in Troy when he heard of the affair at Baltuuore. lie was next 
in command to General Scott, the General-in-Chief of the army. 

* This regiment enlisted for three months, left New York for Washington by water on 
the aist of April, debarked at Annapolis, and pushed on across Maryland for the capital, 
where it was thoroughly drilled and assigned to varied duties. Its members had all l>een 
tjikeu from civil life only a few days before it left New York. Its colonel, .\bram Vosburg, 
soon died of consumption, and was succeeded by Colonel H, P. Martin, under whom it 
did g.illaut service at the battle of Bull Kun in July. After all the other regiments had 
retr.;ated from the field at Bull Kun, the Seventy-first remained there under tire, when an 
aide rode up to Colonel Martin and told him bis men were suffering badly, and asked 
why he did not retire. Colonel Martin replied, " The Seventy-first, sir, never moves 
without orders." The aide reported the fact to General JleDowell, who ordered the regi- 
ment to retire, which it did in i)erfect order, and as handsomely as if on dress parade. 

In May, 1862, obedient to a call for volunteers, it again enlisted for three months, but 
on arriving at Washington it met with great difficulties and even rough treatment, as 
the government did not want " three months men." The colonel took a firm stand for 
the rights of the r'^giment against threats by the Secretarj- of War. He finally prevailed. 
The Secretarj- accepted the services of the regiment for one hundred days, and said, " I 
res])ect the regiment all the more for what has occuiTcd." .\t the end of one hundred 
days the defeat of Pope so seriously menaced Wa,shington that the regiment offered to 
remain until the danger was past. The Secretary of War accepted " with pleasure their 
patriotic offer," bnt their services were not rccjuired, and they returned to New YVrk at 
the beginning of September. \\Tien in 1863 Lee invaded Maryland, and a call wa-s made 
for troops for a brief period of service, the Seventy-first again enlisted for three months. 
It reported to General C'ouch, near Ilarrisburg, Penn.sylvania, and was emjdoyed in most 
arduous and important service in rolling back the invasion, until some days jiftcr the 
battle of Gettysburg, when the draft riots in New Y'ork called it from the enemy in front 
to cleal with an enemy in its rear. It reached New York on July 18, and on the 20th was 
mustered out of the sert'iee of the United States. 



724 HISTORY UF NEW YORK CITY. 

AVoi>l Imstened to confer with (iovemor _Morgiiu * at Albany. While 
they were in consultation the governor received a despatch from 
Washington urging him to send troops thither as quicldy as possible. 

* Edwin Deaison Jlorgan, the great war governor of the State of New York, had been 
elected to that high position by the Kei)iibliean party in 1860, for a second term, and 
proved to be a most efficient and judicious chief magistrate at that great crisis in 
national affairs. Mr. Morgan was born in Washington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, 
on February 8, ISll. He attended the -village school until his twelfth year, when his 
father removed with his family to the town of Windsor, Connecticut. The boy went the 
distance— fifty miles— on foot, driving an ox-team over the rough hills, conveying on a 
wagon the family furniture. At the age of si.\teen he went to live at Colchester, Conn., 
where he attended the Bacon Academy for a year and a half, when he went to Hartford 
and entered the wholesale and retail grocery store of his uncle. Nathan Morgan, as clerk. 
There he began his business career on a salary of forty dollars a year and his board. .\t 
the end of three years he was junior partner with his xincle. In 1836 he had a clear 
capital of SSOOO, a clever sum then for a young man of twenty-five. Disposing of his 
interest in the business at Hartford, he took the proceeds, and in January, 1837, went to 
New York and opened a store for the conduct of a wholesale grocery and commission 
business. At that time the city of New York was growing very rapidly, though in that 
year it suffered a fearful business convulsion. Mr. Morgan, by industry, thrift, upright- 
ness in business, and wonderful energy and sagacity, prospered. 

Mr. Morgan began his career as a public man in 1849, when he was elected assistant 
alderman of the Fifteenth Ward. It was the year when the .Vsiatic cholera raged fear- 
fully in New Y'ork. Business was paralyzed, and well-to-do people tied from the city. 
Mr. Morgan, who was appointed a member of the sanitary committee, remained, and did 
most efficient and fearless service against the epidemic. He sent his family to the 
country, but stood at the post of public duty himself, during the entire period of the 
prevalence of the scourge. He devoted his entire time and spent his money freely in 
behalf of the suffering. The same year Mr. Morgan was chosen State Senator, and on 
the expiration of his term he was re-elected. His political opponents, who were in the 
majority in that body, complimented him by choosing him to preside over their deliber- 
ations. During his second term he introduced into the Senate the Central Park bill, 
which provided for the establishment of that fine pleasure- ground. 

On the expiration of his terra as State Senator in 1855, Mr. Morgan was appointed one 
of the commissioners of emigration, which office he held two years. In 1856 he was 
chosen chairman of the National Republican Committee, and continued in that position 
until 1 864, when he resigned, deeming it not proper to hold that position while he was 
United States Senator. 

In November, 1858, Mr. Morgan was elected governor of the State of New York by the 
Republicans. His first message to the Legislature (January 1, 1859) was remarkable for its 
brevity, directness, and the admirable character of its obsei-vations. His animadversions 
upon the lobby were peculiarly explicit and severe, and he asserted that he would withhold 
his official apjiroval from any bill advanced by such means. He was the first governor 
of New Y'ork to visit prisons and hold personal interviews with prisoners applying for 
pardon. Re-elected for a second term in 1860, his second administration began just as 
the Civil War was a-kindling. During that war his services were of the greatest impor. 
tance. As governor he took the responsibility, during the recess of the Legislature, ot 
responding to the government calls for troops, fitting them out and looking after their 
comfort and rights. In this work Chester A. Arthur (now President) was his most 



lOUKTH DEIADE, 1H60 1^70. '"^ 

AVcnl iimiKMliately issued ..rdcrs to Col.mcl T(.iiii)kins. (|ii:irtennastcr- 
.ronoial at New York, tu furnisli tiimspoitatioii to all tr(M>i)s that 
niifrht he sent to the capital, ami Major Eaton, the coininissarv of 
subsistence, was ilirected to furnish thiity days' rations to each soldier 
that might be so sent. 

The governor went to New York that night (April linth). The 
genend followed two days afterward. He made his hea<Kiuartei-s at 
the St. Nicliola.s Hotel, where he was waited upon by the I'nion 
Defence Committee on the 23<l. At that conference a i)lan wius 
arranged for the salvation of the capital, which at that time was so 
isolated by a cordon of enemies that the (ieneial-in-C'iiief could not 
speak by telegrai)h to a single reg:iment outside the District of 
Columbia ; neither could any connnunication reach the President from 
beyond those limits. Under these circumstances, and in conformity to 
the demands of the crisis and the desires of the loyal pe<.ple, (icneml 
Wool was compelled to assume great responsii)ilities. To the I'nion 
Defence Committee he sjiid, "' I shall proi)ably 1)0 the only victim, but 
under the circumstances I am jireparod to make the sivcrifice, if therei)y 
the cai)ital may be saved." 

General "Wool was then seventy-six yeai-s of age. Day and night he 
labored with the tireless energy of a man of forty yeai-s until the work 
was accomplished. Vessels were chartered, sup])lies were furnished, 
and troops were forwarded to Vrashington with extraordinary despatch 
by way of Chesapeake Uay ami the Potomac Miver. The transports 
were convoyed by armed steamships to shield them from pirates, and 
the Qiiahr City was ordered to Hampton Koads to assist in the 
defence of Fortress ^[onI•<1o. Wool a.ssisted in arming no less than nine 
States before connnunication could l>e had with the General in-(Miief at 
AVashington, and he took the responsibility of sending to the cai)ital 
Ellsworth's Zouaves, composed princi|)ally of Xew York firemen. 
Troops and su])plies so ])romptly sent to "Washington by the Union 

efficient helptT. he beinR (innrtfrumstcr-t'encml on the governor's stuff. A few dnys after 
liis term as governor expireil, Mr. Jlorgnii was cliosen United States Senator to snccoed 
Preston King. In XIarch, lH(!.i. the President nominated Stnntor Morgan for Secretarj- of 
the Trea-snry, but his name was withdrawn on his earnest solicitation. Tlie same office 
waa tendered to him in 1881 by President Arthur, and the Senate unanimously ooiilirmed 
his nomination, but it was declined. He never again held office after his senatorial term 
ended. During all his public oareor he continued in active busine-ts. which he conducted 
with great success. His charities and his mnnifirent gifts to institutions were many and 
large. Having lost his only son. he adopted that son's child. In religious affiliation 
he waa a Presbyterian. He was an active member of the I'nion League Club. Governor 
Morgan ditd -m Februar}- 11, 18S3. at his residi-nc, No. 411 Fifth Avenue. 



?26 HISTOKY OK NEW VOlUv CITY. 

Defence Committee of ^'e\v Yoi-lc, uiuler the direction of tlie veteran 
Wool, ^\^th tlie cordial co-operation of Commodores Ereese and 
Stringbam, savetl the capital from seizure. This General Scott finally 
acknowledged in a speech before the Union Defence Committee. 

The departure for Washington of the famous Seventh Regiment 
National Guard, on the 19th of Ajjril, Avas a memorable event. It was 
composed mostly of young men belonging to the best famibes in the 
city. It was a favorite corps as the city's cherished guardian. The 
regiment formed in Lafayette Place, in front of the Astor Library, over 
which waved an immense American flag. Just as it was about to 
march it received news, by telegraph, of the murderous attack on 
Massachusetts troops in the streets of Baltimore. Forty-eight rounds 
of ball cartridges were given to each man. The regiment marched 
down Broadway to Cortlandt Street and the Jersey City ferry. The 
sidewaUvs were densely packed with eager spectators — men, women, 
and children — and from every building sti-eamed numerous flags. 

" Banners from balcony, banners from steeple ; 
Banners from house to house, draping the people ; ^ 
Banners upborne by all— men, women, and children ; 
Banners on horses' fronts, flashing, bewild'i'ing." 

The shipping in the harbor was brilbant with flags. While the 
crowd at the feriy was waiting for the Seventh Regiment, another from 
Massachusetts, accompanied by General Benjamin F. Butler, passed 
through, greeted with wild huzzas and presented with a multitude of 
little star-spangled banners by the citizens. Both regiments huri'ied 
across New Jersey at twilight to the banks of the Delaware. 

It had been a day of fearful excitement in the city of New York, 
and the night was one of more fearful anxiety. Hundreds of citizens 
wooed slumber in vain. They knew that blood had been shed, and 
that their loved ones were huiTying on toward great peril. Regiment 
after regiment followed the Seventh in quick succession, and within 
ten daj'^s from the time of its departure fully ten thousand men of the 
city of New York Avere on the marcli toward the capital. 

The enthusiasm of the loyal ]ieople was wonderful. The women 
were as earnest as the men. Five brothers in a New York family 
enhsted. Their mother was absent from home at the time. She wrote 
to her husband : " Though I have loved mv children witli a love that 
only a mother knows, yet when I look upon the state of my country 
I cannot Avithhold them. In the name of their God, and their mother's 
God, and their countrv's God. I l)id them go. If I had ten sons 



l-dLKIIl DKCAPK, 18U0-I870. 727 

insti-ad of livt>. I slioultl •'ive IIkmii all sooner tiiaii iiiivo our oountry rent 
in fiii^^'iiR'iits."' This was tlic spirit of the loyal woimni iliiiinj,' the 
lii'i-CH* stiufT^^k' that eiisiu'd.* 

In tiic niiilst of tlu" tiinmlt of warlike preparations was heard the 
mild voire of the Society of Friends or C^uakei-s in New York t'ity 
eounsellin'^ jieaee. They had met on April 2:!d, and put forth an 
address to their brethren, saying they were loyal to their eountry and 
loved it ; were grateful for the blessings they en joyed under the gov- 
ernment, but tiiey besought their brethren to beware of the temptations 
of the hour. They admonished them, while anxious to uphold tiie 
government, not, in so doing, to " transgi-ess the jji-ecejits and in- 
junctions of the gospel." As a body of Christians they were uni- 
vci"sjdly loyal. Many of their young men did not heed the woixls 
of the •• testimony," but regai'ded the war as an e.\ce|)tional one, holy 
and righteous, and acted accordingl}'. They bore arms, and oi»eyed 
the injunctions of a patriotic Quaker mother of IMiiladelphia. who 
wi-ote toiler son in camp : " Let thy musket hold not a silent meeting 
before the enemy." And multitudes of men ami women of that 
peaceful sect showed their sympathy l>y arduous services in hospitals 
and elsewhere in employnuMits in wliicli non-condjatants might con- 
scientiously engage. 

AVhile thousiinds of loyal men were ha.stening to the field, loyal 
women were laying ])lans and taking measures for their aid and 
comfort. On the day when the President's call for troo])s appeared 
(April 1.5th), Miss Almena Bates, in Charlestown, Mass., t<tok steps to 
organize an iissociation for the ]iui']iose. ( )n the Siime day women of 
Hridgejwrt, Conn., organized a society to funiish nurses for sick and 
wounded soldiei"s, and ])rovisions and clothing for them. A few days 
later women of Lowell, Afass., did the sjime thing, and on the llUh 
women of Cleveland, Ohio, formed an association for the more im- 
mediately practical jmrpose of giving assistance to the families of 
volunteeiN. 

These <iutcroppings of the tenderest feelings of woman were sugges- 

* In contnist with (his was tbo letter of a Baltimore mother to her loyal son, a clergy- 
man in Boston, who, on the .SHnday after the attack on Fort Sumter, preuohed a i)atriotio 

discourse to his people. The letter was as follows ; 

" Baltimore. .April 17. 1861. 
" Mr DKAK Son : Your roniark* last Sniilmth were tclccrnphcd to Itnltlmore, anil |iiil>lii>huil in an cxlrn. 
IIm Qod «cDt yoii to preach tlio xword. or to preach Christ f Your Motuer." 

The son replied : 

•• BofToN, April a. 1H8I. 
" Dear Motuer : ' God has sent ' mc m.t only to ■ preach' the sivord. tmt to um il. Whin this govern- 
ment tunihlcK. look nmoni: the ruin» for Voitr Star-Si-asoi.kd Banner So.n." 



7--J8 HISTOKY OF XB:\V VOHK CUT. 

tions whioli led to the formation of a powerful society in tlie city of 
New York known as the United States Sanitary Commission, which 
performed most vahiable service throughout the whole war that ensued. 
At the suggestion of the Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., and Elisha 
llari'is, M.D., of Kew York, fifty or sixty earnest women of the citj'- 
met on the 25th of April (IStil), when a Central Kelief Association 
was suggested. A plan was formed, and the women of the city were 
invited to assemble at the Cooper Union on the 2yth. Many leading 
gentlemen of the city were invited to be present. The response was 
ample in numbers, character, and resources. David Dudley Field 
presided, and Dr. Bellows stated the object of the meeting. The 
assemblage was addressed by the Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, then Vice- 
President of the United States. A benevolent organization was 
effected under the title of the Women's Central Eehef Association. 
Its constitution was drawn by Dr. Bellows. The venerable Dr. Val- 
entine Mott was cliosen its president. Dr. Bellows its vice-president, 
G. F. Allen its secretary, and Howard Potter its treasm'er. Auxiliary 
associations were formed all over the free-labor States. 

It was soon discovered that a broader, more perfect, and more 
efficient system, to have a connection with the medical department of 
the government, and under the sanction of the "War Department, was 
desirable. Already the efforts of a single noble woman had been put 
forth with energy in the same direction. On the 23d of April Miss 
Dorothea L. Dix, whose name was then consjiicuous in the annals of 
benevolence in our country, offered her services to the government for 
gratuitous hospital work. They were accepted, and this acceptance 
was made known by a proclamation of the Secretary of War, who 
requested all women who offered their services as nurses to ap[)ly to 
her. Miss Dix's labors were marvellous. She Avent from battle-tield 
to battle-field when the carnage was over, hke an angel of mercy. 
She went from camji to camp, from hos]iital to hospital, superintending 
the nui'ses. 

On June 0th the Secretary of War issued an order appointing II. W. 
Bellows, D.D., Professor A. D. Bache, LL.D., cliief of the Coast 
Survey; Professor J. Wyman, M.D., W. II. Van Buren, M.D., li. C. 
Wood", M.D., Surgeon-General U. S. A.; General G. W. Culliim, of 
General Scott's staff, and Alexander Shiras, U. S. A., in conjunction 
with others who might become associated with them, a " commission of 
in(|uiry and advice in respect of the sanitary interests of the United 
States forces. " This commission was organized with Dr. Bellows, its 
real founder, at the head. He submitted a plan of oi-ganizntion, which 



FOlKlll OKCADi:, IWW 1H70. ''^^ 



was a.lopt.l by th. ;...v..nun..n,. an.l tl,.- ass.>c,afon «-^"" '» ^ ^^^ ^ 

was cl.oson its resiaeut secretary, an.l hocan.e its rea nmnage . t 
r, .nle.l an appropriate seal, bearing tl.e device of a slnei.l on wh.ch ^^ 
:;.,.... 1 Ibvulv ...• Mercv, with a cross on l.er boson, and a cup of c on- 
solaticTninher band, conung down fn.n, the clouds t.. v>s,t woun.led 
soldiei-s on the battle-Held. ,«;„,;„. \n 

This connnission was to supplen.ent government d.-fic.en. le.. An 
appeal was made to the people for contributions. The -sponse .a. 
1st .^enerous. Supplies and ,noney Howed m fron. all .puutcs sulh- 
"^n ;. n.eet everv llomand. All over the count,," n.-u, wj,n.en. and 
d -Idren wc.. seen worlc.ng singly and collectKely for ^J^^^ 
held in cities, which turned immense sums of money nto the t.ca. 
of the cmunission. One snudl city (Po«ghkeq.s>e) contrd.uted 
Si o,.o, or §;l for every man, wcnnan. and child of the populat.on. 
Branches were established, and.ulances, arn.y-wagons, and steand.oats 
ve e en.ploved in transporting the sick and wounded under Us charge^ 
riolt-Jed'the armies closely in all can.paigns. Before the snu^.e of 
conHict had been fairly lilted there was seen the comnussion, with its 
tents, vehicles, and supplies. , • ., •.,. ,f 

The -rand work of this commission, which originated m the c t. o 
New York, was nuule plain at the close of the war. It was fouml ha 
the loval ..eople of the land had given to it supplies valued at 
Si5 0on,.H.u, and money to the amount of fully §5,000,00.. The 
archives of the commission, containing a full record of its work, were 
deposite.1 bv Dr. Bellows,* in ISTS, in the Astor Library. 

Later in lS(il another most efficient and salutary ass.x-iation ^^as 
fonned in the city of New York, having its origin in the \^^^^J^^]'^ 
Christian Association. It wa.s li.-st suggested l.y ^ >"^;;-;i!t^/" ^'' ''' 
artist, and earnest worker for the good of his kind. A\ -th othei-s he 
. Hcarv WUitnev B.Uows. D.D., ..n eloquent Vniturian cUrsymun. vasborn in Boston 
June 11 »H E, ucatccl ai Harvard rniv.rsi.v an.l Iho .l.vnUy school at C'a.ubrulge 
ie" .sor 1 1 n.-.l pastor o£ the first m.tarian Church ^oalUd AU Souls , .n New Wk 
a.v n .1° nuarv, 1S:IS. A fine church edifice was built for hin> on the corner of Fourth 
Avl'ue and Twentieth .tree,, where he n.nistered with great e«>-°^;- ^ ^-^^;^ 
on Januarj- 30. 18«-2. Dr. Bellows »as the princpal projec or ol the 'i^^"; ?" /j ^-"^ » 
Unitarian newspaper, the publication of which began m New \ork m ISl... '^'^'^^''^u 
S h"f con.rilmtor. From the beginning he took a commanding pns.fon .n ho palpU 
mong litcrarv men. and in social lifo in the metropolis. As wo have observed in the 
tTxrhe was "th,. originator of the fnit-d Stales Sanitary Comm.ss.on. f-'f- 7"^ 
,^U hed sermons and essays. Dr. B-llows wrote and published ""•-«''''» J-'f^ 
J'^ristian Doctrine," also " The Old World in its New Face." He wrote a Defence 
of the Drama." which created .luite a .stir in the religious world. 



730 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Avent to Washington City iminetliately after the battle of Bull Eun, to 
do Christian work in the camps and hospitals tliere. He distributed 
Bibles, tracts, and hymn-books among the soldiers, and held prayer- 
meetino^. In August he suggested the combination of all the Young 
Men's Christian Associations of the land in the formation of a society 
similar to that of the United States Sanitary Commission. The sug- 
gestion was acted upon at a meeting of the Young Men's Christian 
Association in the city of New York, on September 23d, when a com- 
mittee was appointed, with Mr. Colyer as chairman, to conduct corre- 
spondence and make arrangements for holding a national convention of 
such associations. The convention was held in New York on November 
14th, and then and there the United States Chkistian Commission was 
formed, with George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, as president. 

The specific work of this commission was to be chiefly for the moral 
and religious welfare of the soldiers and sailors, conducted by oral 
instruction, and the circulation of the Bible and other proper books, 
pamphlets, newspapers, etc. among the men in hospitals, camps, and 
ships. The commission worked on the same general plan of the Sani- 
tary Commission. Its labors were by no means confined to spiritual 
and intellectual ministrations, but also to the distribution of a vast 
amount of food, hospital stores, delicacies, and clothing. It, too, fol- 
lowed the great armies, and was like a twin angel of mercy with the 
Sanitary Commission. It co-operated most efficiently with the army 
and navy chaplains, and cast about the soldiers a salutary hedge of 
Christian influence. The money collected for the use of the commis- 
sion was chiefly gathered by the women of various Christian denomina- 
tions. It was a free-will offering, and amounted to about $1,000,000. 
The entire receipts of the commission in money and supphes were about 
$6,000,000. 




^>:>^^'^2'^<i? ^''-^ 



^^^^t^^- 



("IIAl'TKU II. 

ri'^lll"; National Congress convened in extraordinary session on tlio 
-J_ 4tii of 'I Illy, IfSCil, and adopted measures for tlu? vigorous prose- 
cution of tlie war. Tlie raising of 4(m>,<hiu nien and ^4<»m,0(>o,(HX) was 
authorized. Meanwhile the loyal people of Xew York City were ]jut- 
ting forth vast efforts for the support of the gtjvernnient in its mighty 
and righteous task. Individuals aud corporate bodies offered the most 
generous aid wherever needed. At a meeting of merchants at the 
Chamber of Commerce on the li'tli of Aj)ril, it Wits stated that there 
were regiments of volunteers needing assistance to enal)le them to go 
forward. In the space of ten minutes more than ^21, < ion were given 
for the purpose by tho.se present. 

At that time the vast stream of volunteers from the State and from 
New England had begun to flow through the city with ever- increasing 
volume, and the patriotism of the people was arou.sed to the highest 
pitch of enthusiasm. On Sunday, the 21st of April, piety and patriot- 
ism were contending for supremacy in the churches of the city. In 
several of them collections were taken up to give aid to tlie cause. 
Texts and sermons were ajipnjpriate. In Dr. Bellows's (Unitarian) 
Church " The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung. The rector of Grace 
(Episcopal) Church (Dr. Taylor) began his sermon with the words, 
" The star-si>angled banner has been insulted." Dr. Wells (Presby- 
terian) took for his text, " He that hath no sword, let him buy one." 

On Monday, the '22d, the common council, on the recommendation of 
Mayor Wood, voted Sl,fM>0,000 in aid of the government. At a meet- 
ing of the whole bar of the city of Xew York the .sum of 82."), 000 was 
contributed. In tiie coui-se of a few days the Chamber of Conmierce 
collected about ^ll'.'J'OO, and this amount w;is continually swelled by 
the contributions of jiatriotic citizens. This was before the Tnion 
Defence Committee was organized and became the receiver and dis- 
bui-serof ])atriotie offerings. Before the meeting of Congress, or in the 
space of three months, Xew York City luul contributed 40,000 men am' 
$150,000,000 in gifts and loans and advances to the government for 
the support of the national authority. One regiment (Ellsworth's 



732 mSTORT OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Zouaves) was composed of New York fireineii, wiio did c^allant service 
at Washington and its vicinity and at the battle of r>ull IJun. Several 
thousands of New York firemen served in the army during the war. 

Colonel Ephraini E. Ellsworth was a native of Mechanicsville, N. Y., 
and was only twent\'-four years old when he recruited the i-egiraent of 
Fire Zouaves. He had organized a corps of Zouaves the previous year 
in Chicago, and visiting Eastern cities had created much interest be- 
cause of their ]3icturesque costume and peculiar tactics. The response 
to his call in New York for recruits was immediate and ample. More 
than §30,000 were raised in a few day.s to equip them. The Union 
Defence Committee presented them with 1000 Sharpe's rifles. The 
common council gave them a stand of colors ; so also did Mrs. John J. 
AstOT', wlio accompanied the gift with a comjjiimentary and patriotic 
letter. 

On the 29th of April the Fire Zouaves left New York for Washington, 
greeted on their way to the river by the loud huzzas of a vast multitude 
of citizens and the waving of hundreds of flags. In less than a mouth 
afterward the lifeless body of their young and beloved connnander was 
brought back to the city. He had led his troops to Alexandria, Va., 
where, seeing a rebel flag flying from the cupola of a tavern in the 
city, he rushed in, ascended to the spot, and was coming down with 
the flag wrapped around his body when he was shot dead by the pro- 
prietor of the house. His death created great excitement throughout 
the North. At New York his coffin was borne to the City Hall, where 
his body lay in state. In the funeral procession to the Hudson River 
steamboat wliicli bore liim toward his home, the bearers were leading 
citizens of New York, headed by the Hon. Hamilton Fish. His fol- 
lowers vowed to avenge him. They fought desperately at the battle of 
Bull Run a few weeks afterward, in whicli 200 of them were slain. 

The National Government found itself embarrassed at this critical 
juncture by a want of funds to meet the enormous expenses. The 
efforts of the former traitorous Secretary of the Treasury, Howell 
Cobb, to ruin the national credit had been partially successful. Loans 
were obtained with difficulty, and at i-uinous rates of interest. Capi- 
talists were timid ; but now the perils of the government, wiiicli 
involved that of every other interest in the land, opened the ])urse- 
strings of all classes, and, as we have observed. New York, the great 
money -centre of the country, contributed so liberally that tiic Treasuiy 
Department felt instant temporary relief. But there was as yet no 
fixed ])lan for raising money when needed, excepting through the ordi- 
nary channels of revenue, which were entirely inadequate. At this 



FOrinMI DEl'ADK, 18«0-1H:0. 



T3;^ 



juncture iin !il)le N'cw York financier (Jolin Tiionipson), in a k'ttrr tci 
tlie Pri'sulent and the Si-iivtary of tho Treasury (^U: Cliase), written 
on June 17, l^i>L proposed a system of national curreney, wliieli was 
finally adopted, i>ut too late to 1)0 of service in avoiding much linancial 
troulde. Sir. Tliomps(Mrs projjoseil plan was as follows : 

1. The appointment l>y Cong.-css of n board of currency coraiiiissioners, to net witli or 
in<U|)oniknt of tlie Secretary of Iho Treasury, with tlio power to execute circiilaliiig 
notes in convenient (lenoniiniiliuns. niailc reileeinable on demand in the city of New 
York, and receivable for all imblic dues. The board to receive from the treasury say 
twenty-Uvo per cent specie and seventy-five per cent I'nitcd States stock or bonds, and 
pass over to the treasury circulating notes to a coi responding amount, this currency to 
bo the disbursing money for the govemiiieut instead of gold. 

2. The commissioners to execute an additional nmnunt of circnlating notes sufficient to 
be at all times prepared to give the public such notes in exchange for silver and gold ; 
for example : the commissioners would issue $4,000,(100 of notes to be disbursed by the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and receive from him for their redemption $1,000,000 of 
specie and $.'?,000,000 of United States stocks, giving notes to the public for specie, 
dollar for dollar only. 

3. In addition to the ordinary circulating notes, the commissioners to have power, by 
the advice and consent of the President, to issue, in exchange for specie, notes tiearing 
interest and payable only at the expiration of thirty days' notice from the holder. 

4. Should specie accumulate so that the proportion woidd bo moic than twenty five 
per cent on all outstanding notes, then the government might furnish stock or bonds 
only in exchange for circulating notes, so that the percentage of specie to circulation 
should not be le-ss than twenty- five per cent ; but should the specie diminish, to the iieril 
of prompt specie resumption, then the Secretary of the Treasury to put a portion of the 
stock held by the commissioners on the market to replenish the specie reserve. 

aIt. Tiionip.son in his communication expressed his belief that such a 
measure would he of great lieiielit to the peo]ile and to the anny, inas- 
much a.s it would furnish a currency free from discount, jierfectly safe, 
convenient for remittance hy mail, and much more desii-al^le -when 
travelling or marching. "Resides," said Mr. Thompson, "every 
well-wifher of our country's cause will feel that the holding of these 
notes, if for only a day, is contrilmting a mite in time of need." 

These suggestions attracted very wide attention, and were favorably 
considered liy President Lincoln and Secretary Chase, but acti<m upon 
them was deferred. They were linally atlo]>ted piecemeal from time 
to time, and formed the basis for the national currency and banking 
system of the country, established in ISt;:?, and based on public and 
])rivate faith, ilr. Thomjison encountered strong opi)osition from 
the old moneyed institutions in his elTorts to establish this system, and 
Mr. Chase, his wann pei-sonal fiiend, who often sought his coimsel in 
financial matters in the dark days of the war, came in for a share of 
sharp criticism ;ind censure. .\ circular letter ad<lres.<ed to the man- 



734 HISTOKY- OF NKW YOliK ( ITV. 

agers of the banks of the New York Clearing-llouse Association, 
written in September, 1S03, made most gloomy prophecies of the 
effects of the national banldng system, saying : 

" We shall have a thousand banks spread over the whole continent, instituted and 
managed, in the majority of cases, by inexperienced men, to say nothing of unprincipled 
adventurers who will flood the country with a currency essentially irredeemable — banks 
from which will radiate a fearful expansion in the shape of credits issued on deposits, 
themselves the birth of inflation, and, Proteus-hke, from which elements still further 
inflations will emanate ; with frantic speculation and elevation of prices, until some 
political convention, or the mere hint to a return to specie j>ayments [the banks had all 
suspended specie payments], pricking the bubble, the 'system' will collapse, spreading 
devastation and ruin broadcast over the land, producing such a scene of financial calam- 
ities as shall make all our previous convulsions to compare with it as a child's rattle to 
a whirlwind." 

This prophet of evil did not disturb Mr. Thdmjjsou's faith in his 
project. He showed that faith by his works, for toward the close of 
1863 he established the First National Bank in the city of New York — 
the first in the metropolis under the new system— with only two direc- 
tors outside of his own family. The old banks finally acknowledged 
the wisdom of the scheme. And so New York City has the honor of 
the first suggestion of our atlmirable national currency and l)anking 
system.* 

* John Thompson is a native of Berkshire County, Mass., where he was born in 1803. 
His father was a well-to-do farmer, and with him young Thompson remained, working on 
the farm in summer and attending school in winter, until he was nineteen years of age. 
His studies were completed in the old Hadley Academy, and at the age of twenty he 
became a teacher, at a small salaiT, in Hampshire County, in that State. He afterward 
took charge of a select school in Mbany, N. Y., in which occupation he continued unta 
he was appointed agent of Yates & Mclntyre's lottery, at Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson, 
a scheme authorized by the Legislature for the benefit of Union College. In that 
capacity llr. Thompson served until 1832, when, with a capital of S2000, he went to the 
city of New York and opened a broker's office in Wall Street. For more than fifty years 
he has been known in financial circles. Wall Street was then, as now, the money centre 
of our coimtry. The strongest houses of the street then were Prime, Ward & King, 
Corning &Co., and Dykers & .fVlstyne, the members of all of which are now dead. 

Prudent, cautious, and intelligent, Jlr. Thompson in the course of a few years was 
possessed of a capital of $10,000. Tlie currency of the country then consisted chiefly of 
the issues of State banks. Perceiving the necessity of a journal giving information on the 
currency of the nation, he founded the (soon) famous nompsou's liank-Note Reporter. 
It was a pioneer in that line. Its fearless denunciation of bad banking and the fi'audu- 
lent issues of currency involved 5Ir. Thompson in vexatious lawsuits, but he came out 
Tictorious in every instance. His licpurUr stood alone for years, and was a recognized 
authority everywhere. His sagacity concerning sound currency at the beginning of the 
Civil War has been illustrated in the text. Establishing the Pirst National Bank in New 
Y'ork, he remained with it fourteen years, when, in 1877, he founded the Chase National 
Bank— so called in honor of his friend, the Secretary of the Treasury. It is one of the 
most flourishing of the moneyed institutions in the country, doing an extensive busi- 



FOLKIH DKCAUK, 1800 ISTO. 733 

III the fall ol' ISf.l our o;()V('rninciit doi'iiicd it important tliat simu! 
gciitU'incn of iiit('lli','em-e ami tlmmuglily a(i|uaintcd with our national 
atTaii's slioulil i»o si'nt to Kui-opo, esin'<ially to Hnglaml and Fiaiifc, to 
explain to tlu'ir rcspi-ttivc f^ovcrnniciits tlie cinnnistantcs wliiiii ])re- 
ceded an<! tlic caiisi's which ])reKluccd the ivliellion, tiic olijcct hcinjj 
to countorait the malign intluenee of Mason and Slidell, wlio had jnst 
evaded the blockade at Charleston and departed lor England, the 
former as* the accredited diplomatic agent of the '" conspiratoi's" for 
England, and the latter for France. For this mission Edward Everett, 
Archbishop Hughes, .lolm V. Kennedy, and Hisho|) Mcllvaine. of Ohio, 
were chosen. They all declined the senice e.xcejiting i'.ishop Mcllvaine. 
The archbishop subsequently acce[)ted the a])i)ointment on the conili- 
tion that Thurlow "Weed, the well-kiiown journalist, should be his 
colleague, ^fr. AVeed was appointed. lie and Hishop ^Icllvaine 
were the accredited (not official) agents of the United States (ioveni- 
raent sent to the I'ritish court for the performance of a specilic duty, 
and the archbishop was accredited to the French Government for the 
sjime jiurpose. ^Ir. Weed sjiiled from New York for Iluvi'e in com- 
])any with Geneial Scott, who was asked to join the mission ; the 
archbishop }ind IJishoj) ilcllvaine departed on a ( 'unard steamer for 
Liverjmol. ^Ir. Weed went immediately to England from Fi-ance, and 
Archbishop Hughes to FVance from England. 

The arrival of these al)le agents in Euro]ie was timely and jiroviden- 
tial. Two days after the arrival of ^Ii'. Weed in England, early in 
December, news reached that country of the seizure of ilason and 
Slidell on a British steamer by the officers of a United States cruiser. 
Wild and angry excitement prevailed throughout the realm, and 
immense preparations for war with the Unitetl States Avere made liy 
the British Government, ^fr. Weed obtained an ininiediate interview 
with Lord John Russell and other high dignitaries of the government, 
and was successful in the highest degree in the execution of the mis- 
sion on which he had been sent. lie also visited France, and had an 
interview with Prince Najxileon. who favored the United States Gov- 
ernment in opposition to the Emperor. 

ness quietly at No. 104 Broadway. Mr. Thompson's son. Samnel Clarke, was appointed 
its president, and Isaac White its cashier. This son wa.s the president of the First 
National Bank until the founding; of the Chase Bank. 

Mr. Thiiuiiison is an advocate of a paper civrronoy with a sonnd inetallio lia-sis. His 
idea is that neither gold or silver is desirable for cnrrency. He would liav.i the mint fix 
the coin value in bullion, and the treasurj- store the latter and issue treasury certifi- 
cates in denominations suitable for a circulatin;; medium. This would give the people a 
metAllic currency without the inconvenience cf haudlini; and carrj'ing coin. 



736 HISTORV OF NEW YOlilv (ITV. 

Meanwhile Archbishop lluglies had in-oceeded to Paris, where he 
had an interview with tiie Emperor and Empress * and dignitaries of 
the Church, everywhere setting forth tlie righteousness of the cause of 
which he appeared as exponent. He wrote letters to Carduial Barnabo, 
Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda. He visited 
Kome, and afterward Ireland. His mission was executed with success 
equal to that of Mr. Weed.f The details of this mission belong to our 
nationid history ; the bare mention of it here nmst suffice. • 

* See an interesting acoouiit ot that interview iu Hiissui-d's " Life of Arcbbisliop 
Hughes," p. 465. 

f Thurlow Weed was a distinguished man. His career, as revealed iu his autobiogra- 
phy, was a most remarliable one. He was born in Cairo, Greene County, N. Y., November 
15, 1797. His early education was very meagre. Not more than a year altogether was 
spent by him in school. At eight years of ago he was employed in blowing a black- 
smith's bellows, and before he was ten years old he was cabin-boy on a Hudson Eiver 
sloop. When he was eleven years old bis parents moved to Cortland County, where he 
labored on a farm with his father, and " worked 'round " at anything he could find to do. 

Young Weed became a printer's apprentice, but circumstances made him a wanderer 
from place to jjlace, not only as an apprentice but as a journeyman piiater. Before he 
was sixteen he had serv-ed three months in the army on the northern frontier in the war 
of 1812-15. The next year he was again in the army, where he v, as made a quarter- 
master-sergeant. Pursuing his trade in Utica, Albany, Herkimer, Cogperstown, and 
other places in the interior of the State for two or three years, he finally found employ- 
ment in the city of New York, working at one time with the late James Harper. Before 
he was quite twenty-one years of age he was married, at Cooperstown, to Jliss Catharine 
Ostrander, to whom he had been engaged four years before. He had just money enough 
to take himself and his young wife to Albany, where, he said, " with good health, strong 
hands, and hopeful hearts, we both went earnestly at work to earn a living." It was a 
fortunate marriage. " She more than divided our labors, cares, and responsibilities," he 
added. " But for her industry, frugality, and good management I must have been ship- 
wrecked during the first fifteen years of trial. I am indebted to her lai-gely for whatever 
of personal success and pecuniary prosperity I have since enjoyed." On the morning of 
the fortieth anniversary of their marriage, while he was watching at her bedside, she took 
the wedding-ring from her finger, which he had placed there twoscoro years before, and 
put it on his, saying, " I shall not live through the day." 

In the autumn of the year of his marriage Mr. Weed bought a printing-office on credit 
for $700 at Norwich, Chenango County, and started the Aiirlmlturisl, a weekly newspaper. 
It was not a success pecuniarily, and he returned to Albany in 18-21. Soon afterward he 
started another paper at Manlius, Onondaga County, with no better success. He went 
to Eochester, then a straggling village, where he became the editor and finally proprietor 
of the Teleijraph, a weekly newspaper. He took in a partner, and under the firm of 
Weed & Martin it became the Rochester Dai/i/ Telet/raph. Mr. Weed conducted it with 
great ability. Ho soon became involved in the bitter controversy which led to the 
formation of the Anti-Masonic political party. The AnIi-.Vrasonic Inquirer, edited by 
him, dealt heavy blows upon the oi)posing party, and Mr. Weed's fame as an expert and 
able journalist now budded and blossomed. He became widely known as a shrewd 
politician and a rare party manager. 

Mr. Weed was an ardent political supporter of Do Witt Clinton and his canal policy. 



FOfHTlI DECADE. 1800-lnTO. 737 

The zeal, putridtisin, ami iiiimiticfiit generosity nf tlie eitizcn^ of 
New York e.\liil)itr(l at the Ijieakiii'^ out of the Civil War was eon- 
linued with unalialeil earnestness until its close. 8ueh wa.s the ease 
espeeiaUy under their patriotic mayor, the late George UiKlyke. 

nnil in Iftit ho wiis cli'ctcJ to a sent in lliu New York Lo|{isliitnrc. Ho wns re-clertoJ in 
1S2'.I. Tlu' rial piirpoiie of liis nvilcolinn whk iu lonnwlion witli ii project for ewtab- 
lisliinK at the State i-upital a ilailv newspaper that shoiilil opjiose the powerful " Albany 
Kegoiicy," a junta of politicians loJ by Martin Van IJnren, which nianageil the Demo- 
cratic party in the Slate. Mr. Weed had shown so uincli tact in the niauageuient of tho 
campai^'n which again gave the offico of governor to Clinton, in lH'i4, that he was consiil- 
ered the most eom)>etent ]>erson to oppose the Regency. The AHiany Ereiiiiiij Jouriuil 
was established in ISIlii, with Mr. Weed as editor. It w«.s an .\nli-Masouic organ. .Vt 
that time, of the 211 newspajiers published in the State, 33 were Anti-Masonic. 

This was really the beginning of Mr. Weed's extraordinary political career and tho 
personal anil political friendship between Mr. Seward and himself. Tho former wa.s 
then a State Senator. Mr. Weed never held any public office after that, excepting that of 
State printer. He and Mr. Seward always worked in harmony in political life, one before 
ond the other behind tho scenes. 

From 1830 to 1802 Mr. Weed was the editor and a greater part of the time the pro- 
prietor of the Ecenhiij Journal, which wielded a mighty political influence. He was justly 
called the " Warwick of the press." He severed his connection with the Journal in 18G2, 
on his return from his semi-diplomatic mis.sion to Eurojie. For a while he was editor of 
the New York I'vinnierri'tl Atherliser. 

Mr. Weed visited Europe several times, and always with his daughter . His tirst visit 
was in 1843. his last in 1871. In 1844 ho visited the West Indies, and in 18t!G a book 
■was published without Mr. Weed's knowledge containing a series of communications 
which he had made to tho Eveninq Journal, with the title of " Letters from Europe and 
the West Indies." For several years he had been virtually a resident of New Y'ork 
City, for he kept a room for his exclusive use the year round at the Astor House, where 
he spent much of his time. In 18G.5 he took up his permanent abode in the city, with 
his family, and soon afterword abandoned public life, and lived in quiet in tho great 
m.'tropolis, but taking the liveliest interest in all the prominent social ond political 
movements of tho day. 

Mr. Weed died at his homo in New YVrk City on November 22, 1882, when he had just 
passed his eighty-fifth birthday. Before the burial a very large number of the most dis- 
tinguished citizens called to view his remains. The funeral ceremonies were held in tho 
First Presbyterian Church, on Fifth Avenue. Tho body wns taken to .\lbauy and laid iu 
the beautiful Itund Cemeter>- there.* 

Mr. Wool had lived in the lime of all the Presidents of tho I'nited States, and of 
twenty five governors of his native State. Ho had been a power in the land for more 
than half a centurj', the intimate friend or valued correspondent of statesmen at home 
and abroad. As a journalist he exerted a wide influence upon the aspects of bis lime ; 
as an editor he had few rivals in intelligence and sagocity, and as a citizen his life was 
blameless. His abilities were very great ; in morals he was pure, in integrity ho was 
very rich, and in patriotism he was nnsuri'nssed. His sympathies for the suffering were 
ever actively olive, and his practical benevolence was unstinted. 

• The p«ll-bc«rcr« were ci-Govemoni Edwin D. Morgan and Uiimlllon Fish, General Jamcn WaUtin 
Webb, Frederick W. Seward. Isaac Bell. Oonernl J.imes Bowen. ■!. FI. Van .Antwerp. John McKcon, Allied 
Via SantToonI, George Oant<in,of jMbanr. H. R. R ddle, of Niagara, and Jal'ua J. Wood, or Culumbiu, O. 



738 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Into tlic harbor of New York was brought tlie first captured Cou- 
federate privateer (so called), the Savannah, carrying eighteen men and 
an IS-pounder cannon. The men were tried for pii'acy and sentenced to 
death, but by the wise counsel of Chief-Justice (,'. P. Daly the govern- 
ment was saved from committing a serious blunder, and they were 
exchanged as prisoners of war. Out of that harbor went vessels and 
thousands of men on patriotic expeditions somewhere. In March, 
18(iiJ, the little Monitor, a vessel of " strange device," went boldly to 
sea from New York under the brave Lieutenant (now Rear-Admiral) 
Worden, entered Hamjjton Eoads, spread dismay among the insurgents 
there, and saved millions' worth of ]3ro])erty, and possibly Northern 
seaport cities from jiillage and devastation. Captain Ericsson, under 
whose supervision the Monitor was built, is yet among the active 
workers with the brain in New Y'ork, at the age of eighty years. Out 
of that harbor also sailed the George Grmvold, freighted with contribu- 
tions from New Y'ork merchants for the relief of thousands of starving 
mill-operatives of England. She was convoyed by a vessel of war to 
guard her from destraction by the pirate ship Alalama, which had 
been built, fitted out, and manned in England for the insurgents, and 
was then burning New Y^ork merchant-ships liere and there on the 
Atlantic Ocean. England was compelled to pay |515, 500,000 in gold 
for these outrages. 

In February, 1862, in compliance with the recommendation of Mayor 
Opdyke, one hundred gmis were fired from the Battery and ISIadison 
Square, and the national flag was displayed everywhere as tokens of 
the public joy because of the victory of Burnside at Eoanoke Island 
and triumphs of the national arms elsewhere. A similar demonstration 
Avas made in the city after the victory at Shiloh, in April. Meanwhile 
a great mass meeting of citizens had been held at the Cooper Union, 
aiul provision was made for the relief of loyal refugees from Florida. 
In May a home for sick and wounded soldiers, capable of accommodat- 
ing four lumdi-ed or five hundred men, was opened by an association of 
ladies, lieaded by Mrs. Dr. Valentine Mott. Other institutions for a 
similar purpose were opened in the city, and in June the conunon 
council appropriated $500,000 for the relief of the families of volunteer 
soldiers." 

* One of the noted benevolent institutions in the city founded during the wfir by 
pntriotic citizens — men and women— is the Union Home .\nd School. It was organized 
in May, 1861, when it was clearly perceived by sagacious persons that a war of much 
magnitude was begun. A building that might accommodate about eighty children was 
hired, and the institution was put into operation. In April, 18G2, it was incorporated. 




v. X. l^er^r 



rollUlI DECADK, 1H(10-If<70. 730 

Oil tlio failnri' of McCU'llairs c iiii|niiyii ;itraiiist Ricliinoiul tlic 
riiainber of Cuiiuikm-co met (July 7, lsr.2) iiiid appointed a committee 
to meet committees from the I'nion Defence Committee and other 
loval orgaiiizjitions for tlie purpose of devisin;,' measures foi' sustaining 
tlie National Governnieiit. On the recommenihition of tiu^ mayor at 
that time, tiie corjxjr.ition ]iledf?ed the people of the metropolis to the 
support of tlie government in its struggle with deadly foes, and late in 
August a great war-meeting Wiis held in the City Hall I'ark, which 
was densely packed with citizejis. Measui-es were adopted for the 
promotion of volunteering. A liounty of §50 was offered to each 
volunteer. 

During 18f.2 the patriotic contributions in New York to the support 
of the government were magnificent. Besides the voluntecjrs, seven 
militia regiments, with an aggregate memhersliip of r»4o(» men, had 
served for thive months each and been honorably discharged. It was 
estimated that during little more than twenty months of the war, to 
the close of lSt'>2, the citizens of New York had contrilnited to the su]i- 
jTort of the government, in taxes, gifts, and loans to the nation, fully 
§300,0(10,0(10 and over 80,()00 volunteers. 

Several months earlier than the appointment of the special mission 
to England and France, President IJncoln a])pointed CTeneral -Tames 
AVatson Weljb, of New York City, envoy extraordinary and minister 
pleni{>otentiary to represent the L'nited States in the Empire of I'nizil. 
General Webb asked the President for instructions, when ilr. Lincoln 
said : *' You, who for more than a thinl of a century have been the 
editor of one of the leading presses of the country, and who from 
necessity are familiar with European politics and international affaii-s 
genenilly, a.sk me, an Illinois lawyer, to give you instructions for your 
guidance in P>ra7.il. under the trying circumstances by which you are 
sure to be suiTounded I I have none to give you. On reflection, yes, 
I'll give instructions. Go to your post, and do your duty.'" 

This was a most fortunate appointment at that critical juncture in 
our national affairs. General Webb went to Brazil by way of Europe. 
At the rei|uest of President Lincoln, he went to Franco and had an 

It was designed for the cdncntion nnrl ninintennnce of the children of the volnnteer 
soldiers and sailors of the city who might be left unprovided for. 

This Home now occnpies a spacious building on Oae Hundred and Fifty-lirst Street 
and Eleventh Avenue. From the beginning it has received the fostering enre of the best 
citizens «f New York. It is in the charge of a boiird of managers, composed entirely of 
ladies, assisted by an advisory board of gentlemen. In 188'2-fi3 Mrs. Charles P. Daly was 
president, and Mrs. Harlow M. Hoyt secretary. X fair held for its benefit at one time 
realized about $1(X),000. 



740 HISTORY OF NEW YOHIv CITY. 

interview ■with tlie Emperor Napoleon III., wliom General "Webb had 
known personally in Xew Voi'k when the former was in exile, and who 
had vindicated the character of the young man from slanderous cliarges 
made against liim. Tlie Emperor had ever regarded Mr. Webb as 
his friend, and frequently corresponded with him. Napoleon gladly 
admitted him to an interview at Fontainebleau, when General Webb 
explained to him the causes of the rebellion and asserted the determina- 
tion of the government and people of the United States to put it down. 
This explanation was satisfactory to the Emperor, and so was made 
plain the way to the success of the mission of Archbishop Hughes at 
the close of that year. From Paris General Webb went to London 
and had an intei-view with Lord John Russell, with whom he was 
acquainted, and so smoothed the way for t':ie mission of Mr. Weed at 
the close of the year. 

General Webb reached his post of duty, at Rio .Janeiro, on the ith 
of October, 1861. The treacherous United States minister, Meade, of 
Virginia, had deserted his post to join the rebels at home, and the 
more treacherous consul, Scott (also a Virginian), had sent to the Con- 
federate Government a list and description of American vessels in that 
port and about to sail. Seven eighths of the commanders of American 
vessels there were Southerners, and openly displayed tokens of their 
sympathy with the rebellion. The loyal consul wlio had succeeded 
Scott was powerless to prevent it, for the government and people and 
the white foreign population, especially the English, were in favor of 
the insurgents. The English minister at the Brazilian court encour- 
aged and led this liostihty to the American Government. 

Four days after his arrival General Webb changed the aspect of 
affairs in the harbor of the Brazilian capital. On the 8th he ordered 
the consul to take a sufficient police force, visit every American ship in 
port, seize every Secession flag or other tokens of rebellion, dispos- 
sess every disloyal captain, and send the ships home in charge of the 
mates ; and further, to grant no clearances in future to any American 
vessel without first comi)elling the captain to take an oath of allegiance 
to the United States. The frightened shipmasters assembled at the 
American consulate and abused the consul with their tongues. 

" I am only a subordinate," said the consul. '' Why do you not go 
to the minister's hotel and remonstrate ?" 

" Oh ! he be d — d," said one of them. " I know him, and you 
might as well ask a porpoise to give you a tow as to attempt to change 
the old cuss !" 

Such was the beginning of tiie energetic and efficient diplomatic 



FOniril DKCAOK, ISdO 1M70. T-H 

c-arciT of (icnoral W.-l.l) at tiu' cimrt of lira/.il. On t-vcry oicasiuii lie 
siistaini'tl tlm lioiior ami dignity of our country in liis own person 
(luring his administration of Anu'vican dii)li)macy at that court for 
eight yeai-s. llo ruhuked and liuinijled Uritisli anogjincc, coiniiellod 
Brazirto bo just toward his country, and defcndi-d with proniiitncss 
and swift decision and action tiiu honor of the American Hag and tho 
rights of American citizens witliin his jurisdiction.* 

It was during (Jcneral Wel)h"s mission in l!ra/.il tiiat, by i-eason of 
his i>ei-sonal iniluence with the Emperor Napoleon 111., the withilrawal 
of the French troops was etfected.t After anlu(KH, important, and 
very efficient services at tiio court of Brazil for more than niii<' years. 
General Webb relinquished the mission and r.lurned to New York.:J; 

• On ono occasion Mr. Wnshbnrn, Americnn luioiHter to Pariignay, on rclurnint,' from n 
visit to his home, was prohibited for nearly a year from passing a Brazilian blockmliug 
sqnadron to his post of duty, by tho cominanikT of tho ships. Gononil Wobb was absent 
on a furlough. On his rutnru ho gave tho Umzilian .Minister for Foroign .Vflfairs just four 
hours to decide whether he would semi him an order for Mr. Washburn to pass tho 
blockading line or his passports. Tho oriler, and not tho passports, came within the 
prescribed time. When at length the lives of Mr. Washburn and his family were in peril 
in l*ara"uay, a gunboat (the W'nspi was detached from tho American sipiadron on the 
Bntzilian station to bring them away. She was not allowed to pass the lirazilijin 
blockading sipiadron General Webb demanded a free passage for her. Ho gave tho 
government five ilays to consider whether an order to tliat effect should bo given, or to 
send him his passports. The order was given. 

f General Webb had written to the Emperor from Brazil, warning him agnins( placing 
any reliance for support on tho priestly party in Mexico, and assuring him that the 
government of the I'uited Stiles and the people would insist upon the withdrawal of the 
French troops from tho soil of their neighboring republic. Tho Emperor was sjitisfiiMl 
of tho trnth of what his old friend wrote him, and with great frankness explained by letter 
how he had been drawn into his Mexii-an affair, at the same time expressing his intention 
to withdraw the troops, provided ho was not menaced ; for any attempt of the kind would 
compromise him with his people. While on his way home, in the fall of 186.5, Gonernl 
Webb wrote to tho Emperor from Lisbon, that he should sail for New York from Liver- 
pool in a few days, and asked what he could do in regard to the Mexican question. At 
Southampton he received a telegram from the Emperor urging him to visit Paris. Ho 
did 80, and on the morning of November 9th he breakfasted with Napoleon. After a long 
conference it was ,-»greed between them (subject to the approval of tho President) that 
the troops should bo withdrawn from Mexico in twelve, eighteen, and twcnly-four 
months. It was stipulated also, th.atthe matter should bo kept a secret nntil the Emperor 
should announce it in tho spring of ISIOr., General Webb to write to Napoleon if the 
President should approve. On his arrival in New York, on December .^th, the general 
hastened to Washington the same night. Tlie President ajiproved the arrangement ; 
Oenend Wobb wrote to the Emperor accordingly, and in due time tho troops were 
removed. Such in brief is the history of that very important movement, effected by the 
interposition of General Webb, v.ilhnnt the knowledge or suspicion of the ministrj- of 
either the United States or France before the arrangement was accomplished. 

X .James Watson Webb is the son of General Snmnel Webb, a distinguished oflScer of tho 



745 IIISTOUV OF NEW YORK CITV. 

The year 1803 was an eventful one in the history of the Eepubhc 
ami of the city of Kew York. At its beginning the Tresitleut, by his 
proclauiation of euiaucipation, smote the gceat rebeJhon a stunning 

Kevolution and a descendant of Eichard Webb, one of the sixty-six original settlers of 
Hartford Conn., in 1G35. General Webb settled in New York Citj* at the close of the 
war for independence, and married the daughter of Judge Hogeboom, of Columbia Coun- 
ty, and a great-great-grauddaughter of the original proprietor of the manor of Claverack, 
in' that county. On that manor James Watson Webb was born, on February 8, 1802. At 
the age of twelve ho was sent to reside with a brother-in-law (George Morell), at Coopers 
town N. Y., where his education was completed. His kinsman was then at the head of 
the bar in Otsego County. He desired young Webb to study law in his office. The latter 
preferred either the medical or the military profession. He entered the latter under 
peculiar circumstances, as we have observed in a former chnpUr, as a lieutenant. His 
field of military service for over nine years was in the then wilderness around the 
upper lakes, where he did gallant service and had many stirring adventures. He has 
lived to witness a most wonderful transformation in all that region. 

In the summer of 1823 Lieutenant Webb was married to Helen Lispenard Stewart, a 
granddaughter of Anthony Lispenard, one of the oldest Huguenot families of the city and 
State. He continued in the army until 1827, when, as we have observed, he resigned, and 
soon afterward (1827) began his remarkable editorial career in New York City. His suc- 
cessful entrance into the realm of journalism, and his earnest labors therein in producing 
a revolution in newspaper publishing in New York, have already been noticed. He 
started on his political career, as we have seen, a strong i-artisan of General Jackson, but 
disapproving his policy, he abandoned the Democratic party, joined the opposition, and 
gave to the latter the name of Whig. 

From his entrance into the field of journalism, the recnrd of the public Ufe of James 
Watson Webb forms a conspicuous pr.rt of the social and political history of the city of 
New York for thirty-four years— from 1827 to 1861. As the editorial head oi the New York 
Mominf/ Courier and Enquirer he wielded immense influence over parties and the politics 
and public policy of the city, the State, and the nation. He was in continual warfare, 
for, always acting independently and fearlessly, in the spirit of the motto at the head of 
his papeV and the legend of his family coat-of-arms -" Principles, not Men" — he 
encountered antagonists everywhere. His usual weapons were the tongue and pen, yet 
he did not shrink from a personal encounter when forced upon him. On one occasion, 
T. F. Marshall, of Kentucky, to whom he had never spoken a word, challenged him to 
fight a duel. The quarrel was the result of gross misrepresentations. Webb promptly 
accepted the challenge. They met near Wilmington, Delaware, in June, 1842, and 
fought with pistols at ten paces. Webb had determined not to take Marshall's life. 
The result was, Webt was severely wounded in the knee. Under the operation of an 
obsolete law of the State of New York, and enforced through partisan influence, which 
inflicted the penalty of imprisonment in the State prison for two years, Webb was 
arrested, tried, found gnilty, and condemned. Intense excitement ensued because of 
this manifest injustice, and a petition signed by 17,000 of the best citizens of New York 
was sent to the governor (SewardX asking for a full and free j.ardon for this distin- 
guished man. The governor granted the prayer of the petitioners, and after incarcera- 
tion in the Tombs for about fifteen days General Webb was released. In 1846 he was 
military engincer-in-rhief cf (he State, and has since borne the title of general. . 

In 1848 General Webb lost his wife by death. He subsequently manned Miss Laura 
Virginia Cram, daughter of Jacob Cram, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of 



KurUTlI DKCADE, ISGO IMTO. Wi 

Idiiw. At near iiiiilsiiiniiKT this was su])|)lriiii'ntfil liy the caiilurfor 
Vickshiirf,' an<l tlic hattli- uf (icttysluirj,'. |iiv<<tal pniiits in tlitMlradly 
stni;;j;^li'. Tlicy tunieil cvfiits in favor of tlic j^ovcrnun-nt. 

At this tini(> tlio lioaiso voice of (lisi-oiil gix-w louder ami louder. 
Throu;,di the niali;,ni inHuenee of the I'eaee party at the North and ;i 
j)o\verful secret organization coniiiosed of the enemies of the f^overn- 
ment in the slave-lahor States and their nion' ardent symimthizeis in 
the fiee-lalior States, a most daniierous ojiposition to the jj^overnment 
was created. Tiiat secret organiziition Wits known as the Knights of 
the (Tolden Ciixle. Their designs were manifested at tiie |)olls, hut far 
more <langerously in a weil-considei-ed conspiracy to overthrow the 
government in midsunnner, IMti:^ 

The State of New York having chosen for its governor an earnest 
mend)erof the Peace paity, the city of >i'ew York, which really elected 
hinj, was counted on hy the foes of the government ius tiieir certain an<l 
powerful coadjutor. The test soon came. Congress liad in March 
authorized a draft of men to fill the places of fully ()i»,(»(){i soldiei-s, 
whose short tenns of enlistment were rapidly expiring. In ifay the 
President ordered a draft for 30<»,1MI0 uien t<5 l)egin in July. Enrolling 
bf)ards were organized in every Congressional district. Resistance to 
the measure instantly a])peared. A peace convention was lield in 
Xcw York City on June 'M. composed of deputies from all parts of 
the State. Its resolutions adopted gave countenance to the leadei"s of 
a terrilile riot which occurred in New York a few weeks later. 

Not long after this convention Leo invaded Alaryland and tilled 
Peimsylvania with wild alarm. The President called on the governor 
of New York for 20,000 men for thirty days, to resist the invadei-s. 
Tlie governor ordered nearly all the militia of the cities of New York 
and Brooklyn to the lield. Mayor Opdyke remonstrated against this 

New York. In 1849 President Tnylor nppointeil him ministor to AiiKtrin, bnt he was 
rejected by the Senate. In IMdl, after declining a mission to Constantinople, President 
Lincoln appointed him minisltr to lirnzil. Of his diplomatic services there brief men- 
tion has been made in the text. He returned home in IKCi'J. He had relimpiished the 
Mornimj Cfnirier anil .Vrie Torlc Euqmnr in 18fil, when it was merged into the World. On 
his retnrn from Brazil he retired to prirate life, and afterward lived qnietly in the city 
of New York, but alive to every movi-nunt in the social and political world. 

General Webb was a man of nncomuiou tenacity of purpose and of infinite industry and 
persistence. He had rarely failed in any undertaking. " He is now," said a late writer, 
'• passin^• the evening of his life surrounded by troops 06 admirinK friends, in the 
trampul i'njo\nnent,to which a benevolent and kind-liearlcil man is entitled." 

Oent*ral Webb was tall, of a comraandint; figure and person, and courtly in manner ; 
and. though over fourscore years of age, the brightness nf bis evi- was not dimmed, nor 
his intellectual faculties impaired. 



'44 IIISTOKY OK NKW YORK CITY. 

stripping the city of its defeiKlers on tlie eve of the draft, but in vain. 
Thirteen regiments were sent to llarrisburg. Tlie mayor asked the 
President to postpone the draft in New York City until the return of 
the regiments. It could not be done, and on Saturda)^ July lltli, the 
draft began, under the direction of Colonel Xugent, the chief provost- 
marshal. 

ifean while the people had been much excited by the ojierations of 
the enemies of the govermnent. A supple-kneed judge in Xew York 
City liad decided that the draft was unconstitutional. Three Pennsyl- 
vania judges agreed with him. Sustained by their decisions, the foes of 
the administration ojjposed the draft with a high hand. Ineendiary 
harangues of politicians and seditious utterances of the opposition press 
stii-red up the jieople to revolt. The distinguished orator at Tammany 
Hall on the 4th of July said : " We were promi.sed the downfall of 
Vicksburg, the opening of the Mississippi, the probable cajiture of the 
Confederate capital, and the exhaustion of the rebellion. . . . But 
in the moment of expected victory there came the midnight cry for 
help from Pennsylvania to save its desjjoiled fields from the invading 
foe, and almost within sight of this great commercial metropolis the 
ships of your merchants are burned to tlie water's edge." 

At the very hour when this ungenerous taunt was uttered, Ticks- 
burg, with all the surrounding country and a vast amount of spoil, 
together with 30,000 Confederate prisoners, were in the possession of 
General Grant ; and Lee, discomfited at Gettysburg, was jireparing to 
fly back to Virginia. 

The draft began in New York at the provost -marshal's oilice, on the 
corner of Forty-sixth Street and Third Avenue, on the morning of the 
11th of July. It went on quietly that day, but on Monday morning 
the aspect of things had changed. On Sunday secret meetings had 
been held to concert measures to resist the draft by force. 

On Monday morning an organized band, constantly increasing in 
volume, marched to the office of the provost-marshal, where the draft 
had just begun. At a given signal they hurled a volley of stones 
through the windows, severely injuring persons within. One man was 
carried out for dead. The jnob burst in the door, destroyed the furni- 
ture and the drafting implements, and pouring kerosene over the 
floor ignited it, and very soon the buikling was reduced to ashes. The 
mob had taken pos.session of the neighboring hydrants, and the firemen 
were not allowed to extinguish the flames. A body of pohce with 
Superintendent Kennedy were driven off, and the latter was beaten 
almost to death. 



KorUTII DKfADK, IMiiO-lsTo. 74."» 

'I'lic inaynr ii|)|ilit'il in (H-iicral Wool ami tudeneral Sandfunl (the 
latter tiio ciJimiiaiuU'r f>f tin- oity iiiilitiaj for a military force to ijiiell 
the disturl)ance. Wool iiniiu'diately ordered tiie j^arrisons of the sev- 
ei-til forts near the eity to iiasleii to tiie town, and tiie whole niilitai-y 
force was put in char;[^e of (ieneral Harvey l>rown, who wa.s stationed 
at police headiiuartei's. Tiie mayor telegraphed to the governor urging 
liim to order the militia of the neiglii)oriiig counties to the assistance of 
the imperilled city. General Samlford, with the few militia left in the 
city, made iiis headiiuartei's at the Seventh Avenue ai-seiial. ami the 
mayor and (General Wool were at the St. Nicholas Hotel, on J'.road- 
way. The entire military force assembled in the city at midnight did 
not amount to Km in nien. 

A detachment of fifty men, sent on Third Avenue cai*s, found the 
mob at Forty-si.xth Street swelled to a formidable army in numbei-s, 
composed of men, women, and children. Hearing of their apjjroach, 
the rioters harl torn up the railway tr;ick and cut down the telegi-jiph 
wires. The commander ordered the mob to dispei-se, and ])layed the 
farce of liring blank cartridges. The infuriated riotei-s sjirang upon the 
htandful of .soldiei-s like sav.ige tigei-s, wrenched their guns from them, 
and beating many of them severely, drove tliem off. A squad of police 
who interfered were served in like manner. 

The mob now seemed intent only on plunder and outrage. They 
sacked two houses on Lexington Avenue, iissaileil one on Fifth Avenue 
with stones and set it on Kre, and then proceeded to burn a marshal's 
office on Broadway, near Twenty-eighth Street. Very soon the whole 
block was in flames, after the buildings ha<l been plundered. The 
streets in the vicinity were filled with a roaring mob of men and 
women bearing away rich plunder of every kind. 

The wrath of the moli had been directed by Southern leadei-s among 
them against the " abolitionists" and the innocent colored ])opulation 
of the city. They attacked and burned the Colored Orphan Asylum, 
containing sevei-al hundred children, as we have noticed in a former 
chapter, and the harmless colored peo|)le of the city were liunted as if 
they had been fierce wild beasts, the mob shouting, " Down with the 
abolitionists I Hurrah for Jeff Davis I" Several coloreil people were 
murdered on that day, and scores of them were cruelly beaten. The 
Hotel's burned the Bull's Head Tavern on Forty- fourth Street because 
the ])ro]>rietor refused to give them liquor. They attacked the dwell- 
ing of the mayor and l)urned the house of tlie postmaster at Vmkville. 

In the aft«>rnoon the mayor is.sue<l a pioclamation ordering the 
rioters to disperse, and authori/eil the loyal citizens to pre])are for de- 



746 HISTORY OF NEW VOKK ( ITV. 

fending their premises iiiid to shoot clown any one wlio shoukl attempt 
to l^reak in. But the mob defied all authority. They seized the 
arsenal on Seconil Avenue and biu'ned it. They stopped the omni- 
buses, cai-s, and private carriages, and beat and murdered many passei-s 
in the streets without cause, an appearance of respectabihtj' being a 
sufficient provocation. At Priuting-House Square, near the City Hall, 
a large crowd gathered late in the da}^ broke into the Trihune build- 
ing, and had kindled a tire when they were driven ofif by the |)olice. 
At twihght a fearful panic pervaded the city. It was rumored that 
the riotei's had seized the reservoir and the gas-works and would 
deprive the people of water and light. It was not true, but the night 
of the 13th of July was a fearful one for the citizens of New York. 

Early on Tuesday morning the rioters resmned their homd work. 
They had gathered in force in Thirty-fourth Street, but were soon dis- 
persed by the police. Perceiving them gathering again, the police, 
joined by some military under Colonel 11. T. O'Brien, returned and 
fired on the mob with fatal effect. The enraged riotere vowed ven- 
geance against O'Brien. It was soon executed. Hearing that his 
house, not far ofif, had been attacked, he hastened thither and found it 
sacked. Anxious to learn the fate of his family, he went into a drug- 
store. Stepping out to expostulate witli the I'ioters, he was felled to the 
pavement by a stone, was Icilled, and his body was dragged througii 
the streets for hours by men and women, exposed to every conceivable 
outrage. 

At noon the governor of the State, who had been at Long Branch, 
two houre' journey from tlie city, since Saturday, arrived at the City 
Hall. Apprised of liis presence, a great crowd of rioters, who were 
again engaged in an attack on the Trihune building, flocked into the 
Park and were addressed by the cliief magistrate, who had the whole 
tremendous power of the State behind him to crush the monster of dis- 
order. He seemed ]mralyzed by the appalling spectacle before him. 
He spoke in terms wliich gave the mob reason to believe that he was 
theii" friend. Indeed he adch-essed them as " jVIv friends." They gave 
liira hearty cheers, and want on more vigorously in their work of 
])lunder and murder. 

More effective in Cjuieting tiie mob sjjirit in the city were the words 
of Archbishop Iluglies to his co-religionists among the rioters, lie 
had been a firm supporter of tlie govermnent from the beginning, 
preacliing an intensely ])atriotic war sermon in St. Patrick's Cathedral 
at the beginning. By notices jiosted all over the city, he invited the 
rioters to his residence on the 16th. About four thousand of them 





^^^ ^. ^^^^k.^^r^:^ 



FOIJUTH DECADE. 1860-1870. 747 

wvxi' tliciv :it tho iii>i>i)inti'il lioiir. Thou-,'!! in very feeble health, ho 
appoaied <»n a i)alcuiiy with the viear-f^eiu'ial ami one or two jiriests 
aH(l addressed the multitude with earnest and etri-ctual woihIs, exiiort- 
inj,' them to obey the laws and to return to their hon\fs in a peaceable 
manner. They dispeised (|uietly after responding heartily, " We 
will !" and receiving his blessing. 

During that day the common council adoptetl an ordinance appropri- 
ating ^:i,ri(>(),no(> to i)ay the connnutalion (§:i<M) each) of drafted men, 
iiut the mayor, properly refused to maUe this concession to the mob. 
In the afternoon merchants and bankei-s jussembled in Wall Street and 
organized into companies of one hundred each, pui-suant to the call of 
the mayor to tissist in supjn-essing the fearful riot. Hundreds of citi- 
zens were sw^orn in as special police for tiie same purpose. Vendei-s of 
arms were ordered to close their stores, and citizens whoso premises 
were thivatened were furnished with muskets and hand-grenatles for 
their protectir)n. Two formidable rifled batteries were placed in 
i'rinting-Ilouse Square, and effectually protected the TrihHiic and 
TiiKi'K buildings and other ]>ro])erty there. 

During jiart of Wednesday, the l.'jth, the riot raged fiercely, Imt by 
noon it had evidently reached its chmax. Some buildings were burned 
that day, and the poor cohn-ed people were subjected to the most in- 
human outrages. Their houses were burned, and sonic of the inmates 
were hung upon trees and lamp-posts in various parts of the city. At 
tlie request of the mayor the city i-egiments on duty in Pennsylvania 
had been ordered home by the Secretary of War, and they nearly all 
arrived on the evening of the l.">th. At midnight they were placed 
under the command of General Kilpatrick. The combined action of 
the citizens, the police, and the feeble military force in the city had 
effectually sui)])ressed the riot before the an-ival of these regiments. 
It was estimated that nearly one thon.sand lives had been sacrificed in 
the riot, and property of the value of 1^2,000,(100 had been destroyed. 
After this the draft went quietly on. 

Within six months after this great riot, directed specially against the 
colored jx-ojile of the city, a regiment of colored men, raised and 
equipped in a few days by the Union League Club of Xew York, 
marched down Broadway escorted by many leading citizens and 
cheered by thousands of men ami women, wlm filled the sidewalks, the 
balconies, and windows. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE Union League Club, mentioned in the preceding chapter, is a 
product of the Ci\al War. H is essentially a child of the United 
States Sanitary Comniission. It was organized early in 1863, and 
incorpoi-ated in February, 1865. 

The Sanitary Commission, when not in session, was represented by 
five faithful men — namely, Dr. II. W. Bellows, its president ; George 
T. Strong, its treasurer ; Pi'ofessor Wolcott Gibbs, and Drs. CorneUus 
R. Agnew and W. H. Van Buren. During the entire war these men 
passed some part of each day or night in conference on the work of 
the commission, which grandly illustrated the idea of unconditional 
loyalty. That sentiment. Secretary Seward said, the work of the com- 
mission originated. 

Professor Gibbs first suggested that this idea needed to take on the 
fonn of a club which should be devoted to the social organization of 
the sentiment of loj'alty to the Union. Tliis suggestion he embodied 
in a letter to Frederick Law Oknsted immediately after the election 
of Mr. Seymour as governor of the State of Xew York, in the autumn 
of 1802. It was lieartily approved by Mr. Olmsted, and he at once 
applied his masterly or-ganizing powers to the formation of such a club. 

In the middle of -Tanuaiy, 1863, a circular letter written by Professor 
Gibbs and marked "confidential" was sent to many citizens of Xew 
York. It proposed the formation of a club in the city of New York 
for the purpose of cultivating a profound love and resjiect for the 
Union, and to discourage ^vhateve^ tended to give undue prominence 
to purely local interests. This letter was signed by Wolcott Gilibs, 
G. T. Strong, Dr. Bellows, Dr. Agnew, G. C. Anthon, G. Gibbs, 
G. F. AUen, and William J. Iloppin. 

The responses to this letter were numerous and generous, and at a 
meeting held at the house of Mr. Strong on February fith, an associa- 
tion was formed under title of the Union League Club. The prime 
condition of membership was " absolute and unciualified loyalty to the 
government of the United States." Its primary object was to discoun- 
tenance and rebuke b\' moral and social infiuences all disloyalty to the 



Forarii hkcade, isdo i«to. 740 

National (iDVcrmncnt, ami to that cml tlic iiuiiiltcrs |(l('(l;,'-cil tliciii- 
st'lvi's to " use c'vciy |M'o|)ei' means, in iiul)lic ami private," coUectiveiv 
ami imlividually. It was al'tcrwanl niaile the duty of the cluh to resist 
ami expose eorriiption ami promote reform in our National, State, and 
munieipal alfaiis, and to elevate the idea of Amerieau eiti/.ensiiip. The 
articles of a-ssoeiation of the eluli were signed hy sixty-four Irudinj^ 
citizens of tin; metro|)olis. 

The I'liion League Clul) w;us permanently organized on March ;'.'ith 
by the appointment of the following gentlemen as its oHicei-s : liohert 
15. Minturn, ])resident ; Murray llolfman, Charles King. William II. 
Aspinwall, John A. Dix, F. B. Cutting, (ieorgo liancroft, Alexander 
T. Stewart, Jonathan Sturges, Moses Taylor, Henry W. Hellows, 
Willanl Parker, and James W. Beekman, vico-])i-esidents : Otis I). 
Swan, secretary, and William J. lloppin, trea.surer.* 

So e(|uii)ped, with a corps of strong olticers, tlu; Union League Cluh 
began its patriotic work, which it pui-sued until the end of the war 
with unabated zeal. Late in lsft3 it appjinted a committee to take 
effectual measures for the promotion of volunteering for the military 
service.f Tinding agencies sufficient in the recruiting of wliite regi- 
ments, the committee appointeil for that sei-vice turned their attentictn 
to recruiting colored men. Governor Seymour refused to give them 
authority for such service. They obtained it fitmi the Secretary of 
War, but upon the hard condition that the colored recruits were not t > 
receive any bounty. In the face of these conditions the committee, 
«'ithin th(> space of a month, recruited and placed in camp on Rikei-".; 
Islanil a full regiment (the Twentieth) of colored men. For this pur- 
jMise the club luul contributed sls,(i(Mj. This was the regiment tiiat 
received honors from the citizens of Xew York when it marched down 
Brojulway six months after the riot, when no c<jlored man's life was 
safe in the city.:}: The club raised two other regiments of colored men 
in a shf)rt space of time. 

* An executive coniiiiittee wns nppointetl, consisting of George Griswold, F. H. Delano, 
H. T. Tnckcrninn. Williom E. Dmlge. Jr., George Cabot Ward, Tliomas H. Faile, R. L. 
Kennedy, J. A. Weeks, and .lames Jiooruian. 

f Tlie committee consisteil of .\lexander Van liensselaer, Legrand B. Cannon. S. J. 
Bacon, .1. A. Boosevelt, C. P. Kirkland, Elliott C. Cowdin, George Bliss, Jackson S. 
Schultz, and Edward Cromwell. 

I On the morning of its embarkation the regiment mari-hcd to the clab-honse, where 
it received its cnlors, presented by the loyal women of the city. The presentation ad- 
dress was made by Charles King, president of Colnmbia College. X large number of 
ladies were present. He then handed to the officers and men of the regiment an ad- 
dross written by Henry T. Tnokermnn. engrossed on parchment, and signed by one 
hnndi-od and thirty-live of the ladies of the city, best known in soiitty and )>hilantUr»pi(! 



:,iO HISTORY Ol-' NKW VOUK CITY. 

At the retjuest of General llaneock tlie Union League Club appointed 
another conuuittee to recruit for the Second Corps.* The club raised 
for the volunteers through this committee about §230, 000 and more 
than three thousand men. The total number of soldiers which the club 
placed in the field that year (18(i3) was about six thousand. 

Late in the fall of 1863 the club joined the United States Sanitary 
Commission in making arrangements for a MetropoUtan Fair in aid of 
its benevolent work. Under the auspices of about one hundred women, 
most of them of the famihes of members of the Union League Club, 
the fair was inaugurated in March, ISO-i, and its managers put into the 
treasury of the Sanitary Commission over $1,000,000. The fair was 
opened at the armory of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, in Fourteenth 
Street, near Sixth Avenue. It was literally held all over the city, for 
there were public and private entertainments in many i)laces — in pub- 
lic schools, in theatres, and in j^rivate ])ar!ors — in connection with it. 
Subscription pajiers were circulated in worksliojjs, manufactories, mer- 
cantile estabUshments, pubUc offices, and among the shipping in the 
harbor, the result of which was enormous contributions to the aggre- 
gate amount of money received. In the buildings speciallj' devoted to 
the uses of the fair, in Fourteenth Street and on Union Square, were, 
besides merchandise of every kind, old armor, historical relics, and 
other rare objects calculated to attract the multitude. The total 
receipts amounted to 81,351,275. The total expenses were 81t>7,769, 
making net receipts of Sl,183,506.t 

To the patriotism and liberahty of one of New York's merchant 
princes, the late Marshall O. Roberts,:}; the fair was largely indebted 

deeds —" Mothers, wives, and sisters of the members of the New York Union League 
Club." ■ 

* This committee consisted of George Bliss, Jr., Theodore Koosevelt, George Cabot 
Ward, Parker Handy, Stephen Hyatt, Alfred M. Hoyt, James T. Swift, Jackson S. 
Schtiltz, J. S. Williams, William H. Fogg, U. A. Murdock, George A. Fellows, Dudley 
B. Fuller, James M. Halstead, George C. Satterlee, Timothy G. Churchill, and Jloses H. 
Grinnell. 

■f John H. G«urlie, a native of New York City, where he was born and has always 
resided — who had recently retired fi-om the Stock Exchange, of which lie had been a 
popular and honored member for over a quarter of a century, and a member of several 
societies, social literary, and artistic —was the chairman of the Finance Committee of the 
Metropolitan Fair. In his library now hangs, neatly framed, a receipt, of which the 
following is a copy : 

'• New York, May 17. 1864. 

" Received from John U. Gonriic, chairmun of the Finance Committee of the Metropolitan Fair, One 
Million Dollar:*, for tbe benefil of the United States Sanitary Commission. 

"SI.OOO.OOO. George T. Strong, 

" Treanurer of U. S. Sanitary CommifSion." 

{ .V full picture of the career of Marshall ( )wf-n Roberts from the unpromising position 



I'orKTll DKrAUK, 1800-18T0. .'1 

I'or its suirfss. He liiiil lin-ii aidinfj: tlic ;,n)V('riiiiii'iU Irmii tin- lifMin- 
iiiii;^ of tlie st iiitTLrlc. He tuoU a s|ifcial iiitcivsl in tlic Mi'ti'tt|i()litaii 
Fair. When tin- niaiiagcrs t'oiiiul tliat the invmiscs in iMniiti-ciilh 

of ft poor, iiieftRri-ly ciliuateil orfihdu l)oy to tbo poHition of liiKlifst niiik us a uieicliaiit 
nnd (•ood eilizfii of ilio motroijolis, woulil bo ioslructive. Wu luu.v only givi? n l>ri<-f 
ontliue of its priiicipal fenturus. Hih fiithcr, Owen Koberts, was a Welsh pbysi.-ian lit 
tbo city of New York, where he setlliil in 1708. He died in 1S17, leaving a widow ami 
four boys, of whom Marshall was the youngest, nnd very little jjroperty. Marshal', was 
then less than four years of age. having been born on Mareh '22, 1814, and when he wa.s 
eight years old his mother also died. At thirteen ho apprenticed himself to a saddler, 
but failing heallli compelled him to abandon that business, and ho obtained u clerksliip 
in a shii)-chandkry establishment. There his good conduct won the esteem of his 
em|iloyer. I'rudent and saving, lie had earned and kept money enough in 1834 to start a 
small ship-chandlery store on his own account, at Coonties Slip, where, by untiring devo- 
tion to business and suavity of manners, bo attracted tliu attention and kindly otHces of 
bis older neighbors. Early and late be might be found attending to business. During 
the shorter days his store would be illuminated with tallow dips before daylight in the 
morning. Fishermen and seamen who dealt with him called his jdace " Tbo Lighthouse," ' 
and its proprietor " Candle ISoberts. " 

By industrj', honesty, and thrift Mr. Koberts caused his business to soon exjiaml into 
large proportions, and he became a rich man in a comiiarntively few years. In 1847 be 
was worth a quarter of o million dollars, and pos.sessed tbo power which belongs to a 
citizen who has fairly won tbo reputation of positive trnstwortbiness as well as solid 
riches. By great sagacity he had niado a fortune in tbo .sbipcbandlery business, and bo 
mado profitable investments and ventures in other branches of industry. He owned the 
Ilimlrirli-. Iliid.iim steamboat on the North River, the first really " floating palace" ever 
seen ; and with the same sagacity he became the owner of ocean 8teamshi])s and secured 
a very largo income from the business of transportation of passengers anil freight between 
New York City and California after it became a possession of the United States in 1818. 
He successfully competed with great capitalists, such as Howland & Asjiinwall and 
Vanderbilt, in this business. Wo may not follow him in his successful career as a ship- 
owner, nor yet as a stockholder and manager of railways, in which, in his later years, ho 
was much nnd profitably interested. 

When the rebellion broke out in Charleston harbor, Mr. Roberts offered his steamship 
Star of llif ir<.«( to the government to convey supplies to the beleaguered garrison in 
Fort Sumter, and she felt the first overt act of war by being fired upon by the South 
Carolina insurgents. .VIl through tbo contest he was an active supporter of the govern- 
ment with his voice, his inHnence, his bond, and bis purse, nnd when at its close Presi- 
dent Lincoln was a.s.sassinatcd, Mr. Roberts sent to the widow of the martyr his check 
for$li>.(MHi. 

Before the war >Ir. Roberts was a man of large wealth. Ho was ono of the five who 
joined Jlr. Field in forming the first ocean telegraph comjiany. His personid and 
business influence was largely felt in the affairs of the city. In early life bo took part in 
politics, ami be was a great admirer and friend of Henry Clay. He was one of the leaders 
of the Whig party in the "bard-cider" campaign, and was a firm supporter of the 
Republican party from the time of its formation in 18.0G. He was often solicited to take 
the nomination for office, but with the exception of that of mayor of the city, he declined 
thera (dl. 

Jlr. Riilierts's residence on Fifth .\venne. at the time of bis death, was one of the 



T53 IIISTOKV OF NKVV YORK CITV. 

Street wei'e too siimll for their purjwse, Mr. lloberts, perceivino- their 
(.lilemnia, bought two vacant lots adjoining the armory, for which he 
paid $luO,UUU, built upon the land a handsome edifice for the fair 
restaiu'ant, and turned it over to the lady managers. Mrs. Roberts 
took charge of the restaurant with a host of lady assistants, and turned 
into the treasury from that department over $17,000. Its success was 
not as great in tlie amount of money received as was anticipated, for 
tlie jnibhc, as a rule, i)referred to give cash donations ; but it afforded 
a vast amount of comfort to the visitors at tlie fair, and increased their 
numbers because of its acconnnodations. 

The Union League Club has done noble work for the public good 
since the war. No longer compelled to stand as a sentinel, watching 
the approach of foes of the Republic, open and secret, it turned its 
energies into various fields of labor needing earnest Avorkers. The 
subjects of political and social reform, State and municipal ; the 
cleansing of pubhc offices of corruption, the jjromotion of the pubhc 
health, the overthrow of a great conspiracy to plunder the public treas- 
ury, laiown as the Tweed Ring, and scores of other measures for the 
support of virtue, order, and cleanliness in public affairs, have all felt 
the influence of tlie club, tlirougli the untiring labors of efficient com- 
mittees. It was chiefly instrumental in secm'ing for the city a Paid 
Fire Department and the present admirable Board of Health. Its 
Committee on Political Reform, of which Durman B. Eaton is chair- 
man, has a perpetual existence. 

In 1864 the Union League Club made its home in a fine mansion on 
the comer of Twenty-sixth Street and :Madison Avenue, which had 
been built for the Jockey Club, where it remained many years, and 
gathered a valual)le library and picture gallery. There was a spacious 
reading-room, and a large apartment set apart for lectures, concerts, 
aud dramatic performances. Finally the site for its present home, on 
the corner of Thirty-nintii Street and Fifth Avenue, was pm-chased, on 
•which the club erected a building on a ])lan designed in reference to 
the requirements of an association composed, in 1883, of about fifteen 
hundred membei-s, at a <n^f of about $400,000. The club first occu- 
pied it in 1881.* 

finest in the city. He possessed a very extensive and valuable fine-art gallery-, for he 
had been a lover of art from his early youth. He was three times married. Four 
children -nere the fruits of his first marriage, one of the second marriage, and one of the 
third. His sagacity Avas most remarkable. " I never knew him," said a friend, " to 
make a mistake abont the commercial standing of any man. When he said, ' I think 
that man will fail in so many months,' it always happened that the man failed." 
■" The first floor of the club house contains a large and well-appointed reading and 



R.lKTIl DKIADK. 1S«0 1S70. "53 

Tlu. rluh -iv-s nu.nll.lv mv,,ti..ns. at wl.icl. n.-w AnuM-ican pictures 
.„a fon.i,.r,.i.tu.vs, loan..a. a.v cxhiLitM A hai.-s' .vc.pt.on .s 
.iven annually, an.l is always a l.rilliant sunal ovont. 
" The Union L.a^nu- Clul. being a linn su,.,u,rter of ho Ui-ul-luan 
,.].^, fo.. ohviou; reasons, at the elose of the war, the ^..us^^ 
•,,„ waso.-ani/.e.l in lsr,5 for the avowed purpose of ;'l^-'»^ o 
H oeratie principles an.l for pron.oting social .ntereoun. ; .n o u. 
^vurds fur p 'oMu-ting the interests of the Den.K-rat.e party. 1 lu^ c ul 
:;;l .i;.t J.n..W.a it the mion Club .luring the stonny Pres.den a 
.lecti.>n in 1S.;4, when there was n.ueh ant^gon.st^ Jj'f j^l ^i;! ^ 
ainon.r the nicmbe,-s of that assoc.at.on. Some of the Dun.Kia c 
"nbe.s, feeling uncon.fortable, with.lrew an.l fonne.l th.s new dub 
The or..ni7.Ui.m was efrect.Ml by the election of John ^ an 1 uren a. 
p;::i^nt. U ... reorgamml in 1ST7. M..nwh. e .t had taken po.- 
Lssi..n of its pres..,t elegant hon.e at Jso. 90 1m th Avenu. 

The nK.nbe..hip..f the club is linnte. to..ne hoa.nul , ts n n of 
,nembei-s in lss:5 was somewhat less than six lum.lrc.l. It. entutain- 
"ntr^ guests are brilliant affah-s. Leading n.en.be.. of tlje Demo^ 
; Itic party have been its honored guests fron. tin^e Jot. me President 
.Tohns.ln was entertained during his >• tour ar..und tl-crcle Jh 
TUden was so honored by it on his nomination ; so also «f '^ ^^^"^^ 
Hancock on a similar occasion. Indeed, both T.l.len and Hancock 
wernomv.^.ted by the elub, it is said, before the Democratic >at,..ud 
Convention to nominate a candidate for the Presidency had met. lie 
president of the club in 188-2 was Aar.m J. \ anden^el, and Hen,> 
Wilder Allen was the secretary. 

% .hrcTrb The dinin-room is a notable portion of the house. It .s beavUy 
;;:ru : htt an?lt':i.h%«nUea eei,i„« is bea,.ti^.U, '^atea. M. t^e roo^^ 
ire more or less decorated. On the third floor are numerous rooms devoted to vanous 

^".Throfficers of the club for 1881-*2 were: HamUton Fish, president : Joseph H. 
Choato Noah Davis, George Cabot War.l. .IncksonS. Schult.. .losiah M. F.ske. C.-rneluis 
? r.^e« AVUliam M. Evarts. Legrand B. Cannon. John H. Hall. Salem H. NVales. 
SinctTr Tonsov. and William Do.d. vice presidents ; W.U.er Howe, -cretarj; George 
F Baker tr.-a nr..r. There have been nine i-residents of the club- namely : Uobert B. 
Mintn.^ Jonathan Sturges. Charles H. Marshall. -Tohn Jay (18fi«. 'f^-/^,\}"'\ 
J.ckson S SchulU. William J. Hoppin. Joseph H. Choate, George Cabot Ward, and 
ia. . ;L Fish. The latter was chosen in .S7.. It h.s on its roll «;>-' ^--'^^^l'"--^ 
members, including two Presidents of the United Stales (Lincoln and Grant). The 
rest «re or were officers of the army and navy. 



754 HISTORY OK NKW YORK lITY. 

Mention has been made of the American Association for tlie Promo- 
tion of Xational Union and for the Diffusion of Politicjil Knowledge. 
The necessity for an organization to counteract the influence of that 
society' was so plainl\' felt th<it at the beginning of 1863 William T. 
Blodgett, an eai-nest and patriotic merchant of New York, went to 
Washington and consulted the chief officers of the government on the 
subject. A plan was discussed and agreed to, and on his return Mr. 
Blodgett invited a number of loyal citizens to a conference. The result 
was tlie formation, in Febniary, 1863, of the Loyal Publicatiox 
Society. Charles King was chosen its president, and John Austin 
Stevens, Jr., its secretary. 

The object of this society was the distribution of journals and docu- 
ments of unquestionable and unconilitional loyalty throughout the 
United States, and particularly in the armies then engaged in the sup- 
pression of the rebelUon, and to "counteract, as far as possible, the 
efforts then being made by the enemies of the government and the 
advocates of a disgraceful peace," by the circulation of documents of a 
disloyal character. Money was subscribed for the immediate begin- 
ning of operations. Over $3000 were contributed by members of the 
Union League Club. 

Mr. King did not serve as president long, on account of ill health, 
and Professor Francis Lieber was appointed to take his place. Dr. 
Lieber was one of the most patriotic of om* foreign-born citizens. lie 
superintended the publication of one hundred pamphlets issued hv the 
society, ten of which were written by himself. He and Mr. Stevens 
served the societ}' with great ability until its dissolution early in 1866. 
In the space of six weeks after the society began its work, it sent to 
Washington for distribution in the Army of the Eappahannock 36,000 
copies of loyal journals and documents. 

In April, 1863, the society aided in the establishment of the Army 
and jVavy Journal, on the principle of " unconditional loyalty," under 
the management of Captain W. C. Church. It is still (1SS3) jnibhshed 
under the same management. The final overthrow of the rebellion in 
1865 ended the mission of the Loyal Publication Society, and at its 
third anniversary meeting (February 27, 1866) it was determined to 
dissolve it. President Lieber made an impressive address to the mem- 
bers on that occasion, and adjourned tlie society m\e die, saying, '* God 
save the great Republic ! God ]irotect our country !" 

The Presidential election in the city of New York in the fall of 1865 
was attended by exciting events. On November 2d the mayor (G. C. 
Gunther) received a telegram from the Secretary of AYar, informing 



FOLTRTII DKCADE, 1800 1870. 756 

liiin tliiit llit'iv was a ciiiispii-acy mi fuid to set on lire scwral \ortlicrn 
cities on olectioii day. Tlie mayor ilid not l)elievo it, but siiid iiu would 
1)0 vigilant ; but the goveinuu'iit deemed it iirojter to jirovide against 
miseiiief. On the day before the election T<m"> troops were landed at 
Fort Hamilton, at tlie entrance to the hariior, and on (Governor's 
Island, nearer the city, (ieneral Rutler had been despatched from 
Fortress Monroe to take command of all tioops in and around the city, 
lie arrived the day before. On the morning of the election the troops 
^vere (Mubarked on stcanil^oats, which wei'o anchoreil olf the city at 
dilTercnt j)oints. 

The day passed olT (juietly, but events whicii occurred in tiic night 
of the 2oth of November brought the warning of the Seci'ctary of War 
vividly to the minds of the citizens. On that night thirteen of the 
princi|)al hotels in the city,* Barnum's Museum, some shipping, and a 
large lumber-yaril were found to l)e on fire at almt>st the sjime moment. 
This was the work of incendiaries employed by the conspiratoi-s at 
Richmond. One of these incendiaries, Robert Kennedy, who was 
caught and hanged, confessed the crime and revealed the methods eni- 
jdoyed. Each incendiary, furnished with a travelling bag containing 
inrtammable materials, took a room at a hotel Uke an ordinary lotlgcr, 
closed the shuttei's of his apartment, tore up the cotton or hnen bed- 
clothes, saturated the matei-ial with phos])hoi'us and turpentine, set firo 
to a slow match, left the room, closed and locked the door and 
departed, leaving the house and all its inhaliitants to bum to ashes ! 
The precautions to prevent a discovery foiled the attempt, for the 
flames in the tightly -closed rooms were smothered. Kennedy sjiid this 
attempt to burn the principal buildings in New York City was in 
retaliation for Sheridau's i-aid in the Shenandoah Yalley. 

At the close of the Civil "War, late in the spring of 18fi5, the record 
of the city of New York in relation to its contributions of men to the 
national armies during the conflict was a proud one. The population 
of the city at the beginning of the war was over 800,000 ; in ISt!.? it 
had diminished to less than 727,000. The war had depleted it. It 
had furnished to the army llfi,382 sokliei-s, at an average cost for each 
man, for ])ounties and for the family relief fund, $1.50.47, or an aggre- 
gate f>f over $r>,s-27,<in(i. 

The sad news of the assassination of President Lincoln and the mur- 
derous attack on Secretary Sewaid, which reached New York before 

* The St. James, St. Nicholas, Metropolitan, Fifth .Vventif. Hartford, Tamiuany, 
United States, and Lovejoy's hotels, and the Astor House, La Fargo House, Howard 
House, New England House, and Belmont House. 



756 HISTOUV OF NKVV YORK CnT. 

the dawn of April lo, ISGo, gave the citizens a terril)le shock. Every 
heart seemed jiaraiyzed for a moment. The telegraph announced the 
death of the President at about seven o'clock. Instantly tokens of 
grief were seen in all parts of the city. The humble dwelling of the 
poor, the mansion of the rich, the shop of the artisan, the stately ware- 
house of the merchant, and the vessels in the harbor, were all draped 
in mourning within an hour. At noon there was an immense assem- 
blage of citizens at the Cutsom-House, the collector, Simeon Draper, 
presiding. The multitude were addressed by Generals Garfield, Butler, 
and Wetmore, Judge PieiTepont, D. S. Dickinson, and ex-Governor 
King. A conuuittee of thirteen was appointed * and sent to "Washing- 
ton to tender sympathy and aid to the government. From that time 
until after the funeral of the President lousiness in the cit}'' was sus- 
pended and business places were closed. 

On the day of his death (Saturday) that event was the topic of dis- 
com'se in the Jewish synagogues, as it was in the Christian churches 
on the following day. The funeral services took place at the White 
House on the 19th of April. Then the body was taken to the Capitol 
and lay in state until the 21st, when the funeral train set out for the 
home of the dead Pi-esident in Illinois, by way of Xew York, Alljany, 
and Buifalo. 

Preparations for the reception of the body had been made in Xew 
York City. It was conveyed to the rotunda of the City Hall amid the 
chanting of 800 singers and placed on a superb catafalque. The citv 
church bells were all tolling a funeral knell, and the Park was filled 
AAith a vast sea of soiTowing human faces. There the body lay in state 
until the next afternoon. During the whole twentj'-four hours a 
slowly moving stream of men, women, and children flowed through 
the rotunda to look upon the face of the dead Chief Magisti-ate of the 
nation. A military guard protected the body, and the German 
musical societies performed a solemn chant in that august presence. 

On the 25th of April the body of President Lincoln was taken from 
the city of New York. It was escorted to the railroad station by a 
procession nearly five miles in length. In that line were about fifteen 
thousand soldiers and two hundred colored citizens. In the afternoon 
thousands of citizens gathered at Union Square to listen to a funeral 
oration by George Bancroft. At the same place William Cullen 
Brj-ant pronounced a eulogy. 

* Moses Taylor, Jonathan Sturges, William E. Dodge, Hamilton Fish, Moses H. 
Grinnell, William M. Evarts, Charles n. Russell, Edwards Pierrepont, Samuel Sloan, 
John J. .Vstor, Jr., F. B. Cutting, R. M. Elatchford, and Charles H. Marshall. 



FOrUTII nKCAOE. lSflO-1870. 



757 



On tlif ilisl)iinilin.'nt of tlin army in ISf,.") lli« survivoi-s of tlic many 
tliousim.l citi/.i-ns who liiul ■,'one to tlie (u-M irtuni^'d to tlieir liouies. 
Tlu' t'VL-nt |>ivsente(l ii nire spwtac-le for tlu; nations. In tlie sjiatc of 
one Immhvd and lifty <lays tlic vast innltitudo of soldli-rs liad lirvn 
transfornu'd into citizens, :ind lia<l resinned tlie varieil and l.lessfd pnr- 
suitsof |H'ace.* Tiiereliy tin- i.oiiulalion of New York was sud<lenly 
greatly inereased. ' 

In {stW, a most sjilutary advance was made in New York City in the 
dii-eetion of sanitary reform. liver since the prevalence of the cholera 
in 1S4'.I. and its reappearance in the city in 1805, tiie need of a health 
organization with more ample jwwei's had been felt. In 18ti5 the 
cholera wjis raging in Europe, and apprehensions were felt in New \ ork 
that it would cross the .sea. It was that apprehension whicli caused 
the movement resulting in the creation of the Metropolitan Sanitary 
District hy the Legislature of New York in the winter of istw. That 
district included the counties of New York, Kings. Richmond, and a 
portion of Westchester. Within it was created a ni'W Hoard of Health 
for the city.f The old board consisted of the mayor and members of 
the boards of aldermen and councilmeii. 

As was anticipated, the cholera crossed the ocean. A slii)) from 
Liverpool arrivetl at Sandy Hook in April, 18(i(J, with several malig- 
luxnt ca.ses of cholera on l)oard. These were transferred to a hospital 
ship, and the remaimler of the ship's comjiany were (pianintined. 

This plague broke out in the city almost simultaneously, in ^May. at 
points live miles ajiart. It gradually spread over the city, in sjx.ts 
where most tilth ami bad drainage were Imiiid. So elKciently did the 
new Boanl of Health employ its enlarged powers that in the whole city, 
including the .shipping and the floating jiopulation. only 4»i(i pei-sons 
died of cholera. At the same time there were over twelve hundred 
deaths in the hospitals and penal institutions on the islands. The 
pestilence disappeared in October. 

So elKcient has been the I'.oard of Health and so skilful in its man- 
agement, that since the cholera in ISC"), that di.sease or scarcely any 
other has apjieared in the city as an epidemic. The l>oard consists of 
the president, the sanitary suiierintendent, the health olRcer of the 
* The whole nniuber of men who hnd been enrolled for duty was •2,r.or,,.5ni, of whom 
1,490,00(1 were in ftctnnl service. The disbandmcnt of this vast iirmy began in June, and 
by mid-autnmn 7r)0,0(M) officers and men had been mnstered ont of the service. 

f The first boar.l cr.n.sisted of six sanitary commissioners, the health officer, the polico 
commissioners, sanitarj' superintendent, sanitarj- inspectors, etc. Jackson S. S<:hultz 
was president of the board, Benjamin F. Mnnierrc treasurer, Emmons Clark sccretarj-, 
and three physicians namely. Drs. Crane. Parker, and Stone. 



758 HISTOKY OF NEW YORK CITV. 

jiort, and two commissioners, one of whom must have been a practising 
])hysician for five A^ears. The commissioner not a physician is the 
president of the board. The commissioners are appointed by the 
mayor with tlie consent of the aklermen. The sanitarj' superintendent 
is tlie chief executive officer of the board. A corps of medical inspec- 
tor is employed for the cure and prevention of disease, in the insijec- 
tion of tenement and other houses, and for the enforcement of health 
laws and the sanitary code. There is also a vaccinating corps, a corps 
for disinfection, and a coqjs for meat and milk inspection. 

The Health Department has a bureau of vital statistics, to which is 
assigned the duty of keeping a record of all the births, marriages, and 
deaths in the city, and of compiling the annual tabular statements of 
these. Every physician is required to give a certificate of the death of 
any pereon under his charge, with sex, age, place of nativity, whether 
married or unmarried, and cause of death. On the presentation of this 
to the bureau a burial pennit is gi-anted. According to the report of 
this bureau for 1882 the death-rate in the city that j^ear was 31.08 of 
every lOOO of the population. The chief cause of this comparatively 
high deatli-rate in Xew York is undou1)tedly the tenement-house 
system, where overcrowding and foul air is the rule and not the excep- 
tion.* 

The Board of Health could do little toward effecting a' sanitary' 
reform in the tenement-house system. Its evils had become so great 
that at length the citizens, led by the medical fraternity, were aroused 
to action. A public meeting was held at the Cooper Union in Feb- 
ruary, 1879, the mayor presiding. A committee of nine + Avas 
appointed to devise means for impi-oving the sanitary condition of 
tenement houses. That committee acted promptly. It procured from 
the Legislature an act giving increased power to the Board of Health. 
A SAxrrAEY Reform Societv was organized, composed of ])rominent 
citizens, and its labors, in conjunction with the efforts of the Board of 
Health, have already produced a marvellous change in the tenement- 
house system. That society is vigilant and active, and it promises to 
relieve the city of one of its most dangerous evils. J 

* The ofiScers of the board for 1883 are : commissioners, Alexander Shaler (president), 
Woolsey Johnson, M.D., William M. Smith, M.D., Stephen B. French, M.D. ; secretary, 
Emmons Clark ; sanitarj- superintendent, Walter D. F. Day, M.D. 

f The following named gentlemen composed the committee of nine : H. E. Pellew, W. 
Bayard Cutting, E. T. Aiichmuty, D. Willis .Tames, Charles P. Daly, Cornelius Vander- 
bilt. W. W. Astor, James Gallatin, and F. D. Tappen. 

t The founder of this society is James Gallatin. He was its first president, with Henry 
E. Pellew, vice-president ; Richard H. Derby. M.D., secretary ; D. Willis James, treas- 



l-OIIM'll DKCADK, 1M«0 It*70. 759 

Till' ciionnoiis cxiK'Hililuix's ami waste i>( tlic Civil War ami tlio Viust 
issues «)f paper eiinvufv iimazingly stimulateil every imiiistrial pursuit 
in the country. Now Vork in a s[)etial manner felt tlie inlluence (»f 
the new order of things. ^Va>,^es of eveiy class of workei-s, whetlier 
with the lirain or tho hand, were suddenly and largely increased. The 
price of ev(M'y |>mduct of tho fann and workshop was raised many per 
cent, and tho plentifulness of money increased the number and aliilily 
of purchasers, ilerchants whoso annual sales were valued at thoasands 
of dollai-s now sold hundrecls of thousands of dollai-s' worth of gocxls in 
a year ; manufacturers enlarged their premises, and new establish- 
ments sprang up in abuntlance to meet tho increasing tlomand. The 
arts of every kind felt tho inlluence of *' Hush times." Charitable and 
benevolent institutions were multii)lied in the city, and found generous 
givers. During this decade the niagnilicent charities of tin' metropolis 
were incroaseil in number, power, and influence for good. 

The ample means for the gratification of jesthetic tastes and for 
intellectual cultivation and enjoyment which ttie new order of things 
had produced caused unexampled activity in the realm of ail and litera- 
ture, and in the succeeding decade New Yoik City, in its extravag-ant 
and elegant architecture without and within, in style and decoration, 
its pulilic and private libraries, its line-ait institutions and ]niblic and 
private picture galleries, rivalled the older cities of Eurojie in these 
indications of wealth and relinement. 

To the Civil War and its immediate antecedent and collateral events 
may fairly be attributed the introduction of a new feature, if not a new 
era or a new school, in the art of sculjjture. Those events in.spired a 
young man who had only lately suspected that he ]iossessed a genius 
for art to follow his "good angel," who led him to the creation of 
small groups of ligun^s illustrative of simple, touching scenes in the 
history of the time in which he lived. It was his modest entr.mce 
upon the beautiful path by which he speedily reached the goal of fame 
and fortune. 

That young man was John Rogei-s, a descendant of the Smithfield 
martyr, then about thirty years of age. His beautiful plastic groups 
astonished and j)leased, and won unbounded admiration, lie carried 
" high art" into the aboilcs of the humble as well as the exalted. The 
subjects touched a chord oi sympathy in every human heart. He drew 

urcr ; Charles E. Triicy, counsel. These constituted the exccutivo committee, iiud with 
these were na.>iociated n board of directors : R. T. Anchmuty, S. 1>. Bnbcock. W. Buyiird 
Cutting, Charles P. Daly, Bowie Dash, Adrian Iselin. Jr., John T. Motcalf, M.D., 
Howard Putter, F. V> Tnppen, Cornelius Vandcrbilt, ami Williuui E. Dodge, Jr. 



760 HISTOKY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

from the heart ; liis pictures went to the heart, lie revealed human 
nature in its sweetest aspects, lie took a high position in the i-eahu of 
art at tlie begiiniing as an inventor and a reformer. It has been truly 
said that " no single agent has done so much to educate a popular taste 
for genuine art as John Kogers's delicate and beautiful genre jjictures 
in clay. . . . They are at Jiome alike in the boudoir of the rich 
and the cottage of the humble. In city aud country, among high and 
low, they are enshi'ined Avitli a respect aud love that amount to some- 
thing like veneration. . . . They are poetical, but not m^'stic. 
They are not above the average intellect of mankind." 

Mr. Rogere has been justly called " the people's sculptor." He is 
well known and admired in Europe. For more than twenty j'ears he 
has occujjied his special field of art alone.* 

* John Eogers was bom in Salem, Mass., October 30, 18i9. He was educated at a 
New England common scbool. In his youth he was restless ; he engaged in varioua 
avocations, and at the age of nineteen became a machinist in Slanchestcr, N. H., and 
worked at that trade about seven years, wholly ignorant of the divinity within him. One 
day, while in Boston, he saw a man making images of clay. The sight was a revelation. 
It deeply impressed him, aud he determined to try to imitate the artist. Although work 
in the shop was so urgent that he was compelled to labor fourteen hours a day, he found 
time to try some experiments in modelling. He transferred to clay the conceptions of 
his mind while at his daily task. He yearned for a sight of the works of the great 
masters in Italy, but his pecuniary circumstances denied him the privilege. 

In 1857, when Jlr. Eogers was twenty-eight years of age, after working at his trade six 
months in Missouri, he was thrown out of employment. He came East, procured some 
funds, went to Paris and Eome, and after studying art in France and Itiily for about 
eight months, he returned to America with his mind richly freighted with precious 
memories. He found employment in the office of the city engineer of Chicago, and every 
moment not required in his business he gave to efforts in his chosen field of art. He 
produced a group of small figures called " The Checker Players," which was exhibited'at 
a charity fair got up by some benevolent ladies in Chicago. It attracted great attention, 
and was praised by critics for its faithfulness in details, a characteristic of all his works. 

Feeling conscious of his powers, Mr. Eogers now resigned his situation in the office of 
the city surveyor and devoted himself to art. He soon produced a group which he 
called " The Slave Auction." This was first introduced to the public in New York City 
in 1860. The times were propitious. The agitation of the slave question was then very 
violent. The sentiment of the little group appealed to the sympathies of multitudes of 
people, yet it was denied a place in a public art exhibition becanse of its subject. It 
attracted wide attention. "When the Civil War broke out, soon afterward, the genius of 
the newborn artist, consonant with his patriotism, laid hold of the occasion, aud mo.st 
interesting groups illustrative of cunent history grew up under the eager touch of his 
skilful fingers. He began his career in New York in the most unpretentious manner. 
He took an attic room on Broadway, and issued this business card : " .John Rogers 
Artist. Designs and Executes Groups of Figures in Composition at his Studio, 599 
Broadway, Room 28. N. B. — They can be securely packed for transportation." 

These groups are made of a peculiar composition, and are produced and reproduced 
by a simple process. They are originally modelled in clay by the hand of the master. 



Koruril 1>K('AI)H. IHIHI-IHTO. 



701 



Tl.ec-...ni'a.al.vlv nrsv Iralu.v i.. tlu- MS,«-.t nf tl,.. lin- :.rts. pniu'- 
larlv known as clm..n..lill...^'ra,.l.v. or clnr-printn,;: hy tl..- .Hi'^ 
.n-.u.l.ic i.nxess, has been l.r..u^'ht t- g.fat l.e.fecti..n in the city of 
Xe'v Y.,rk since the l.e-innin;; ..f tliis decade. One ol the nun^t 
extensive and l.est equipped estal.lishn.ents in tlie city engaged m tins 
business is that ..f the Hatch l.itliographic Company, lounded by the 
eminent engraver on steel, George W. Hatch, n.enli..ned in a fornu^r 
clripter Mr Hatch probablv did moiv than any other man in tlie 
development ..f the lithographic art. Indee.l every department ol the 
Hue arts felt the touch of his genius. He a.ss<x-iated with hnnsell his 
eldest son, H. AV. Hatch, Jr., in the lithograph busines.s, and very 
soon, bv the employment of the best workmen in every department, 
the Hrm of (i. W. Hatcli, Jr., &: Co. became so pre-eminent in the per- 
fection of their work that the national and municipal govcrumeuts be- 
came their constant customei-s. 

In is.-it; (i W. Hatch, Jr.. died, and his only surviving brother, 
AVarner D. Hatch, became the partner of his father. ( )n the death of 
the latter, in 18.;.!, this younger son became the head ot the estabhsli- 
ment, and so remaias. Very great improvements in the business had 
then been made, especially in the department of color-print.ng, whicli 
the house has made a specialty. Greater improvements have since 
A mouia from the moJel is taken and a bronze copy i« cast from that, fron. ^.hich inonl.ls 
are nrcnnred for subseiinont copies made of composition. 

Eogls groups soon became very popular. Their exquisite execuUon and h.s rare 
:„d«ment in the selection ot subjects commended him to cultivated people, and the.r 
exceediDKlv lo«- price put them within the reach of families of moderate means. 

In l«s/.Mr Kosers undertook a t.i»k which he had never ventured upon bef.ne 
namelv, the production of a heroic ciuestrian statue. It is a portrait o txeneral .John R 
Bevnolds. who was killed in the batll- of Gettysburg. He received the commission 
without competition from the Roj-nolds Memorial Association, composed of officers of the 
Armv of the Potomac. Mr. Itogers put up an atelier at Stamford. Connecticut, and 
within it, in little over a year, he completed the model, in pla.ster. which is mos sntis- 

» factory and is praised a.s an admirable work of art. Few artists are ecp.al to the task of 

making an equestrian statue, and hence Mr. Rogers's triumph is all the greater. It is to 
be ca.st in bronze, and to occupy a conspicuous place in the city of I'hiladelphia 

Mr Kogers was nn.rried in l»r,.^ to Miss Harriet M. Francis, by whom he has seven 
children In person he is rather slender. His expression, from a combination of pecul- 
iar features, is of the most interesting character. Like all men ..f true genius, he is 
modest yet po».scsses the dignity which self-consciousness of power imposes. His 
famous groups arc numerous. Among the most notable are " The Council of A\ar 
-L ncoln. sLton. and tVrant : " One More Shot ;• " Taking the Oath ;" ** ^onnng to he 
Parson •" " Checkers up at the Farm :" '• It is so nominated in the bond -i>Uylock. I ortn^ 
Antonio, etc. : and his three illustrations of the storj- of " Rip Van Winkle, in which 
the features of the hero of the tale -are those of Joseph Jefferson, the great dramatic im- 
personator of that character. 



762 HISTOHV OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

been made. In ISC.t; it luul loo hand presses and 150 men employed, 
and yet it could not meet the demands upon it. Some of the chromo- 
lithographs pi'oduced by this establishment at that time have hardly 
been surpassed since in the perfection of imitations of oil painting's. 
The productions of the house attracted customers from all parts of the 
country. Great acquisitions of skilled labor and machinery were soon 
made to the estabhshment to meet the public demaml, and in the year 
1868 tlie Hatch Company introduced into this country the first steam 
hthographic press. It was made in London, and was imperfect in 
many parts, but was capable of making 4000 to 5000 impressions daily, 
while 250 impressions by the hand press were considered a fan* day's 
work. The introduction of the steam press produced a revolution in 
the business. 

The firm procm'ed a more perfect machine from Paris, and yet it 
was not satisfactory. Then the great printing-press manufacturers, 
11. Hoe & Co. , were employed to construct a machine. The result was 
perfect success. The iron hands of the machine took hold of the paper 
Avith the dehcacy of touch of a woman's fingers, and it was atljusted 
to the pictm'e on the stone with accuracy surpassing the skill oi the 
best workman, while the whole machine moved with the perfection of 
a watch. 

It seemed doubtful whether work enough could be found to keep the 
steam press busy. It has never been icUe. Three years after the Hoe 
press was introduced, Hatch & Co. had six of them in use, with a 
capacity for printing 30,000 sheets dailj'^; in 1883 the company had 
twelve steam presses in constant operation, which produced an average 
of 00,000 impressions a day. 

The lead (or graphite) pencil holds a most intimate, indeed an essen- 
tial relation to the fine arts, as the chief implement in the production 
of designs of every kind, whether in the service of the painter, the 
scul]>tor, or the architect. The best lead pencils formerly known to 
artists were those of the jiure graphite of Borrowdale, Cumberland, 
England, discovered in 1564 ; bvit those mines were exhausted more 
than a hundred years ago. At about the middle of the last century 
Caspar Faber began the manufacture of lead pencils of superior (juality 
at Stein, near Nuremberg, Germany. His son, Anthony William 
Faber, succeeded him in 1801, and founded the house of A. W. Faber, 
which name is perpetuated. A manufacturing Ijranch of the great 
house (which is the largest of the kind in the world) was estal)lished in 
the city of Xew York in 1861. The liead of it, Ebcrhard Faber, came 
to the city in 1855 an<l ( stablished a mercantile branch of the house, in 




,^ 



A. .X//7,^ 



O^r:, 



KOURTH DECADE, ISGO-ISTO. 



763 



whifb is now centroil tlio larjre tnult; in p<MKils over the whole I'nited 
States, in Caniida, ^[exico, South Ameriea, aiul the AVest India Ishmds. 

Tiie parent estahlisiiinent of A. AV. Faher, at Stein, is now enormous 
in extent, constituting a wliole village of factories and a i)opulous eoni- 
nuniitv. The proprietoi-s have built churches, estahlishcd sch<K)!s and 
kindero-artens, a libnirv, a savings hank, and phices of amusement, for 
the moral, religious, intellectual, and social benelit of theii- army of 
employes. Tiiey have Wnmches in London and tlie principal cities on 
tiie continent, and the Falier pencil is known and sougiit after in every 
part of the civilized world. 

The American branch factory was (>stal>lislied by El)erhard l-'al)er at 
the foot of Forty-second Street, and he became the pioneer «)f a new 
industry in the city. This factory was burned in .May, 1S72, and Mr. 
Faber built another in (Ireenpoint, which iuus since been in ojieration. 
At a later date he estal)lished a cedar-yard and siiw-mill at Cedar 
Keys, Florida. As busine.ss increased he enlarged the factory, and 
manufactured not only pencils of every variety, l)Ut pen-holders, slates, 
and slate-pencils. india-rul)l)er goods, vellum tracing clotii, gold ])ens, 
pencil-ciises, and almost everytiiing connected witli the stationery 
trade, excei)t paper and blank Ixioks. At present the business absorbs 
the entire ])roduct of an india-rubber factory in New Jersey. The 
mercantile branch of the house moved to the elegant and s])acious 
l)uilding Xos. Tl8-72it Hroadway in 1.S77. In March, 187".>, Eberhai-d 
FaVier died, and his son, John El)erhard Faber, is now at the head of 
the American liranch of the great house.* 

The gomls of this house, of every kind, are so sujierior that it has 
received the highest awards at all international exliil)ilions. 

• John Eberhtirtl Faber is a native of New York City. He was edncated at Colnnihia 
College, bnt before finishing the conrse of stndy (class of 1S78) he went to Stein and 
tnnk n position nnder his nncle at the head of the great luaniifaetory there. There he 
ae(iiiirfd a thorough knowledge of the French language. On the death of his father, in 
March, 187'.), he returned to New York and became the head of the house in this city. 
He is a moat energetic ami sagacious young man. and sustains the good business name of 
the house of A. W. Faber. 



CHAPTER IV. 

DURING this decade several institutions, charitable, benevolent, 
and social, were created or put on sure foundations. Among 
these the New York Society for the Rehef of the Ruptured and Crip- 
pled and the Home for Incurables appear specially conspicuous. 

Through the exertions of Dr. James Knight and ]\Ir. R. M. liartlev, 
who were earnest co-workers of the Society for Improving the Condi- 
tion of the Poor, eminent members of the medical profession and othei-s 
became interested in the establishment of an iiLstitution for the rehef of 
poor persons who were afliicted with hernia. Careful inquirj^ had 
revealed the fact that a large percentage of the ])0]ndation of the city 
was suffering from this cause. A society for the estalilishmentof such 
an institution was organized in March, 1803, under the general laws of 
the State, and a full board of managers was chosen.* The house of 
Dr. Knight, on Second Avenue, was rented, and he was appointed resi- 
dent ])hysician and surgeon. JMrs. Knight superintended the domestic 
affaire of the institution, and their daughter taught the juvenile inmates 
the ordinary branches of education without compensation. During the 
fii-st year the number of patients treated was 828. 

The managers became early impressed with the inijiortance of more 
ample hospital accommodations. The cause commended itself strongly 
to the benevolent. Liberal contributions were soon made for a build- 
ing, notably §70,000 by Chauncey and Heniy Rose, and subsequently 
850,000 by John C. Green and §17,000 by J. C. Baldwin, while numy 
]3ersons gave §5000 each, and there were numerous contributions of 
81000 and under. 

In 1872 the present spacious and elegant home of the institution, five 
stories in height including the basement, was completed and occupied. 
It is on the corner of Forty-second Street and Lexington Avenue, is 

* Robert B. llinturD, John C. Green, Stewiirt Brown, A. K. Wetniore, William X. 
Boolb, Robert M. Hartley, Joseph B. Collins, Joniithan Sturges, James W. Beekman, 
George Griswold, John D. Wolfe, Enoch L. Fancher, James Knight, Thomas Denny, 
Lnther R. Marsh, Charles N. Talbot, J. F. Sheafe, Henry S. Terbell, Nathan Bishop, 
John W. Qnincy. ' 



FOfUTII DKCADK. ISIiO-lftTO. 7''.i 

In I (lcl)l. and has accominnilations lor fully :i'"i pationts. It is free 

to indijroiit residents of N'cnv York City and its vicinity and eripplod 
I'niti'd States soldiei-s. A moderate cliarge is niad<' to otiier |iatients. 
Cliildien I'rniii four to fouitceii yeai-s of af^e art* admitted as in-door 
])atients, antl receive tiie elements of an Kn;:lish edueation. Crippled 
patients are sent to it fi-om all other ehantalile institutions, puhlic and 
)>i'ivate. 

This institution theavowed olijectsof which are " to ap|)ly skilfully 
construcleil sur^ico-mechauical ajipliances for tiie treatment of in- and 
out -door patients, and tliose retpiirin^ trusses, spring supports, itandages, 
laced stockings, and apparatus for the cure of crip|>les, lioth adults and 
children, on such conditions as will make tiiese itcnelits availalile, so far 
as possible, to the poorest in the city, free of charge"— has always 
attracted not only to its sup|Hjrt hut to its management leaihng philan- 
thro]>ists of New Yoik, such as Samuel Willets, its |)resident at the 
time of his death, in iss:j ; William II. Macy.* who succeeded Mr. 

» Willinm H. Jlucy is ii nntive of Niinttieket, wlieru he wi\s liom November i, 180.5. 
He wns the oldest child <if .losiuh Mai-y, n member of the .Society of Friends. He ciiiue 
to New York City in Wi'.i, and entered the countinK-honse of .Siiuinel Hicks. .\t the a|;!i' 
of twenty-one he besi'H the hnsiness of n couimi.ssion merohiint on his own lu-counf. 
His father joined him in bu8ines.s, nnd the firm wns .Tosinh Mncy A Son. In 1834, when 
twenty-nine years of age, he became a member of the Cliamber of Commerce, nnd hiler 
he wns elected vice-president of that body. lu 1K4.5 he was elected a director of the 
Leather Maiiiifaelurei-s" liank, nnd ten years nfterward he was chosen its president. The 
directors voted him n silver vase as a token of their esteem and friendship. 

At the bcKinning of 1848 Mr. Slacy was elected a trnstee of the Seamen's Bank for 
Siivings. He had always taken ^rent interest in that cIorh of men, and was ever ready 
with kind words nnd a free hand to help them. He was elected vice-president of that 
institution in 18.51, nnd in }HC,'.i was chosen it.s president, which office ho still holds. When 
lie became president of the bank he relinqnifihed othpr business, in order to devote his 
whole time to thnt institution. Its bnsiness wns then Inr^e, haviuf]; $'.).iMlli,(KlO on 
deposit. That sum was incrensed in 1883 to $31,000,000. (In .Tnnnary 1st of that year it 
had 60,5)151 accounts.* In 18»;'.t Mr. Macy wns elected one of the governors of the New- 
York Hospitnl. nnd is now Prcsiilent of thnt institntion. Mr. Mncy has also held the 
office of vice-president of the United States Trust Company. He has been connected 
with the iiianageMient of several insurance and railroad companies. Because of bis high 
sense of honor, his unllinohing integrity, ami great business cnpncity. be has been 
si'lected as the executor of many estates. He h»,s nlways been an active friend of some 
of the most important benevolent nnd charitable institutions in the city, nnd from these 
as well as from business institutions ho has received many expre.s.sions of high esteem 
for his mnny ailmimblo ipialities. In his domestic relations Mr. Mncy's virtnes abine 
most conspicuously ns a husband, n fnther, a protector nnd friend. 

• Tlie Seamen's Bank for Savhic. of whlcti Mr Mncr 1« the prcKldenl, wa.» Incorjioralcd In 1*."9, In order 
t> provide a i^afc nnd advnntaireon!* dcpo-It for llio *)arplu9 cnminj::^ of fictrarlnu nu-n. who tiave ever bei'O 
pnhjrctcd to fraud* and Imponllinna ofrvi r.v kind Aa a etas.* ihcv arc conAilins and nni>n»plrloui>. Thia 
linnk of dcpotil for their favincra ha.' I eim a creal bleulni; to Mion»and> of ramilica. 



ruG HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Willets as President ; William £. Dodge, Robert Hoe, Jonathan 
Sturges, and othei-s. From 1863 to 1882 no less than 88,787 patients 
have been treated in this hospital. Of these over 34,000 were children 
under fom-teen years of age.* 

One of the noblest charities in the city of Xew York is the Home foe 
IxcrEABLEs. Early in 1866 a few prominent clergymen and several 
la^nuen of the Protestant Episcopal Church met at the house of the 
bishop of the chocese to consider the necessity of a hospital for indigent 
persons incui'ably ill. The meeting recognized the necessity, and 
appointed a committee of five gentlemen — the Rev. Drs. iluhlenberg, 
^'inton, Montgomery, and Gallaudet and Mr. Franldin Randolph — a 
committee to find suitable accommodations for such a purpose. A 
commodious edifice, fonnerly known as the Temjierance House, at 
West Fanns, Westchester Comity, was leased, and there, after the 
organization of a board of trustees,t early in April (18G0), the good 
work began, with Benjamin H. Field as its first president ; Martin E. 
Greene, vice-president ; Hemy J. Camman, treasurer ; R. A. McCurdy, 
secretary, and Washington Rodman, pastor and superintendent. 

Much of the success of the early working of the institution was due 
to the exertions and influence of Mr. Field, its president, and to the 
faithfulness and devotion of Mr. Rodman, the pastor and superinten- 
dent, both having an earnest faith and deep interest in the undertaking. 
Mr. Field has served as president from the beginning imtil now.;); 

* The officers of the institution for 1882-83 were : Samuel Willets, president ; William 
H. Macy, Robert Colgate, Robert Hoe, Henry S. TerbeU, William H. Osborn, vice-presi- 
dents ; Frederick Sturges, treasurer : John P. Townsend, recording secretary ; William 
A. W. Stewart, con-esponding secretary, and a board of eleven managers. Dr. James 
Knight is the surgeon-in-chief. 

•f The board consisted of the Hon. John T. Hoffman, Edward Haight, W. H. Guion, 
Benjamin H. Field, Henry J. Camman, Franklin F. Randolph, George K. Jackson, Lloyd 
Aspinwall, John H. Pool, Frederic Goodridge, William E. Curtis, Stephen Cambreling, 
Benjamin B. Sherman, Richard A. McCurdy, Ai-chibald Russell, Livingston Satterlee, 
Martin E. Greene, George T. M. Davies, Henry il. McLaren, E. A. Quintard, D. D. 
Jones, W. A. Muhlenberg, W. Rodman, and T. Gallaudet. 

I The name of Benjamin Hazard Field is prominently connected with very many of 
the most active and best social and beneficent institutions of the city and of public 
enterprises. Whenever his name appears as a manager of an institution, in whatever 
capacity, his faithful personal participation in its duties may be expected. A man of 
wealth and of leisure, he makes the promotion of every good work for the benefit of 
society one of the chief pursuits of his life. 

Mr. Field is of English lineage, tracing his ancestry far back in British history, even 
to the time of the Nonuan conquest in the twelfth centurj-, when Hubertus de la Field 
came with William the Conqueror and was made a land-owner in Lancashire by his 
sovereign. His descendant, Robert Field, was the first of this name who appeiired in 



ForUTIl liKCADK. I8i;0 1H70. 707 

T\Vflv4> acres of land at i'ordliaiii were purcliasi'd, ami in 1^7:'. tlu^ 
oor?UM'-st()nt' of the present ediliee was laid. The priei- paiti for the 
property was "generously e<»ntiiljute(l liy Miss Cathaiine L. WuliV, her 
fatiier, John I). Wolfe, having expressed before his death his intention 
to contriljutt' the amount of the purchase money. The siX'iety had 

Anicricn, couing to MnxsachnHottH abnnt 1830, in cntiipany with .Sir RiohnrJ 8altonf:t4ilI. 
In HH't he bermiiu one of the piiteuti'us of tUu I'liiKliiiiv; Miinor, Loii){ Isliind, luid hcUIciI 
tUero. Olio of his fnuiily purehasuil laiuls iu WestchcHtiT t'ouuty, imt fur from IVt-kskill. 
Thu rujjioii is known ns Yorktowu, iiud there the sulijc<et of our sketch wiis tioru, Hay 2, 
1H14. Ho reeeiveil his primary oduaktion under the ])arental roof, ami tiuisheil his school- 
life at the NortliSiilom Academy, of which the lute Kev. Hiram •Jelliff, a learned Kpisenpnl 
clorKymnn, was then the principal. Ue chose the mercantile profession as his busineax 
vocation, nml entered the coiiutiug-room of his uncle, Hickson W. Field, then one of 
the " merchuut princes" of New York. 

In 1S3J Mr. Field became tho business partner of his uncle. Ho was then only 
eighteen years of jij^o. When, six years afterward, bis uncle retired from active business 
life, the uianagement of the immense concerns of the houso fell upon the shoulderii of 
this junior partner. He was equal to the task, and for many years he conducted the 
business with great skill and success, and ranked among tho best and most prosperous 
merchants of tho city. 

In the same year when the burdens of the business fell upon him (1H38), Mr. Field 
married Miss Cuthurine M. Van Cortlundt de Peyster, sister of tho lute Frederic do 
Peyster, LL. D. She is conneeteil by lineage with many ot the oldest and most distin- 
guishcil families of tho Colony and State of Now York, and has ever been conspicuous in 
tho social lif c> of the city for her Christian \ irtues, her active bonovolence, and her open- 
handed charities. 

In 1861 Mr. Field associated with himself in business his son, Cortlandt de Peyster 
Field, Four years later the firm name was changed to Cortlandt rle Peyster Field Jk Co., 
tho father remaining as the company, and retiring from active business with an ample 
fortune and an unsullied reputation as a merchant and u citizen. 

Our limited spoce will allow only a brief allusion to a few of the many associations and 
public enterprises with which Mr. Field has been and is now connected. In lbii.5 he 
became a member ot the St. Nicholas Society, and an active manager ; in 1844 he was 
elected o life member of the New Y'ork Historical Society, served many years us one of Ua 
executive committee, for more than twenty years as its treasurer, ond is now (1883) its 
vice-president ; an cfHcient trustee ot the New Y'orlc Society Librarj-, a member of the 
Century Club for more than thirty years, a fellow of the .\meriojin Geographical Society, 
and member of several other learned societies, one of the founders of the St. Nicholas 
Club, an honorary reember of the Mercantile Library Association, one of the founders 
and patrons of the Free Circulating Librarj-. a manager ot tho Museum ot Natural His- 
tory, vice-president of the first bank of savings established in the city, a director of 
banking and insurance institutions, president of the Home for Incurables since its or- 
ginizution, and a large contributor to its support ; trustee of the New York Dispensary, 
• ice-president of the Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb for twenty- 
five years, a trustee of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmarj-. now (1883) its vice-presi- 
dent, and of minor charitable societies, ond of the Working Women's Protective Cnion. 

Mr. Field has spent large sums of money and much time in the couse of education. 
He was one of the most active and liberal citizens in procuring tho erection of the statue 
of Washington at Union .Sipiare, and of Farr.ignt in XIadison Square, and was a liberal 



768 HISTUHV UF NEW YUKK CITY. 

ab-eady received, so early as Xoveinljer, 18»i7, from Cluuineey and 
IleniT Rose, the inunificeut sum of S3U,(IU0, and from time to time 
generous contributions were made by members of the board of man- 
ager and others. The building, which is very spacious and pleasant, 
was completed in 1876. Recently the president of the institution 
(Benjamin II. Field) and his wife, Mrs. C. M. Van Cortlandt de 
Peystei" Field, have paid into the treasury a sum sufficient to build 
on the grounds a chapel that will accommodate three hundred or four 
hundred pei-sons, for the benetit of the inmates of the Home. 

The institution is conducted on entirely unsectarian principles. The 
services in the chapel are in accordance with the usages of the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church. Its sujjport is derived from interest on invest- 
ments, paying patients, and regular and occasional contributions. ISTo 
aid from the State has ever been asked or desired. The institution is 
fi-ee from debt. It receives annually a small amount in the distribu- 
tion of the excise fund, to which it seems to be s]iecially entitled, for 
most of its incurable epileptic inmates are the victims of the indulgence 
in intoxicating drinks. Tliere is an association of ladies connected with 
the institution, twenty-three in number,* of whom two visit the 
liospital each month once a week. They undertake to keep the linen- 
room sui)plied, and furnish many articles of clothing for the poorer 
inmates, besides books, pictures, fruit, and other comforts.f 

There is a free Chukcu Home for Incukables among Protestant 
women and female children of the better class, who are without means 
or friends to support and care for them. It is situatetl at Ko. 54 West 
Eleventh Street. It was started in 1870 by the efforts of ]\Iisses Louise 
Gardner Hall and A. M. Palmer. The former, who died in March, 

contriluitor to funds for the erection of the statues of several distinguished nersons in 
Central Tark. 

In person Mr. Field is a man of fine presence and of cordial and gentle manners. Thor- 
oughly educated, conversant with general literature, a lover and p^itron of the fine arts, 
he is an honored and welcome companion in every refined social circle. 

* This association in 1883 consisted of Mrs. A. Newbold Morris, H. V. C. Phelps, 
Eichard M. Hoe, Martin E. Greene, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jacob D. Vermilyc, John W. 
Munro, Henr^- A. Coster, Charles H. Nichols. Dudley S. Gregory, Samuel Filley, V/illiam 
H. Tailer, R. S. Emmet, C. O'D. Iselin, John S. Foster, Matthew Clarkson, Henry Rose, 
and Nathaniel Bradford, and Misses Evans, Van Cortlandt, Gwynne, and Filley. There 
is a board of clerical-and lay managers. Of the former, the bishop of the diocese is the 
head ; of the latter, Mr. Field. 

+ The officers of the Home in 1883 were : Benjamin H. Field, president ; Martin 
E. Greene and William H. Guion, vice-presidents ; J. D. Vermilye, treasurer ; Henry M. 
McLaren, secretary ; Israel C. Jones, superintendent and resident pliysieian, and Mrs. 
Jane E. White, matron. 



KolHIll l'K» AhK. lXfiO-lM70 



7GH 



issa, was known t.. th.- wo.-l.l as SisU-r L.uis.-. Tlu- .•nt..ri.ns.' l.a.l 
tlu. s;inoti..n an.l comnu.n<iati.m of Hish..,. Pott.r. I Ins Hon,., ^viv.s 
i,K..,r,.onit.-.l will. tl... U.-V. (;.....-.> 11. lloUfThtun, D.D., v-t'.r ol he 
( l.u, vh of tlu- Transli^mnition, as presulent. At h.-st tlu, .la.ly LkhI of 
its innuiti's was l.e-n-.l at tl..- iml.lic markets an.l adjacent business 
places. Finally c.mtril.uti..ns can.e in, an.l this n...st (U^erv.ng institu- 
tion was removed to its present resi.lence, K... T.-l ^Vest Kleventi. 
Street, where it has acconiin..dations for about f.irty patients.- 

In 1S.;5 a IIOMK Fuu FAI.I.K.N- .VM> FlUKNl.LK.S CilUI.S WilS f.^Ululcl, 

with the late ApoUos li. AVetmoru as i>resi<lent. Its benevolent object 
is indicated by its naiue-the prcjtection oi the y..un- a-ainst the temp- 
tations which beset them, and rescuing them when th.'V.are le.l astray. 
Mr Wetm..re twk a liv.-lv inteivst in the Home fiom tin- beginning 
At the time ..f his su.lden .leath. in January, issi, aknit slo.oOd IkuI 
been collecte.l, largely through his exeiti.3ns, for th.- purpose of estal) 
lishin.r a permanent I'.lace of resi.lence. This sum, with ..ther contribu- 
tions, enabled tlu. managers to imrchase an.l fit up a budding at ^o. 4J 
Washin-ton S.p.aiv. which, out of respect to Uv. Wctmore, they call 
the Wetm.tre Home. Since the ..pening of the institution, in l^^.i., to 
the beginning of 1SS3, 12<.tT young women an.l girls (average age 
seventeen years), much the larger portion of whom lia.l been rescued 
cither from a life ..f sin or from t.-inptation, have been admitte.l t<. its 

Thf Oil vi-iN- lloMi: is non-s.ntarian, though form.'.l aiul con.hicted by 
members of the Universalist Church ..f the Divine Taf-rnity, of which 
the late E.hvin H. C-hapin. D.D.. was pastor for fully a .piarter ot a 

century. ,, . ,, i 

The fii-st movement t..war.l establishing this lloiiu' tor the needy 
was made at a meeting of a few ..f the ladies of the congregation in 
February lMi!». At that meeting an able i)ai>er was rea.l by Mrs. 
Georcre Hotfinan. A society was soon afterwar.1 organize.l, an.l was 
named the Chai.in H.m.h- f..r the Keli.^f of the Age.l and Infirm, both 
men and w.mien. M.r.. F. II. Cliapin was clios.>n tl,.' first p.vsulent. 
It was inc.>r[)oi-ated May 1, lSt!'.>. 

Having secured a lea.se of lots on Lexingt.^n Avenue, between Sixty- 
sixth am? Sixty-seventh streets, from the conimissionei-s of the sinking 

• Tho officers of the Bocictv at the time of the donth nt >Iiss Hull woro : the Rev. Dr. 
HooKhton, lireaident : the Rev. A. McMillan. «ecret«r)-. nn.! James Moms, treasurer. 

t The ofBcera of the Home for 1883 were : Z. S. Ely, president : G. \S. Clarke, vice- 
president ; W. F. Barnard, secretarj- : S. Cotter. trcn.snrer ; Dr. S. T. Hnbh.ird. phy- 
sician vvith a board of manaRers, consisting of fonr gentlemen and eleven ladi.s. 



770 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

fuud, and obtained money for the purpose, the spacious building now 
occupied Ijy tlie Home was erected. It was first occupied in 1872. 
At the time of the first annual report of the trustees, in 1874, there 
were thirty beneficiaries in the Home, composed of nine Universalists, 
eiglit Eijiscopahans, five Presbyterians, four Methodists, two Baptists, 
and two unknown. 

Only resi)ectable jjcrsons in reduced circumstances, and not under 
sixty-five years of age, are admitted. Each pays an entrance fee of 
S3(Kt, which is held as a permanent fund until the beneficiary is no longer 
an inmate of the Home, when it is transferred to the general fund. 

The constitution of the association provides that only " ladies of the 
Universalist denomination shall be eligible to election as trustees of the 
institution." Yet it is conducted on the broadest principles of love 
and charity. The question asked of applicants for shelter is not What 
is yoiu' ci'eed ? but What is your need, my brother, or mv sister ? 

This Home is an appropriate monument to the memory of one of the 
most eloquent and most catholic in spirit of tiic pulpit teachers of the 
Golden Fade." 

The Foi'NDLiNG Asyh'm of the Sisters of C'iiakity m the Crry of 
New Yoek was incorporated in October, 18(i0, and placed by the 
charter under the nuinageuient of the Sisters of ( harity of the Roman 
Catholic Church. The corporators were Mary Ann Ely, Catharine 
Fitzgibbon, Maria AVallace, Ann Obermeyer, Margaret Wightnuin, 
and ^lary Iladden. The objects of the society were defined as the 
reception, care for, maintenance, and suppoit of deserted children or 
found hngs. It was the first asjdum exclusively for foundlings estab- 
hshed in the United States, and its influence in sup))ressing the crime 
of infanticide and saving the lives of human beings has been incalcula- 
ble. Its usefulness was demonstrated during the first year of its 
existence, when over six hundred foundlings received its sheltering 
care. A crib is placed in the vestil)ule of the building, in which 
infants may be left, without injury or observation. 

The asylum is situated in Sixty-eighth Street, between Third and 
Lexington avenues. In 1S81 a Maternity IIo.s])ital was opened in con- 
nection with the asylum. It is intended for those i)ersons only who 
arc special objects of care and solicitude, sucli as women in whose cases 
there is a desire and hope of preserving individual character or family 

-- The officers of the Home for 1882-83 were : Mrs. N. L. Cort, president ; Mrs. C. P. 
Huntington, C. L. Stickrey, and C. H. Delamnter, vice-presidents ; Mrs. D. D. T. 
Marsbftll, treasurer ; Miss E. Cort, recording secretary ; Mrs. E. R. Holdeu, corre.sijond- 
iug sfccretary, and Mrs. C. F, Wallace. i:!atron. 



^0^ 



w- #■■ 



->' 




KUlltTll DKCAUK, |S(>0-1m70. 771 

i-('|mt:itiiin, or inarrird wdincii who may receive all tin* can-. att<Mili<>ii, 
iinil prolVssiuiial si-rviccs not otliorwiso at tlieii' coMiiiianil, siu-h iis 
striiiigt'iN in till- city wIid may not linil convcnioiui's at a liotd. or liavo 
in tlu'ir own lioiisos tlic ni'i-i'ssary attention. 

Sinf<' tiic opening of tlic asylnin, latt- in |M''.', Io Octolni- I, l^S:i, 
tluTO iiad heon ivceivt'il and caird tor l;!,s4ti infants ami nioro than 
4iM»t» niotlu'i-s. TliLMo is also a childrcirs hos|)ital, a kindcrgarlL-n, and 
a regular school. This institution, intended primarily for the s;dvation 
and good of the unconscious babe, has i-xpanded into a protector and 
sjiviour of the mother herself.* 

TuK Ni:\v VouK f'ATtioLK' PKoTKcrnin. ilesigned for the |)rotection of 
destitute Roman ("atholic children, was incorporated in 18(58. It was 
founded by the Uev. L. Silliman Ives, D.I)., formerly a bishop of the 
Prote.stant E|)iscopal Cliuivh. The functions Of the iastitution are, in 
their nature, designs, and methods, similar to tho.se of all other institu- 
tions of its da.ss, ilitfering chieHy in the greater number of industries 
carried on under tlie direction of the managei-s. It has excellent 
schools, and the various trades carried 071 are for the iienefit of the 
children and of the institution. 

The Protectory occupies a very large and elegant Gothic building, 
five stories in height, at AVestchester, X. Y. It has a salesroom foi- its 
products, and a reception ottice at No. 415 Broome Street. Hundreds 
of benefited children of both sexes are annually siMit out from its shel- 
tering fold to begin the battle of life with fair preparation. A large 
number of them Knd gotxl homes among the farmei-s in the We.stern 
States anil Territories. The Protectory receives ])ecuniarv aid from 
the State anil the city, and from charitable memliers of the Roman 
( atholic Church. t 

Thk Xkw York Infant Asvlim was incorporated in lsti.">. Its 
objects are to receive and take charge of foundlings and other infant 
chiltb'cn, of the age of two yeare and under, which may ln' intrusted 
to their charge, and to provide for their support and moral, physical, 
intellectual, and industrial education ; also to jirovide such lying-in 
wards and methods of guidance and care as shall tend to ]irevent the 

* The officers of the Fonndling .\sylnm in 1882 were : Sister M. Irene, sister superior ; 
■John O'Brien, treasurer ; John E. Dcvelin, legal advisor, and Verj- lU-v. T. S. Preston. 
V.G., spiritual director. It has a large board of associates and managers consisting of 
ladies, an advisory committee of gentlemen, nnd nn efficient corps of physicians and 
snq^enns. 

f The offii-ers of tlie Protectory in 1883 were : Henry L. Hoguet. president ; .lames U. 
Floyd and .lireiniuh Devlin, vicopresiduiits ; Eugene Kelly, treasurer ; Uirhard 11 
I'larke, seiTelarv. 



772 mSTOKV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

iiuiteriuil iiharuloiiiiu'iit of liomeless infants, and tliiuinish tho moi'al 
dangers antl personal sutftn-ing-s to which lionioless mothers are ex{)osed. 
To these purposes the institution has ever devoted its untiring energies 
with great etRciencj\ 

The asylum has a House of Iteception and lying-iu de])artnient at the 
corner of Sixty-first Street and Tenth Avenue, and a country home at 
Mount Vernon, AVestchester County.* 

At No. 40 New Bowery, not far from Chatiiam Square, in the 
Fourth Ward, is situated the Howard Mission ahu Home for Littlk 
Wanderers, which was established in ISfJl and incorporated in 18(J-±. 
Like other institutions founded for the purpose of affording aid and 
jirotection for the needy, this mission is performing a grand work in its 
fruitful field. It has been doing that work faithfully for about a 
quarter of a century. "When it began, in 1861, there were in that 
ward 20,000 inhabitants, men, women, and children, who were desti- 
tute, in a large sense temporally, mentally, and religiously. The 
mission has been largely instrumental in changing the social aspect of 
that part of the city for the better. Over eight hundred poor and 
worthy families, and over three thousand children who are members of 
these families, look to this mission for help (and receive it) in time of 
trouble. + 

There is a society in New York known as the St. John's Guild, 
whose field of effort to help the poor is as wide as human needs. It 
has no s])ecial work in the sphere of human charity. Its object is "to 
relieve tlio deserving poor in the city of New York." Its canon places 
no needy one beyond the society's j^ractical benevolence, and it is 
enabled to do a vast amount of work for good by constant co-operation 
witii other charitable institutions. If it has a special object it is to 
extend h(!lp to ])ersons ))laced so low in the social scale by circum- 
stances as to forbid the hojie of improving their condition, and yet they 
are not low enough to be thrown upon the commissioners of charities 
and coiTection. 

The society has a Floating Hospital and Seaside Nursery for 
summer use in giving the sick ])oor. adults and children, the blessings 
of a little pure sea air. Twice as many ciiildren as adults are the re- 
cipients of this blessing. + 

* The officers of the asylum for 1882 were : Clark Bell, president ; Joel Foster, M.D., 
and William N. Blakeman, M.D., vice-presidents ; Henry D. Nicoll, M.D., secretary, and 
Levi M. Bates, treasurer. 

f The officers of the institution for 1883 are : A. S. Hatch, president ; George Shepard 
Page, vice-president ; J. F. Wyckoff, secretary, and H. E. Tompkins, treasurer. 

I The Seaside Nursery gave its hospitable care in 1882 to lilO children and iiinther.i. 



F(»rUTll nKlADK. 1800-1870. 



773 



Till" St. .loliirs (iuild wa.s or^'aiiized in Octolier. Istiti, l)ut was not 
inouiporatiMl until l)eeonil)er, 1S77. Its home i.s at Xo. s University 
I'laec, whore its winter woriv is done. The value of the fre.sh-air work- 
tor sick children, hy the Seaside Nui-sery and Floating Jlospitah 
cannot be estimated.* 

TuK (tkkm.v.v IIosiTiAi. .\M> Disi'Kxs.vKv of tlic citv of Xcw York, 
the otfs|>rin>,r of the German Dispensary, was founded in the year isH'.t. 
Like most of the benevolent institutions in the city, it had severe struj,'- 
gles for existence and permanent life f(jr several years, and at one time 
its demise seemed inevital)le. Then a tide of jirosperity, slow- flowing 
at lii-st, set in, and it is now one of the flourishing institutions of the 
metropolis, and the pride of tiie German p(jpulation of the city as a 
*' sdiool of German learning and the home of German humanity." 

In isso a Ladies' Aid Society, iis an auxiliary to the hospital, was 
founded. In this as in much other benevolent work among tlu- (ier- 
mans of ^'ew York, this munificent hand of Mi-s. Anna Ottendorfei-, 
the wife of the conductor of the X'tr Y<irk>r Staats-Zeifuiuj,} was con- 

nnd tho Flouting Hospital, which JH used for excursions, ^avo infinite iiud healthful 
delight to hundreds of children nnd others. The season of 1MS2 was its ninth. It had 
given, in tho aggregate, 294 excursions, and carried 223,073 children, with mothers or 
guardians. 

* The officers of the society for 1883 were ; the Rev. John W. Kramer, D.D., master : 
Delano C. Calvin, warden ; trustees, William H. Wiley, prt-sidcnt ; Mark Itlniiienthal. 
M.D., vice-president ; John V. Faure. secretary ; Benjamin B. Sherman, treasurer : 
Charles Schwacofer, assistant treasurer, and eighteen associates. 

f Oswald Ottendorter, the editor nnd proprietor of the .Vfie Yorker SUiaif-ZcUumj. the 
leading German newspaper in this country, was bom at Zwittau, a small Moravian town 
on the borders of Bohemia. His education was mo.st thorough, and ho was titte.l for 
public employment by legal studies at the University of Prugne and elsewhere. It was 
intended that ho should conclude thoso studies at Padua, Venice at that time belonging 
to Austria, but the revolutions in Europe in 1848 caused a general uprising among tho 
Germ.in students in favor of liberty, .\mong these was young Ottendorfer, who joineil 
tho students' legion at Vienna and was active in the overthrow of the Metternieh admin- 
istration. Ho joined a corps sent against Denmark, and in the autumn wa;< sent, with 
others, into Hungary to oppose Kossuth. But the students sympathized with tho latter. 
Ottendorfer became attached to the battalion under the celebrated Blum, composed 
largely of members of the press. Escaping arrest, he made his way to Saxony, and went 
on a mission the next year, with other students, to stir up a revolution in the city of 
Prague. 

All through tho stirring scenes in Central Europe at that jieriod young (Jttendorfer 
bore an active and conspicuous part. The record of his hair-breadth escapes from death 
or imprisonment appears like a chapter of a wild romance. He finally a,ssisted in the 
rescue of one of the leaders from a lite imprisonment, escaped with him into Switzer- 
land, and after encountering many difficulties camo to the city of New York in 1840, and 
songlit literary employment. Ho was familiar with the Latin, (ireek. and several Slav 
languages, and had some knowle.l.-. ..i il,.. Kr, n.h liii.l II ili in. but had none of Englisli 



774 HISTORY OK NEW YORK CITY. 

S])icuous. yhe fouinled tlie Woman's Ward of tlie hospital, which, 
with the Woman's Pavihon, also erecteil by her, was dedicated in 
May, 1882. By tlie addition of these stractures the institution was 
enabled to nurse, during 1882, 1534 patients. Mrs. Ottendorfer has 
since caused the erection of a new dispensary building at her own 
expense.* 

The German IK)spitaI and Dispensary' is situated on the corner of 
Seventy -seventh Street and Foui'th Avenue. It is provided with an 
efficient medical corps and slcilled nurses. From Sei)tember 18, 1869, 
to December 31, 1882, the whole uumljer of patients admitted was 
10,355, of whom an average of more than eighty per cent were cured. 
The patients in 18S2 were from twenty different nationalities. 

The Pkksbytekian Hospital, on Seventy -sixth Street and Madison 
Avenue, organized and incorporated in 1868, owes its origin to the 
benevolent impulses of the late James Lenox. The idea of the hospital 

Mr. Ottendorfer finally foimd employment in the counting-room of the Staats-Zeitung, 
then owned by Jacob Uhl, who died in 1851. After hjs death the management of that 
journal devolved upon Mr. Uhl's widow, who had formerly been active in the business 
management, and is possessed of great tact and energy. She was materially as.sisted by 
Mr. Ottendorfer, and through that assistance great prosperity followed. In 1859 they 
were married, and several sons and daughters of Mrs. Ottendorfer found in him a most 
affectionate father, wise instructor, and abiding friend. No children have blessed the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Ottendorfer. 

In 1859 Mr. Ottendorfer assumed full control of the Siaat.'i-Zeibmg, and to his great 
ability, indomitable energj', and practical ideas of journalism, together with his integrity 
and devotion to certain political principles, to which the great majority of German-Ameri- 
cans are unalterably attached, are due the wonderful success in every particular which 
that journal has achieved. 

Jli'. Ottendorfer is universally regarded as a representative German-American — clear- 
headed, a thorough student of history, an admirer of American institutions, yet by no 
means blind to the dangers which beset them. With a bold spirit of independence he 
has never failed to rebuke the shortcomings of both political parties since the Civil War, 
and he stands to-day a prominent figure in oiu' current history as a wise and patriotic 
citizen of the llepublic, and the advocate of every judicious measure for the promotion 
of the purity of the ballot and the honest administration of government. 

* Mrs. Ottendorfer received through the German embassy at Washington, about the 
first of November, 1883, the following note and decoration from the Empress of Germany : 
" To JfiK. .Vnna Ottendorfei!, NfW York. 

" I have leaniocl with special gratitlcatjoii of your humane works, especially for the benefit of our coun- 
trymen and women in America, and desire to show to yon that works of charity done abroad arc also 
gratcfiiUy icmeuibered in our niitive country, by sending you herewith a token of merit. Augusta. 

'• HojiBuno voB DEn Uohe, Sept. 18, 1883." 

The decoration, made of silver, is suspended by a white ribbon, and is inclosed in a 
blue velvet case. In its centre it shows a cross, which is suiTounded by a wreath of oak 
leaves in blue enamel, and the following inscription : " For Merit." The monogram of 
the Empress, surmounted by a crown, is below the cross, and the whole is surmounted 
by the rov:U crown of Prussia. 



Kunnil DKCADK. 18(10-1870. ^75 

was puivlv liis own c-oncM-ption. lie inatuml tlie wIk.U' l)liin aii.l 
amuij,'.'inont. bofoiv lio communifutoil the tliouglit to otli.-i-s. II.' 
solcctoil the goiitlonu-n wiu.m li.- wished to bo ass<xiato.l witli him m 
the entfrpriscv an.l addn'ssii.g a note to oacli he luske.l if tii.-y would 
consent to hei-nu- .iiiectoi-s of sueh an instituti.m, and to signily tlieir 
assent l.v nieetin- hiin at a f,nven time and plaee to effect the oi-amza- 
tion. When tliey asseml)led he nnfolded his i)lan in all its details, and 
then i)roiK)sed, in oi.lei- to start tiie enteri)rise, to give the site iii 
Seventy -sixth Street, valued at ^lino.oon. and to add to this the sum of 
§10(1,0(10 in money. The oi'rani/. ition took i)lace, and work wa.s imme- 
diately begun in the ei-ection of the present spacioas hosjjital build- 
ings. " Mr° Lenox afterward sulded inoiv than §3iiii,">(mi to his original 
donation. The hospital Imilding consists of three separate struetuivs- 
the main building, the west pavilion, and the wist pavilion. These 
extend on tiie bli^ck '2(t(i feet from north to south and 4(»i feet from 
east t.. west and four stories in height. From the opening of the 
hospital, October UK ISTi'. to the close of ISS-J. 55(>5 patients were 
admitted.* 

Xear the Presbyterian Hospital is the Pkksuvtkkiax IIomk i-ou 
Afw:i. Women ok tiik City m- Nkw Yokk. It is in Seventy-third 
Street, east of Madison Avenue. It wius organized and incorpimited in 
the year ISf.C. The iiame of Mrs. Mary Lenox Sheafe is at the head 
of the list of incorp(n-atoi-s, who were all women. Siie is the sister of 
.lames Lenox. The general purpose of the institution is to provide a 
lumie for age.l and inlirm female m-mbers of the Presbyterian Ohurch. 
It is under the management of thirty seven women.f 

Tin: K<H.sKVKi.T Hospital, on Fifty-ninth Street and Ninth Avenue, 
is oiu' of the i)est appointed institutions of the kind in the country. It 
was founded under the wiU of the late James Roosevelt, of New York, 
and by him was directed to be employed " for the recei)tion and relief 
of sick and diseased persons." The tnistces undei-stood his obj(>ct to 
iiave l);'en mainly for the relief of the jioor " sick and diseased." and 
they accortlingly reserved a fund sufficient to support in the hospital 
sucii p.'i-sons, without any ex|)cnse to themselves, who will f)ccupy at 
least on.^ half of the hospital. There is no limit to this charity excejit 
• Tbo officers of the institntion for 1882 were : Robert L. Stnnrt, presiilent ; Edwin 
D. Morsun, vice-presi.lcnt ; Robert Lenox Belknnp. treftsurer ; WiUter E.lwunls, corre- 
sponding secr.-tnry ; Htnry M. T«bcr. recording secreUry. The president und vice- 
pre.sident ftbovo nnmed died in 1883. 

t Thcofflccra iu 1882 were: Mrs. Mary Lenox Shenfe. lirst directrens : Mrs. Mnry V. 
Tuber, second directress : Mrs. Liinm 1'. HaUtead. treftsnrer ; Mrs. .S. V. WriKht, secro- 
tnrr. nnd Miss RucIkI L. Kennedy, finnncinl secretnr> . 



776 HISTORY OF ISEVV YORK CITY. 

in tlie extent of its funds. All sick and diseiised persons, without dis- 
tinction of race, or country, or religion, will always t)e received to the 
extent of the abihty of the hospital. 

Tlie Koosevelt Hospital was incorporated in 180-1:, when a board of 
trustees was organized, but owing to certain legal obstacles the; con- 
struction of the buildings was delayed. Before these were completed 
the hospital was formally opened, November 2, 1871.* 

On tlie first of May, 1868, a most beneficent institution was incorpo- 
i-ated, under the title of tlie Okthop^dic Dispensary and Hospital of 
TUE CiTT OF New York, f the object of which was to provide treat- 
ment for the poor for diseases and deformities of the spine and hi]) 
joint, and others of the more serious diseases of the bones and joints 
I'cquii'ing surgical and mechanical treatment, and for giving instruction 
in the same. The sufferings of all chxsses, for want of scientific knowl- 
edge antl proper mechanical ap]iliances in the treatment of such di;> 
eases, had been very great. The '' prone couch"^ — a bed on which the 
sufferer was treated for spinal disease — was an instrument of torture. 
The patient lay face downward, in order to relieve the spine from 
strain or pressure. A hole was provided through which the sufferer 
might breathe or gaze upon the floor. In such a position they some- 
times lay for months, and even yeai-s. The treatment for hip disease 

* The officers for 1882 were : Adrian H. MuUer, president ; Koyal Phelps, vice-presi- 
dent ; James A. RooseYelt, secretary, and Merritt Trimble, treasurer. The trustees were 
Robert Lenox Kennedy, Alonzo Clark. M.D., Royal Phelps, Charles Tracy, Augustus 
Schell, John M. Knox, Adrian H. MuUcr, James A. Roosevelt, and John H. Abeel. 
Horatio Paine is superintendent. 

James H. Roosevelt, the founder, was bom in the city of New York on November 10, 
1800, and died there suddenly on the 30th of November, 1863. His father, James C. 
Roosevelt, died in 1810, and his mother (Catharine BjTanck) died in 1854. The ancestor 
of the Eoosevelts in New Y'ork who came to New Amsterdam was Nicholas Martenseu 
Van Roosevelt, a place in Holland c.dled Roosevelt being the home of the llartensens. 

Mr. Roosevelt was graduated at Columbia College in 1819, studied law, biit never 
devoted himself to its full practice. In his earlier years a severe attack of rheumatism 
canspd a permanent lameness. His father was a member of the consistorj- of the Collegi- 
ate Reformed Dutch Church, but Mr. Roosevelt never jinited in membership as a com- 
municant with any religious body. Neither did he ever marry. He kept house with his 
mother until her death, and afterward with trustworthy servants. He inherited a com- 
petence, which was largely increased by his simplicity of living and frugal habits. For 
years he contemplated the institution which he founded, and by his will, after making 
some bequests to relatives, he devised the remainder of his estate to trustees for the hos- 
pital which bears his name. 

f The corporators named in the charter were : James Brown, S. W. Coe, AVilliiim E. 
Diidge, .\loxnuder Frear, James ISoorman Johnston, Robert Lenox Kennedy, T'. A. 
Murdock. Robert S. Newton, Howard Potter, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles F. Taylor, W; 
Edward Vennilye, Otto Fiillgraff, ('. G. Halpine, David N. Williams, and Morgan Snyder. 



!••( IIMII liKCADK. iscit IMTn 



:r7 



WHS scarcely iiioiv tender. Now, witli iinproviMl a|)|>liaiiccs and scicn- 
titic kniiwlcdjrc disiHMiscd In' this institution, ail injurious strain and 
pressuro may l)c rcnioveil from tlie spino and tiie diseiusod joints, wliilo 
the patient is allowed to go about as usual and continue to earn a 
living. 

During the year which enilcd on Septeniber 30, 1SS2, 131S patients 
wei-e treated in tlie Ortliopaxlic Dispensary and Hospital. This insti- 
tution is situated in Etust Fifty-ninth Street, between Fourth and Lex- 
ington avenues.* 

The New York Eye and Ear Inlirmary, founded in lX2i>, has been 
noticeil. An institution with similar aims, known a.s the MAxn.vn as- 
EvK Axi) Eah lIosi-nAL, was chartered on ilay '>, ISiiH. The number 
of corpor.itois was eighty-two. It In'giin its work on Oetober 15, IsC'.i, 
at No. 2.'i:5 East Thirty-fourth Street, ))y opening a daily clinic for the 
gr.ituitous treatment of the jwor, and providing tiiirteen beds in ^uit- 
al)le wards for such cases as might reipiire surgical operations or other 
careful in-door treatment. 

From the lirst the institution i-efrained from asking or receiving 
pecuniary aid from the State. Its medical oilicei-s have generously 
given their services gratuitously, and its income has been derived from 
free gifts from the benevolent and from such in-door ])atients as could 
pay in ]xart or in whole for the cost of their maintenance. In the 
coui-sp of a few yeai-s a larger and iuoix^ commodious building ijccame a 
pressing necessity. The managei-s owned a lot on the corner of Park 
Avenue and Forty-fii-st Street. A successful appeal was made to the 
wealthy and b(>nevolent citizens for funds. Governor Morgan had 
already given ^25,0(i(> to clear the lot from debt ; he now gave as 
nuicii more on certain conditions. The funds were secured, and its 
present beautiful and s))acious home, four stories in height with the 
basement, was constnicted, and lust occujiied in 18s(i. In l><7-2 a 
department for the treatmi>nt of diseases of tli(> tliroat was added to 
the hosjiital. 

The lii-st board «>f surgeons were : Dr. Cornelius R. Agntnv.+ E. G. 

• The officers for 1883 wore : Howard Totter, president ; Benoni Loekwood nnd 
Jlelvillo Brown, vice-presidents ; Temple Prime, secretary ; James K. Gracie. treasurer. 
There is a board o( trustees, consisting of thirty prominent citizens. 

f Among physicians who make the treatment of the eye and ear a specialty, Dr. Corne- 
lius Rett Agnew appears pre-eminent. He was Imrn in the city of New York on An- 
Kiist 8, 1830. He is of Hii{,'nennt and Scotch-Irish descent. His father. William Agnew, 
was for many years a leading merchant in New York : his mother was Elizabeth Thom- 
son, of an old Scotch famdy. her father being an extensive farmer in Pennsylvania. 

Young Agnew entered Columbia College as a stndent when he was fifteen years of age. 



778 HISTORY OF XEW VOKK CITY. 

Loring, Jr., and D. li. St. Jolrn lioosa. Tlic first house surgeon was 
Dr. S. B. St. Jolin. Since the opening of the hospital about forty-four 
thousand patients liave been received. The number of new patients in 
the year ending October 15, 1882, was 5660.* 

At the close of the third decade the New York Homceopathic Medi- 
caid "College, of which Salem H. Wales f is president, was estabhshed, 

and was graduated in 1849. He studied medicine under the eminent Dr. J. Kearney 
Kodgers, who was for many year.s surgeon to the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. He 
pursued his studies in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and in the New York Hos- 
pital. For two years he was a student in the chemical laboratory of the late John 
Torrey. In 1852 he received the degree of II.D., and was soon afterward ajjpointed 
house surgeon of the hospit^il. F'or the benefit of his health he spent about a year in the 
Lake Superior region, and on his return to New York he received the appointment of 
surgeon to the Eye and Ear Infirmary. Then he went to Europe to perfect his studies 
in the healing art, and on his return, in 1855, he established himself as a regular practi- 
tioner in the city of New York. The next year he married Miss Mary Nash, daughter of a 
prominent New Y^ork merchant. Their union has been blessed with a large number of 
children. In 1858 Governor Morgan appointed him surgeon-general of the State of New 
York, and at the beginning of the Civil' War medical director of the State Volunteer 
Hospital. He was one of the originators of the United States Sanitary Commission, 
to the service of which he devoted nearly his whole time during the war. All of these 
labors were performed without the least pecuniary reward. To the skill, sound judg- 
ment, and untiring energy of Dr. Agnew is largelj' due the success of the Sanitary Com- 
mission. 

Dr. Agnew was one of the four gentlemen who originated the Union League Club of the 
city of New York. In 1866 he established ophthalmia clinics in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, and was afterward made clinical professor of the diseases of the eye and 
ear, a position he yet holds. He originated the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital, and also 
the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. In 1865 he was appointed one of the managers of 
the State Lunatic .\sylum at Poughkeepsie, and has held, from the inception of the un- 
dertaking, the secretaryship of the executive committee. He is also governor of the 
Woman's Hospital, New York. He assisted in the organization of the School of Mines 
of Columbia College, and was elected one of the trustees of the college in 1874. All 
measures tending to the intellectual, physical, and social elevation of the citizens of New 
York have Dr. Agnew's active sympathies. He was secretary of the first society organ- 
ized in New Y'ork City for sanitary reform, and was at one time president of the State 
Medical Society. He is a member of several learned societies. 

As a lecturer Dr. Agnew is fluent in speech and eminently practical in all his teach- 
ings. For a quarter of a century he has devoted himself specially to diseases of the eye 
and ear. His contributions to the medical literature of the country, as well as to other 
matters of human concern, have been many and important. 

* The officers in 1882 were : John Sinclair, president ; Charles Lanier, treasurer, and 
Cornelius K. .\gnew, secretary. These were among the corporators. There is a board 
of directors, twenty-four in number. 

+ Salem Howe Wales was born, October 4, 1825, in the town of Wales, Mass., and is 
descended from one of the English Puritans who came to America with Richard Mather. 
His father. Captain Oliver Wales, was a woollen manufacturer whose business suffered 
from the financial troubles of 1837, when the siibject of this sketch was compelled 




J>^'. 




^ T^Z- / L^ff—'^€^'-'7~l/ 



FOLUTll DECADE, 1860-1870. 779 

and is one of the best iippoiiitod, most efficient, and ])ros]ierons of the 
ine<lieal institutions of tiie metropolis. It was or;,'anize(l and put into 
operation in l^*.")'.*. Its coui-so of instruction is similar to tliat of all 
otlier medical colleges of hij,di character. As a rule, when one is 
descrilied, all otIiei"s have thereijy i)een i)ractically described. As such 
descriptions have been given in former pages, it may suffice here to say 
that the instruction in this college is bmad and rigid, and covers evei-y 



to rely npon his own resources in the battle of life before him. He went to New York 
at the age of twenty-one nml became a clerk in an importing bonne, where he remained 
nearly two years. He subsequently associated himself with Mr. Munn in the publi- 
cation of the .Scientific Americati. He was a member of the firm twenty-three years, 
retiring from business in 1871. During that period he devoted himself with great zeal 
and indiistrj- to the advancement of the industrial power and resources of the countrj-- 
In 1H5.") Mr. Wales was selected by (iovernor Seymour a commissioner for the .State of 
New York to the French Exposition, and spent several months in Paris in the dis- 
charge of his official duties. AXTien the Civil War broke out he took an active and lead- 
ing part in support of the govemm<;ut, contributing liberally of bis time and means to 
that end. He was an active mend)er of the executive committee of the I'nitcd .Suites 
Christian Commission, and was honored bv the special confidence of Secretary Stanton. 
In 18fi7 Governor Buckingham, his personal friend, sent to Mr. Wales a commission as 
representative of the State of Connecticut at the great French Exposition that year, but 
the National Government took the matter in hand, and Mr. Wales went to Eurojie as a 
private citizen. He remained abroad more than a year, visiting Great Britain, France, 
Spain. Italy, Switzerland, .\ustria, Germany, and Holland. He published a series of 
descriptive letters in the Srieytlijir Aineriaiii. 

In 1873 Mr. Wales was appointed a Commissioner of Public Parks, and was elected 
pre.sident of the department in August that year. He resigned his office in the spring of 
1874, and again vi.sited Europe. Returning in the fall, he was nominated by the unani- 
mous vote of the Republican convention for the office of mayor of New York. Upon the 
death of ex-Mayor Havemeyer Mr. 'Wales was appointed commissioner of the Department 
of Docks by acting- JIayor A'ance. and was chosen president of the same. During his ad- 
ministration the expenditures of the department were largely curtailed. He was presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of the Hahnemann Hospital, and was largely instrumen- 
tal in establishing that institution. He now (188.3) holds the office of Commissioner of 
Public Parks, to which he was appointed by 5Iayor Cooper. He is a director of the Me- 
tropolitan Museum of Art. president of the Homoeopathic Medical College (sncceeding 
W. C. Bryant), and is a member of the Union League Club, in which he has been ever 
active. \t one time he was its vice-president, also chairman of the executive com- 
mittee. He was selected to lead the movement in the purchase of the site for and the 
erection of the club-house where it now has its home. As a testimony of their appre- 
ciation of his sen-ices, his as.sociates retjucsted him to sit for his portrait, which was 
painted by Eastman .Johnson. It graces the large library-room. 5Ir. Wales devotes con- 
siderable attention to charitable and benevolent institutions. 

In 1851 Mr. Wales married the only daughter of the late .lames D. Johnson, of Bridge- 
port, Connecticut. He has two children a daughter, who is the wife of United .States 
District Attorney (Southern District of New York) Elihu Root, and Edward H. Wales, a 
member of the New York Stock Exchange. 



780 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

topic usually discussed and taught in medical scliools, homoeopathic 
therapeutics being the most prominent. 

The college is situated at the corner of Third Avenue and Twenty- 
third Street. Its college tlispensary has been in operation o%'er twenty 
j'ears. The largest eye, ear, and throat clinic in America is held daily 
in its Ophthalmic Hospital, and every facility for improvement is 
given the students. The rooms of the Young Glen's Christian Associa- 
tion, two bloclcs from the college, are open to the students free of 
charge, where they are allowed the use of a fine gymnasium. The 
affaii's of the coUege are managed bj' a board of fifteen trustees.* It 
has a full and efficient faculty, of which F. E. Doughty, M.D., is 
president, and T. F. Allen, M.D., dean. 

The College of Dental Suegeoxs was incorporated in lS(i5, and 
was opened in 1807 at the corner of Twenty-thii-d Street and Second 
Avenue. Its purpose is to educate men to practice dental surgerj'^ as a 
specialty of general surgery. It is well equipped for practical den- 
tistry. The operating room has 110 feet of continuous window front, 
and in the lalioratoiy are 150 ranning feet of students' work-tables 
fui'nished with di-awers. The college is open continuously, ofifering a 
practical school for students and gi'atuitous professional services to the 
poor. Over ten thousand operations are annually performed in the 
dispensary. The college is empowered to confer two degrees. For 
several yeai-s it was under the exclusive control of Frank Abbott, M.D., 
as superintendent, who in 1882 was dean of the faculty. + 

TnE CoLTO.N Dental Association of Kew Youk, founded during this 
decade, has a remarkable history. It was established by Dr. Gardner 
Quiiicy Colton, who in his early manhood had ])repared for the practice 
of medicine, and Avas widely known as a lecturer on chemistry and 
natural philosophy. He made pleasing exhibitions of the effect of 
nitrous oxide or "laughing gas." "While lecturing at Hartford, in 
December, 184-1-, Dr. (Bolton administered the gas to several jjcrsons. 
Among those present was Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist of that city. 
One of those who inhaled the gas, under the Aiolent excitement caused 
by its inhalation, struck himself against the benches with such force 
tliat the blood flowed from his bruised shins, and yet he declared he 
felt no pain until the operation of tlie gas had ceased. Impressed with 

* In 1883 Salem H. Wales was president, Edmund Dwight vice-president, William 
Clarke secretary, and H. N. Twombly treasurer. 

f The ofBc'ers of the board of trustees in 1882 were : William H. Allen, president ; 
William T. Laroche, D.D.S., vice-president ; JI. McN. Walsh, secretary ; .\lexander AV. 
Stein, M.D., treasurer. 



rol'KTll Dl'X'ADE, 1M(!0 ISTO. 781 

this fart, Dr. Wflls tin- next day iiuluccMl Colloii to atiiuiiiistt-r tlu! 
g-as U> liiiii, ami while undor its effects he had a neij^lihoring dentist 
extract a iiiolar tootii. It ■\v;ls dime without pain. Here Wius a 
wtinderful discovery — perliaps the ino.st l)enelicent in its effects of any 
iliscuvery of the century. Dr. ('(iltou wjis the occa-sion of the <hs- 
covery. This wius two yeai-s before cxiwriments in ether luid lieen 
made, and three years before chloroform was disc-overed. 

Dr. AVells adopted this wonderful ann'sthetic in his practice witii 
gieat success, lie was ridiculed, autl even |)ei"secuted. lie <lied a 
martyr in 1848, before he could convince the medical and dental pro- 
fession of the value of the gas a.s an an;cstlietic, and it was forgotten.* 
More than twenty yeai-s afterward Dr. Colton revived it, established 
the value of the discovery, and in lSt>;3 founded in the city of New 
York the Colton Dental Association. Not being a dentist himself, 
Dr. Colton employed expert practitionei's. He simply administered 
the gas while they oi)erate(l. The method soon became vei'v popular, 
and now almost every leading dentist in the city .sends him patients 
^vho need an aniesthetic, and there is scarcely a physician in the city 
who does not do the sanu\ From February, 18(;4, Until now (Novem- 
ber, 1SS8) Dr. Colton has atlministered the gas to alx)Ut one hundred 
and thirty-live tliousai\d pei-sons, who.se names and autograjjhs he has 
on record. + 

* In Unshnell Park, in the city of HnrtforJ, is a fine bronze statue of Dr. Wells, erccleil 
as a testimonial of appreciation of his services as a benefactor of mankind. 

f (tar.luer Quiney Colton is the youngest of a family of twelve children of Deacon 
Walter and Thankful (Colib) Colton. He was born in Georgia, Vermont, February 7, 
1M4. He learned the business of a chairmakor at St. .\lbans, worked at his trade in 
New York from 183.') to 1842, and then he studied nicdiinno in the office of Dr. Willard 
Parker and attended the required course of lectures at the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons. At the close of his studies he began Icctnriug on chemistry' and natural |>hi- 
losophy, and at Hartford, on December 10, 1844, occurred the event mentioned in the 
text, which led to a gieat discovery. Dr. Colton instructed Dr. Wells how to make the 
gas, and then continued his lecturing tour. 

In 184!) Dr. Colton went to California, where his brother, the Rev. Walter Colton, had 
filled the office of civil governor of the Territory. On his return to New York he became 
a correspondent from that city of the Bnstim Trnnsrripl. After engaging in several enter 
prises he resumed his .scientific lectures, ami his exhibitions of nitrous oxide gas, in 
IStJl. Having observed that the danger attending the use of ether ami chloroform was 
making them unpopular as ana>sthetics, he deterniincd to revive the use of nitrous oxide 
gas as such, and, if possible, demonstrate its value to the dental profession. At New 
Haven Dr. Colton induced a dentist to extract teeth for one week while he should admin- 
ister the gas in subduing pain. The experiment was entirely successful. They contin- 
ued the business three weeks, during wliii-h tiniH they extracted over three thonsand 
teeth without pain. So triumphant was the result that Dr. Colton determined to go to 
New York and establish the business of extracting teeth, under the influence of gas. There 



783 HISIOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

he associated himself with three distinguished dentists under the name of the Colton 
Dental Association. Then bef^au a great battle. The dental profession declared that it was 
only a revival of an old imposture— a method long ago tried and abandoned as a failure. 
Every species of abuse and ridicule was employed against the association, and it was 
nearly a year before the receipts exceeded the expenditures. Dr. Colton's associates, 
discouraged, withdrew ; but he, strong in his faith, persevered, " fought the good fight," 
and conquered. He spent every cent he could spare in advertising ; his business 
steadily increased, and every customer, satisfied, became an advertisement. He in- 
creased his working force, overcame all prejudice and opposition, and established a 
business which has won for him fame and foi-tune. 

In 1867 Dr. Colton attended the International Exposition at Paris, where he exhibited 
his apparatus and demonstrated the value of the gas as an aniesthetic to the scientific 
world. He accepted an invitation of the late T. "W. Evans, the Emperor's dentist, to 
remain with him a year and give him thorough instruction in the manufacture and use 
of the gas. Then he travelled in Europe with his family six months, went to London, 
and assisted Charles James Fox, an eminent dentist of that city ^who had begun using 
the gas), in developing and establishing its value there. 

The children of the elder Colton started in business life without an inherited dollar, 
but richly freighted with the results of sound moral and religious training and inherited 
virtuoxis qiialities as well as wise instruction from their parents. They all prospered. 
The Rev. Walter Colton was a chaplain in the United States Navy, and was well known in 
the literary world. The doctor himself is a chaste writer. In tlieology he is a Unitarian. 
He is an earnest Christian worker and a most exemplary citizen in all the relations of life. 



CHAPTER V. 

WE liavi- <il(s( rvcil tluit the ellccts of the Civil War which oc- 
curred (hiriii;j: this decade wonderfully stimulated business of 
every kind throu<^hout the country, and particularly in the city of 
Xew York, creatiiif^ new industries and greatly expanding old ones. 
A few examples will sultice to illustrate this i>oint. 

The wholeside dry-goods business finds a notable representative in 
the well-known house of Bates, Reed <k Cot)ley, at Nos. 343, 34 J, and 
347 Broadway, which was founded in 1854, and is second only to the 
largest establishment in the dry-gofxls jobl>ing trade in the city of 
New York. This house has ha<.l a most honoraijle and successful career 
of about thirty years' duration. 

In lsr)4 Levi Miles Bates, with Cyrus Clark and Harris II. I'aidee, 
jomed Frank Vincent as partnei-s in the busim-ss of selling silks and 
fancy articles at Xo. 2<i Warren .Street. The lirm name was Vincent, 
Clark & Co., the " company" being Messrs. Pardee and Bates. They 
were successful from the beginning, for they liiul all brought to the 
business energj^ intelligence, integrity, and good judgment. The fii-st 
year their Siiles amounted to about $2")i>,(((i(i. In a few yeai-s Mr. 
Vincent withdrew with a handsome competence, and still lives at a 
beautiful country seat on the Hudson. On his retirement T. E. Rolierts 
and Phineas Bartlett were admitted into tlie (inn. when its title 
became Pardee, Bates & Co., the business being conducted at the siime 
place, where in five years (which reached into the period of the Civil 
War) the sales grew from half a million to ^l,2.")n,(ino. 

The intluence of this house now began to be sensii)ly felt in the 
mercantile world. Their Imsincss rapidly increased, and they were 
compelled to .seek more commodious quarters. At aiiout tiiis time 
Mr. Clark retired and became a dealer in real estate and a jirojector of 
great iiuilding enterprises. The name of the firm was changed to 
Parilee, Bates & Co., the latter being ^Icssi"s. Mor)re, Roijerts, Bartlett, 
and Reed. They removed to the large store at Xo. 343 Broadway, 
where they remained six years, at the end of which time their annual 
sales increase<l to more than ^3,000,(»0<i. Subsequently Pardee and 



784 HISTORY OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

Moore retired, each leaving to his associates tiie precious jewel of an 
imsullietl name as a man and a merchant. 

The tirm was now reorganized under the name of L. M. Bates & Co. 
Very soon tlieir increasing business demanded more room. They found it 
at Xos. -tol and 453 Broadway, where, in the course of ten years, they 
paid an aggregate rental for the double store of half a miUiou of dollars. 
During that time their yearly sales had increased to §5,000,000. They 
paid liberal salaries in order to secure the best heljjers in all depart- 
ments, and they had agents in various parts of Europe procuring 
supplies to incet the demands of the multitude of buyers who were 
attracted to their estabhsliment. Finally Mr. Bates associated with 
himself John H. Reed (formerly Bartlett i!c Reed) and Martin I. Cooley, 
of tiie firm of Cooley, Bigelow & Xichols, and the title of the firm was 
changed to Bates, Reed & Cooley, which it still bears. In 18S0 they 
removed to the premises now occupied by them, and in this grand 
buikhng — one of the finest commercial buildings in the city — which 
covers three city lots on Broadway, their business expanded more 
rapidly than ever, their annual sales having increased in a few years 
from $5,000,000 to 815,000,000. The members of the firm seem to 
possess a combination of qualities adapted to the formation and success 
of a great commercial house — the sagacity of Bates,* the monetary 
skill of Reed, and the business enthusiasm of Cooley. 

* Levi Miles Bates, the senior of the firm of Bates, Reed & Cooley, is a native of 
Kichmond, Vt., twelve miles east of Burlington, where he was born .September 18, 1823. 
When a lad he worked on a farm to earn means for obtaining an education. He toiled 
Lard, made many sacrifices, and finally received a knowledge of all that the tutors at 
Bicknell Academy, at .Jericho, Vt., could impart. At a suitable age he began the life of a 
merchant as clerk in a dry goods store in Burlington. Thoroughly endowed with ster- 
ling virtues of every kind, and possessed of great vigor of body and mind, and with $400 
in his pocket, he went to New York when he was twenty-seven years of age and procured 
a clerkship in a dry-goods jobbing house in Cedar Street, with a salary of SlOO a year. 
In the course of two years he entered a silk jobbing house on the corner of Cedar and 
Nassau streets, where his excellent moral habits, his evident business ability, his indus- 
try, and his faithfulness so pleased his employers that his salary was raised from time to 
time until it was S1200. He was finally offered a partnership in the business, which he 
declined, and, as we have observed in the text, he, with others, established a silk and 
dry-goods jobbing house, in IS'A, in Warren Street. Mr. Bates's business career has 
been briefly sketched in the text. 

From the beginning of his business life Mr. Bates has been uniformly successful in 
his enterprises. This success was not the oflfspring of luck, but of sound business prin- 
ciples judiciously exercised Through the firm changes and business vicissitudes of 
more than a quarter of a century, all his obligations, both at home and abroad, have been 
met promptly and in full. He possesses in a remarkable degree the natural qualifica- 
tions of a merchant, having great organizing and executive abilities, and that peculiar 



KorKTU UKCADK. 18(10-1870. T8o 

Till' ji-rocvrv husiiifss is it'|ii'cscntc(l l)_v the limisf id' Fr:iiR-is II. Li-y- 
gett A: Co., and tlii-ir stori' Iroiit.s on tliico stn-i'ts : Variik. Knmklin, 
and Wo.st Uroadway. Francis II. Li'fjf^i'tt and liist'ldi'i-lirntliiT fonncd 
a cDpartncislui) in isi;-.', wjiji-li c-ontinucd until ls7<i, wln-n in' witlidivw, 
and tnrnu'd a ni'W liini witli iiis youniji'st ln-otlier. Tlu'udon'. foninu'nc- 
ing anew at Nu. 74 .Murray Street, under the same lirni nanve it now 
i)ears. The busine.ss imieased so largely in the eoui-se of three yeai-s, 
that they removed tothe niorciDiinuDiIiimsquarteis Xo.^. !t7, '.»".' and l"! 
Reade Street. N'ery soon al'teruard the store No. 117 ('hainbei-s Street 
was added to the premises. Still gi-eater facilities for conducting the 
business were soon demanded, it had grown to such vast proportions. 
Land was purcha.sed in the fall of isso. and the great building now oc- 
cujiied by the business was erected upon it. It is one of the largest and 
most substantial and b.'st appointed edilices for the purpose in the world. 
This building was tirst occupied on May I. l^'^-.i. and for eligibility of 
location it is unsurpassed. 

The house at present is doing a very large business, their annual 
sales amounting to between seven and eight million dollai-s. Two hun- 
dred and eighty-five pei-sons are employed in the estalilishment. The 
firm also has an extensive canning establisliment at Itiverside, near 
Burlington, N. J., at which place vegetables of sujierior quality are 
IH-epared by the canning process in large quantities for their trade. 
The house of Francis II. Leggett \- Co. is one of the largest, if not the 
largest in its operations, engaged in the wholcside grocery business in 
the city of Xew York."" 

ttUeiit which enables one to tiiki' ailvnntnKe of the times anil turn them to business 
development. 

Mr. Bates is associated in an official capacity with several moneyed organizations and 
charitable institutions. In support of the latter he gives freely both time and money. 
Most of the benevolent orjjaniEitioiis in the city hove felt the blessings of his bounty and 
active sympathy, and he is among those men who continually give substantial aid to the 
poor and needy of which the world knows nothing. He is an admirer and encourager of 
the fine arts, ivs his choice private collection of paintings and sculptures attests. Public- 
spirited, everything that promises to promote the prosperity of the city commands his 
attention and co-operation. Honor, integrity, enterprise, foresight - all the ijualities 
which constitute the model merchant— are found in the character of Mr. Bates. 

• Francis H. Leggett, the founder of the house of Francis H. Leggett & Co., was born 
in New York City March 27, 1840. He is descended from the ancient English family of 
Legats of Es.sex, England, one of whom, Hemingius Legat, was high-shcriflf of that 
county in 14111. Gabriel Leggett, the head of the American family of that name, came to 
this country from England in 16G1, and from his son William, born in UiUl, the subject 
of this sketch is descended. His ancestors for three generations were born at Mount 
I'leasant, Westchester County. His father, .\braliam Leggett, who married Sarah Lee, 
daughter of Richard Leo, was bom in 1805, and died in New York City in 1H7S, He was 



:86 HISTOltV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

The dni"- business is represented by the famous house of McKesson 
it Bobbins, wholesale druggists and manufacturing cheinists, in Fulton 
Street, organized under its present firm name in 1S53. It is one of the 
oldest and most extensive in its operations now in the trade in the city 
of Xe\v York, and is supposed to have the largest jobbing trade of 
any like house in tlie United States. 

This house was founded in January, 1S33, by Charles M. Olcott and 
John McKesson, at Xo. 45 Maiden Lane, which for many years was 
the centre of the drug Inisiness. In the fall of 1835 this firm bought 
the entire stock and business of William X. Clark & Co., taking into 
partnership Philip Schieffehn, the junior partner of that house, when 
the firm name l)ecame Olcott, McKesson it Co. ^[v. Schieffelin with- 
drew in Januai'V, l^H, when Daniel C. Kobbins, who had graduated 
in pharmacy, had six years' experience as an apothecary, and had been 
Avith the house of Olcott & McKesson from its lieginning, was admitted 
as a partner. The new firm established themselves at Xo. 127 Maiden 
Lane in 1842. Their warehouse with all its contents was burned in 
1850, and was rebuilt, when the name of the firm became Olcott, 
^[cKesson it Bobbins. Mr. Olcott died in 1853, when ]\IcKcsson & 
Kobbins Ijecanie the title of tlie firm, and so remains. Four partners 
have since been admitted — George B. Gilbert. John ^IcKesson, Jr., 
William IL Wickham, and Charles A. Kobbins. 

The large warehouse of McKesson it Bobbins, occupying Xos. 91 
and !>3 Fulton Street and extending to Ann Street, was built in is:)5. 
It is of brick, with an iron front on Fulton Street. It is five stories in 
lieight on Fulton Street and six on Ann Street, with basement and 
subcellar, and having a total of about fifty thousand stjuare feet of floor 
room on tlie premises. Tlie front half of the fir.st Hoor on Fulton 
Street is occupied as an office for commercial purpo.ses, the other half 
for Vjoxing and slii])ping goods and the rece])tion of goods for stock. 
The stories above are used for the accommodation of the vast stores of 

then one of tlie oldest and most respected merchants in the city of New Y'ork, having 
been engaged in the business of a grocer for nearly half a century on the block in Front 
Street between Beekman and Fulton streets. He v.as one of the originators of the 
Market Bank. 

Francis H. Leggett received an academic education. After leaving school, in the fall oi 
18oG, he entered as a clerk a produce commission house, v.here he remained about five 
years, and in 18G2, as we have observed, he formed a copartuei'ship with his elder 
brother, which continued until 1870, when he founded the house of which he is still the 
senior member. Ilis brother Theodore died July 29, 1883. Francis is a member of the 
Produce Exchange, the Chamber of Commerce, the Union League Club, the Jlerehants' 
Club, and I)r. John Hall's Presbyterian Church. Mr. Legg.tt married in ISfil. His 
wife clif-d in 1803 ; and an infant son five years later. 




i!^ /^^^ /t-^^tai^ (Z/aC-^y 



KUIUIII KKCADK. lH(iU-1870. '^'i 

every artick- iiiTtainiiii,' to tlic Inisinoss ot' tin- ;ijw>thecary and (lruf,'j,''isl, 
with si'|>ai"itc iiparliiicnts lor tlif iiianiiraclur.- of (iiiiiiiru- ami oilier 
clieiiiii-als. 

To afcoiniuodate tlii-ir incieasing Ijusiiii'ss. McKesson A: Uolihins in 
l^T'.i (louhled the size ol' their promises liy the erection of a ImiUhMjr of 
e(|ual <liniensions adjoinin^j: their warehouse, wliich is used princiiialiy 
for manufacturing (juinine and other chemicals. Tliey are considerahle 
exporters to Centnil and Soutii America. Japan, and otiier foreign 
countries. Their various chemical and pliarmaceutical i)reparations 
have tiie highest rei)utatioii for purity and certainty of perfect division 
accoi-iling to tlie formidas. The house of McKesson A: l^oiibins lias 
superior facilities in its manul'actuiing department, and holds a fore- 
most position among wholesale druggists in the United States.* 

The great leather industry in tiie city of New 'i'ork has a conspicu- 
ous representative in the house of J. B. Iloyt A: ("o.. No. ^s Spruce 

* Jolin McKesson wiis born in tin- riCy of Now York, I'cbruuiy ii. 1807. He is of 
Scotch linonse on his paternal siile. His remote oncestor wiis -lolm McKesson of Argjle 
(who belonged to the clnn McDonald), whose grandson, .Alexander McKesson, came to 
America at some time during the last century and became the progenitor of the SIcKcsson 
family in this country. 

•John McKesson, the father of the subject of this sketch, was bom in 1772. and was 
well educated by his bachelor uncle, .John McKesson, who was one of the most active 
patriots of the Revolution in civil life in New York, from the beginning to the end of the 
strusyle. His nephew studied law with him, was admitted to the bar, and i>mctised the 
legal profession through life, dying in 182'J. For twenly-six years he was clerk of the 
.Sniierior Court of New York. He married Sarah Hull, a daughter of General William 
Hull, a patriotic soldier of two wars— the war of the Revulntion and the second war for 
independence in 1812-1.5. She became the mother of .lohn McKes.son. the eminent 
druggist. The latter, after leaving school, entered the drug-store of his uncle by mar- 
riage, Jfdiii M. liradhurst, in 1822, who taught him the drug business. 

With Charles M. Olcott, as we have observed in the text, Mr. McKesson founded the 
present house of McKesson A- [lol)hins, just fifty years ago. Ho married Maria Lofferts. 
of Brooklyn, and ten children blessed their union. Though venerable in years, Mr. 
McKesson possesses remarkable physical and intellectual energy, the product of a strong 
constitution and a judicious exercise of all his powers during his whole lifi-. His charac- 
ter is strongly marked by those traits which reward the posses.sor of them with business 
success anil induring honor among men namely, n sound judgment, unswerving integ- 
ritv, enterprise tempered with caution, kindness and geniality in social intercourse, 
frankness and generosity in all his dealings, and an open hand to the claims of the 
needy. Mr. McKesson has ever wisely and resolutely refrained from indulging in specu- 
lative schemes. His trustworthiness is proverbial. He is venerated by the trade for his 
many virtues, and in the realm of business disputes he constitutes a sort of cotirt of 
arbitration. Mr. McKesson has been favored for more than forty years with a business 
partner (Mr. Bobbins) of rare iinalilications and sterling worth. It has been well said 
that thev cMn.^lilulean unrivalled team, whose labors have been crowned with the highest 



788 HISTORY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

Street, who are also extensive leallier lielting inanul'acturei's. The firm 
consists of Joseph P.. Iloyt, U. B. Fayerweather, and Harvey S. Ladew. 
Thev manufacture tlie " oalv sole leather," have extensive tanneries 
in Pennsylvania. ^Maryland, West Virginia, <fnd Temiessee, and are the 
largest manufactureis of that special kind of leather in the \vorkl. They 
have laroe manufactories of leather belting in the citj^ of New York. 
Mr. Ilovt was the founder of this house more than forty years ago.* 

The manufacture of jiainters' coloi-s is an important industry in the 
city of New York. In this industry the house of C. T. Eaynolds & Co. , 
Nos. 1116 and lUS Fulton Street, is prominent. Tliis house is the suc- 
cessor of that of William Post, estabhshed before the war of the Revo- 
lution, through his sons, W. and G. Post, and Francis Butler, who did 
business in a small wooden building in Fletcher Street. In 1854, when 
Mr. Raynolds was at the head of the fii-m, it was removed to its 
present location, and after several changes the firm name became 
C. T. Raynolds & Co. • 

This house ranks among the most extensive manufacturers and 
dealers in colors, chemicals for colors, A'arnishes. whiting, and putty in 
the Fnited States. Their factories at Bergen Point and Brooklyn are 

* Joseph Blachley Hoyt was born at Stamford, Conn., his ])lace of residence now 
(1883). on November 18, 1813. After receiving a good common-school edncation he was 
apprenticed to learn the trade of tanning and currying hides at Darien, Conn. Pru- 
dent, industrious, and thrifty, he had accumulated about $1000, saved from his wages, 
when he was nearly twenty-eight years of age. and with this capital he began the busi- 
ness of tanning and currying on his own account in 1811, at the corner of Cliff and Fen-y 
streets, New York, with a partner named Weed. A year later Mr. Hoyt took in his 
brother William as a partner. In 1848, their business having been highly successful, 
Mr. Hoyt associated himself with Mr. Eees in the manufacture of leather belting, an 
industry which had been carried on quite extensively in New England for a few years. 
The firm name was Kees & Hoyt. At the end of six years this connection was dissolved, 
and the firm of Hoyt Brothers was organized. It was composed of Joseph K. Oliver and 
William Hoyt, who continued to tan and curry and sell leather and manufacture leather 
belting on a continually extending scale in both kinds of business. In 1870 the pres- 
ent firm of J. B. Hoyt & Co. was organized, and the two kinds o£ business have been 
carried on with vigor and success until they have reached the vast proportions indicated 
in the text. 

For more than forty years Mr. Hoyt has been engaged in business on his own account, 
and is yet an active participant in the daily labors of the house. At one time he was 
chosen a representative of his district in the Connecticut Legislature for two terms. 
Religious, charitable, benevolent, and educational institutions have always found in 
him a generous and ardent friend. He has long been an earnest working member of 
the Baptist Church, contributing liberally in personal labor and in pecuniary means for 
the iiroraotion of the welfare and prosperity of the special vineyard wherein he has 
phoson to labor. As a merchant his integrity and honor are proverbial, as a citizen his 
character is unsullied. 



KorUTll DKCADK. HOO lt<:o. TS'J 

of great cxlriil. turning,' nut iimiualU inilp ami ilrv culois to tin- aiiumnt 
of ahuiit sixtoon million inmiuls. Tlii'V are also large iiii|iortei-s of siu-li 
coiniiiodities. handling in the coni-si- of a year aliout forty million 
jxiuiuls. In addition to this Imsiness they are extensive deali-is in 
artists' materials of every kind, and they have, under tlie siime linn 
name, an extensive hraiuh house in Chicago. 

The manufacture of carriages and wagons is carried on (|uite exten- 
sively in the city. In isso there were 140 estai)lishments engaged 
in lh(> Imsiness, employing over ^1.833,000 capital, and producing 
aniuially wares to the value of over :?2,7"I(>,<'(hi. Among these the 
estahlishment of James B. Brewster appeai-s the nu>st cons|)icuous. as 
being the oldest in the city, extensive in its business ojK'rations, and for 
tlie excellence of its work. Mr. Bi-ew.ster's father was cng-aged in the 
same business before him, and had established a high reputation. 
This son was taken into partnerehip in the business in 1838, or forty- 
five yeai-s ago, and has pui-sueil it ever since. He is the inventor of 
several imjMirtant imjjrovenients in the manufacture of carriages and 
wagons. The " i^rewster wagon," which is the stan(hinl wagon, com- 
mands a higher price than any other because of its superior excellence. 
His larger cari-iages also excel in beauty anil structure. The factory of 
J. B. Brewster jfe Co. is in Twenty-fifth Street, and their warei-ooms 
are at tlu? corner of Forty-second Street and Fifth Avenue. In 187*^ 
3Ir. Brewster conceived the ail vantage of giving his clerks and work- 
men an interest in the business, and he formed a stock company, which 
was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, and the 
members of this cor]Miration constitute the firm of J. B. Brewster it Co.* 

• James B. Browatpr is the eighth in descent from Elder Brewster, of the MntiflDwr 
company. His father was .Tnmes Brewster, of New Hiiven, Connecticut. The subject of 
this .sketch wns bom in that city on .luiie 8. 1817. In chiMhooiI lie was ill most of the 
lime. .\t the a>;e of ten years \\f was sent to school at .Vmhcrst, Mass.. where {gymnastic 
exercise formed a part of the curriculum of the seiuinary. There he remained two years, 
gained good health, and has enjoyed that blessing through life in a most remarkable 
degree. He has practised gymnastic exercises daily for more than tifty years. 

Young Brewster served an apprenticeship at carriage-making with his father, and in 
1838 became his business partner. It was a time of great uncertainty, doubt, and con- 
fnsion among business men who had escjiped ruin in the crash of 18;J7. A year or so 
afterward his father retired, leaving the son to prosecute the business alone. Inexperi- 
ence and the condition of trade and linances compelled him to seek the benefit of the 
Bankrupt act in 1842. He had as much money due him as he owed, bnt it seemed as if 
"everybody hail failed." He was discharged from debt, and ho wrote on the back of the 
document whii'h gave him that relief, " Discharged legally, but not morally." In the 
space of seven years afterward he was enabled to write upon it. " Di.scliarged morally.' 
for he had paid every creditor, principal and interest. From that time until now he has 
been successful in business, and has built up the groat house of which ho is the head. 



790 IllSTUHY OF NEW VOHK CITY. 

A notice of tlic inanufactui'e of carriage varnisli, wliicli is a com 
paratively new and important industry in the citj"^ of New York, may 
be projjerly introduced liere, as represented by the extensive estabHsli- 
ment of Valentine & Co. The house was estabhshed in Boston in 
1S32, and was practically a continuation of a manufactory estabhshed 
by Houghton & JVlcClure in Cambridge, Mass.* 

Until about 1835 all American-made carriages were polished as 
piano-cases are now polished. John R. Lawrence, a caiTiage-maker of 
Xew York, had observed that imported English carriages (of which 
there were many) remained uniformly bright, while the iVmerican 
pohshed carriages became spotted with discolorations. He became 
satisfied that it was the su]jeriority of the English varnish that made 
the difference, and in 1835 he maile the first importation of English 
coach varnish. After unsuccessful attempts to pohsli this varnish, Mr. 
Lawrence observed on English coaches traces of brush marks. It was 
eviilent that they were not polished at all. After that he used the 
English varnish as the English coach-makers evidently did, with great 
success, and the firm of Lawrence & Collis kept their method a secret 
for several years, privately importing varnish at §15 and $18 a gallon. 
About 1852 an agencj^ for the sale of Enghsh varnish was opened in 
Xew York. Such, in brief, is the history of the introduction into this 
country of the Englisli flowing varnish that superseded the American 
polishing varnish. 

Until about 1870 the English varnish was uni'iv.illcd. T'p to that 
time American manufacturei-s had signally failed in attempts to equal 
it. In that year the house of ^'alentine ct Co., varnish-makers, of 
Boston, with their factory near Cambridge, becoming assured that 
they had obtained a long-desired result, made the announcement 
(October 15th) : " ^Ye claim that our varnishes are fully equal to the 
best impoi'ted." In the following year the}' removed their main ware- 
house to Kew 'i'ork and their factory to Brooklyn, where they 3'^et 
remain. They have branch houses in Boston, Chicago, London, and 
Paris. The present company retained the old firm name, and was in- 
corporated in January, 1S82, with Lawson Valentine f as president, and 
Henry C. Valentine vice-president. 

* The manufacture of varnish as a distinct industrj' in our country was first begun by 
Houghton & McClure, in a part of the blacksmith shop at Cambridge immortalized by 
Longfellow in "The Village Blacksmith," and which stood until 1865. Their establish- 
ment gi'ew into quite large proportions in time, and at the end of seven years they both 
left the business with a competence. 

+ Lawson Valentine was born in Cambridge, Mass., April 13, 1828. He received a 
good common-school education, and entered very early into business. After engaging in 



KOT'inil UKCADK, isilo ImTii. 7'.»I 

In IST" Valciitiiic iV Co. Iiiriiiiic tlie aiffiits and inaniiractiiii'rs of a 
material lor permanently liiliii',' tiie jMm« of \\o<mI Itefore painting, and 
wliicli lias coniplt'ti'ly revuinlioni/.cd tlie nietliods of painting praetisud 
by carriage and ear Imildei-s. 

AVithin the spare of a generation a special kind of Imsiness hits grown 
to enormous proportions in tiie city of Xew York. It is dillicnlt to 
classify it. It may with propriety lie called " variety," '" fancy," or 
'• general furnishing" ttnsiness. The miist conspicuous representative 
of this business is the Jiouse of U. II. Macy A: Co., at the corner of 
Fourteenth Street and Si.xtli .\ venue, which was founded in 1S.")S by 
Rowland II. Macy.* M lirst it was located at a store on Sixth 

the nianutncture of vnrnish in tin' vicinjty of Boston imil olituiniiif- llie iii>).iirtniit 
results inentioiKHl in the text, he wimu to New York City with his bnaincss in 1K7M. He 
has interested himself since then in pnictionl nKrictilture unci in litt>r«ture. nt the same 
time continning to prosecute suocossfuUy his original Imsiness. He is a iiarluer in the 
publishing house of Houghton. MitUiu & Co., imil ii nu'inlior of the Oriinge .Jndd Co., 
publishers of the Ameiinin Aiji-ic'ilturisl ; he founded Thr //.id, a joui-nid devnicrl to the 
carriage interests, and is one of the principal owners of the t'AnsdViii inlan. 

He has also actively engageil in plans for the improvement of New York City property. 
Shortly after coming to New York he devised the i)lan of founding an experimental 
farm, which should render to ngricnlturists in the United Stales a ser\ico analogous to 
that rendered by the famous farm of Laws &. Gilbert in England. He purchased for this 
ptirpose a property of a thousand acres in Orange County, about lifty miles from New 
York City. It is situated in a narrow valley, between rocky, wooded hills, in the high- 
lands of the Hudson, seven miles west of loo United States ^lilitary .Vcidoniy at West 
Point, and a little farther south of Newburgh, on a branch of the Erie Itailway. 

To this he has given the family name of his wife, calling it Houghton Farm. It is 
under the mauagement of Major Henry E. .\lvord, formerly connected with the Massa- 
chusetts .\gricultui-al College at .Vmlurst. It has, besides the ordinary farm equipment. 
a botanist, a chemist, and a scientitirally educated gardener. A portion of it is devoted 
to agricultural experiments, the results of which are annually published to the world in 
paraplili't reports. 

It is also made a school of instruction in practical agriculture, a feature? which is to be 
enlarged, and a number of young men have already graduated, including three Indians 
and one Japanese. 

The farm is conducted on business principles, not on those of " fancy farming." and 
its experiment.il department is distinct from the farm proper. The aim of the proprietor 
is to reach practical resnlt.s, and so to teach how they may be attained by olbei-s. 
Houghton Farm is visited ever)' summer by great numbers, who come to study the best 
appliances ami best methods. The horses, including some magnificent specimens of the 
famous N^>rm:in stock, specially imiiortcd, are bred and trained for draught or the road, 
not for the race-course. The cows, of .lersey stock, are selected and fed with reference 
to produr-ing the highest possible butter-making qualities ; and the large Hock of So"(1 - 
down sheep is under the care of an expcrii'nci-d English shepherd, who has shown what 
seemingly sterile hills can do in producing wool .ind muttmi. 

* Kowland II. Macy, son of John and Eliza Macy, members of the Society of Friends 
or Quakers, was born at Nantucket. Mass.. .\ugnst 2!>, 182'2. He received un ordinarv 



:'J2 lllSTOKY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Avenue, next door to the coi'ner of Fourteentli Street. The stock 
consisted principally of fancy goods. The business prospered, and in 
1863 Mr. Macy rented Xo. 62 West Foui-teenth Street, wliich was 
joined to the original store, making it L-shaped. At that time a 
department of liats and milhnery goods was added. Two years later 
another new <le})artment was added, that of jewelry, Vienna goods, 
and toilet articles. In 1868 the corner store was added, and a depart- 
ment of gentlemen's furnishing goods was ojiened in Fourteenth 
Street. The following year a second store was added in Fourteentli 
Street, and from that time mitil now (1883) there have been added, 
year after year, the remaining buildings on Sixth Avenue, between 
Thirteenth and l-'ourteentli streets, until the establishment occupies the 
whole ground fronting on that avemie and 1.50 feet on Thirteentli and 
Fourteenth streets respectively. 

In 1869 toys were added to the general stock, and subsequently 
house-furnishing goods, confectionery, soda-water, books and station- 
ery, l)(iys' clothing, ladies' underwear manufactured on the premises. 



common- school education, and at the age of fifteen he followed the example of many 
Nantucket boj's and went on a whaling voyage in a ship from New Bedford. Tiring of 
the sea in three or four years, he started out, a bright and energetic young man, to 
" make his fortune.' He went to Boston, tried different kinds of employment for two 
or three years, and then entered a printing ofiice to learn the art, but in six months he 
got tired of it and gave it up. At about that time he became acquainted with George W. 
Houghton, an importer, married his sister, and was by him started in a small thread -and- 
ncedle store in Boston, which was continued about five years with moderate success. 

When the California gold fever broke out, early in 1849, he went to the Pacific coast 
and ))ecanie a prominent grocer at Marysville. In 1851 he returned with between $3000 
and $41100, and opened a dry-goods store in Haverhill, Mass. He failed in business there 
in 1855, and went to Superior City, at the head of Lake Superior, where he speculated in 
real estate. The panic of 1857, which prostrated all kinds of business, ended his career 
as a speculator, and he came to New York City with a verj- small capital, where he 
opened a fancy store on Sixth Avenue, near Fourteenth Street, with the result mentioned 
in the text. He was now thirty-five years of age, and possessed of good health and 
indomitable energ}'. He entered upon his new undertaking with a determination to suc- 
ceed, and with untiring industry, wise forethought, and upright dealing he did succeed. 
In 1862 he originated the peculiarity of odd prices, such as 49, 29, and 99 cents, which is 
still kept up. This idea proved to be singularly successful, and has probably attracted 
more attention than any other innovation known to the trade. 

Mr. ilacy continued actively engaged in the business alone, maintaining a vigilant 
supcn-ision of every part of it, until 1872, when he took into partnership .\. T. La Forge, 
and in the year 1874 Kobert M. Valentine was admitted, when the fimi of K. H. Macy A 
Co. was organized. In the early part of 1877 Mr. Macy's health began to fail, and he was 
ordered by his phy.sieian to try the efficacy of the German baths. When he arrived in 
Paris he was too ill to proceed further. His strength rapidly declined, and he died in 
the latter part of JIarch, 1877. 



KorUTll nK<'.\I)K. 18flO-lS70. VXi 

critckorv, <,'lius,s\vaiv and silverware, diessiiiakinj,', <lre.ss <,'(>o<ls, upliol- 
stei-y goods, and lastly a ladies' restauniut. The Inisiness of the lioiist! 
of U. 11. Macy »fc t"o. is the most extensive of its kind in the I'nited 
States, perhaps in the world. They eini»loy alwjut fifteen hundred ]>er- 
sons, and during the holidays from two to three thousand. 

The retail dry-gomls trade is ccmspicuously i-epivsented hy the house 
of Edwaril Ridley * & Sons, in tirand Street. It was founded in 1.S49, 
starting as a little fancy store in a room twelve and a Iialf l>y thirty feet 
in size, at No. 311^ Grand Street. In l!S51 .Mr. Ridley h.-ul three assist- 
ants in the little store. Ten yeai-s later No. 311 Grand Street and No. <'.;i 
Allen Street were added to the premises, and from time to time other 
huildings were taken as the business rapidly grew in extent. The la.st 
aciiuisition was in March, lss;3, when the premises were so extended 
that they now occupy tlie space lx)unded by (irand, Orchard, and 
Allen streets, and comprising four acres and a half of lUj<jr-rf}om. 
There are seventeen hundred pci-sons employed in the establishment. 
Among these are some who have Ijcen with Mr. Ridley over twenty 
yeai-s. Mr. Ridley's sons, Edward A. and Arthur J. Ridley, were 
a.ssociatcd with him in business. The chief business of the concern is 
the Side of millineiy and straw goods, fancj' gootls, substantial drv 
goods, and in fact everything that can possibh' be wanted foi- th-.' 
iiouseholtl ornamentation, dross or toilet. 



* Edward Ridlfy was born iit Newark, Xottinnhaiushire, England, in 181C. He ser^-cd 
an apprenticeship in a store in England, and at thirty years of age came to America. 
Ho first opened a small store at iUltany, where ho prospered. In 1849 he went to New- 
York and oj)ened a .small fancy store in Grand Street, as has been obser\ed in the text, 
where he builtup a very extensive busiues,s in fbe space of time of a generation. Ho was 
always active in his business, personally superintending generally its vast operations, 
and was so engaged the day previous to his decease. He had a beautiful villa at 
Gravesund, Long Island, which ho had made his summer residence for thirteen years. 
His fortune was verj- large, and wa.s rapidly increasing. Mr. Ridley was an earnest 
member of the Methodist Church, often occupjnng the pulpit of the said church, which 
was near his country home. Such was the case on the Sunday before his death, which 
oceurred, from apoplexy, on Tuesday morning, July 31, 1.S83. 

In that place of worship, known as the Parkville Methodist Church, ho was a pillar of 
strength, sustaining it largely by his mnniffcenco, his personal labors in its Sabbath- 
school, of which he was the superintendent, and as its steward, trustee, and a faithful 
class-loader. On the Sunday before liis death ho became so earnestly engaged in preach- 
ing that his discourse occujiied sixty-five minutes, when he intended to nceupy only 
twenty minutes. He addressed the Sabbath-school in the afternoon, and was in the 
congregation in the evening. On Monday night he retired before eleven o'clock in 
apparent good health, and at half past one o'clock in the morning his spirit took its 
ilepartnrc. Sir. Ridley left a wife, one daughter by his surviving widow, and two sons 
and two daughters by his first wife. Six hundred of the employes of E. Ridley A- Sons 



7!)4 mSToHV OF XEW YORK CITY. 

The house ui' Bliss, Fabyaii A: Co., of No. 32 Tlioinas Street aud No. 
117 Duane Street, is a conspicuous representative of the dry-goods 
commission business. It is one of the most extensive estabhshments 
enfao-ed in that hue of trade in the city of Xew York. It is acting as 
sellino-afent for New England manufacturers, like the Pepperell Manu- 
facturing Company, the Otis Company, the Andi-oscoggin Company, 
the Bates Mill American Printing Companjs and others. The members 
of the firm are noted for business skill and wisdom, and high personal 
and mercantile character. The senior of the firm is not only an ener- 
getic and judicious business man, but an earnest helper in religious and 
charitable work in the city of his adoption, where a large portion of his 
life has been spent.* 

New York City is the chief centre of the transportation business of 
the country, and which is one of the most important and extensive of 
our national industries. Of the numerous managers of this industry no 
one is more conspicuous than John II. Starin, of New York City. He 
first engaged in it just before the breaking out of the Civil War. He 
liad conceived the project of the establisliment of a general agency in 
this city to solicit and influence freight for the great railroad trunk 
lines centring there. He satisfied a leading railroad officer of the 
feasibility and utility of his plan, and secured a contract with a promi- 
nent road. Very soon afterwai-d the Civil "War was begun, during 
which Mr. Starin's capacity for the organization of means of transpor- 
tation on a large scale was proved to be equal to the pressing demands 
of the National Government. His services in this line were of immense 
value to the government during the entu-e war. At its close several of 
the great railroad lines having their centres in New York made exten- 
sive freight transportation contracts with him. The business in his 
hands soon expanded to enormous proportions, including all tlie prin- 
cipal roads connected witli the metropolis. 

attended tlie funeral at the Puikville Church, and 200 Sunday-school children filled 
the front seats. He was buried in Greenwood Cemeterj*. 

* Cornelius X. Bliss is a native of Fall River, Mass. lie was educated at public 
schools and a private academy in that town, and in a high school in New Orleans, where 
he spent two years before he entered the wholesale dry-goods house of J. JI. Beebe & 
Co., of Boston, in 1S48, as clerk. In 1864 he became a partner in the house, and two 
years later he was admitted as a partner with the firm of J. S. & E. Wright A Co., in the 
wholesale domestic diy-goods commission business, in Boston. He soon afterward came 
to New York and established a braucli ..f the Boston house, and it became the well- 
known wholesale domestic dry-goods commission house of Wright, Bliss & Fabyan, of 
Boston, New Y'ork, and Philadelphia, acting as selling agents for New England manufact- 
urers, as we have observed. The firm is now Bliss, Fabyan & Co., engaged in the same 
Imsiness. 



I'OL'KTII IJKiAKE. 1h«() 1(ST0. I'OS 

Mr. Stiirin is imw i 1SM^> tin- proprietor of an iimiifiis.' cstalilishniL-iil 
for the removal of frei^rht from point to iM.int in tiie liarhor ami city of 
New Yoriv, with eveiy facility for the speedy fiilliiment of every order. 
He emi.loy.-> vast machinery in this enterprise— vessels of almost every 
descriiitioii, and for the car'riage of freight through the city he employs 
between tweutv-live and thirty tracks and over lifty hoi-ses. Ho has a 
dry dock for sliii)buildmg. He has also organized an ailmirable system 
of "transportation of pa.s.seng('i-s and summer excursions in the neighbor- 
hood of New York. The latter business has already assumed va.st 
])roporti<ms. Altogether this is the most extensive and succcs.sful 
organization for ti-ansportatiou in the world.* 

There are nuiny men like Mr. Valentine and Mr. 8tai-in engaged in 
successful business enterprises in the city of New Yoi-k who have tastes 

» John Henrv Stnrin is a natiTe of the beantihil Mohawk Valley, in the State of New 
York He wasborn at SamiuonsviUe. Fulton County. August 27. 182.5. and is the fifth of 
the eight children of Myndert Starin. who laid the foundation of the manufactunng 
interest at Sanni.onsviUe. and was the chief founder of FoltonviUe in Montgomery 
County. John Henrv displayed in early youth the characteristics which have marked his 
life career-enterprise and indoraiUible energy. He received a careful aC4ulemic educn- 
tion, and stu.lied medicine in Albany. His nature demanded a more active and wider 
employment. In IHoC, he engaged in the manufacture and sale of medicines and toilet 
articles in the city of New York. This business ho abandoned when he undertook the 
great transportation enterprise mentioned in the text. 

Mr. .Starin entered upon public official life in ISIS, when he was appointed postmaster 
at FnltonviUe, which position he held four years. In the full of 1876 ho was elected to a 
seat in Congress as representative of the Twentieth District, comprising five counties- 
Fnlton. Hamilton. Montgomery, Saratoga, and Schenectady. He was re-elected in 1S78 
by a large majoritv. A nomination for a third term was tendered him. but it was declined, 
since that time he has devoted himself to his private affairs. In the prosecution of his 
undertaking in the business of transportation of passengers, and excursions, >Ir. Starin 
has expended vast sums of money lavishly but wisely in a business point of view. He 
bought Locust Island, tifty acres in extent, together with five smaller islands in Long 
Island Sound, near New Itochelle. and has made it a paradise of beauty, known as Starin's 
Glen Island. Sinuous paths and roads, amply shaded with stately trees, and here and 
there a statue, heighten the beauty and picturesqueness of the scene. In the centre of 
the island is an elegant mansion, and around it are bowers, conservatories, fish jionds, 
and a zoological garden. There are billiard rooms, bowling alleys, dancing pavilions, 
restaurants, and a fine club-house overlooking the Sound. Mr. Starin is also the owner 
of several pretty little parks on the Hudson and East rivers, to which large picnic parties 
are sent. These and Glen Island have become the snmmcr resorts of vast numbers of 
New York pleasure-scekers, who employ many of Mr. Starin's vessels in their transpor- 
tation. He has a fine mansion at Fultonville. surrounded by 1400 acres of land under 
excellent cultivation. 

Mr. Starin attributes his success in life chiefly to his almost intuitive knowledge of 
men and his ceaseless activity. He snys : " Persistency and tact, hour by hour, day by 
day. month bv nionlh. voar bv year, eternal, ncver-failing, ultimately are sure to suc- 
ceed ' 



796 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

for rural life and agricultural pursuits, who own landed estates in the 
country and delight in cultivating them. There is a larger number 
who have Ihnited domains in the country, who spend much of their 
leisure time in the warmer months in the agreeable employment of 
horticultm-e, either for pleasure or for profit, or both. 

There is in the city of New York a flom-ishing Horticultural Society, 
comj)rising about two hundred and fifty members. It was incorj)o- 
ratetl in 1S22. Early in this century, as we have observed. Dr. David 
llosack estabUshed a botanic garden (the Elgin) at the centre of Man- 
liattan Island. The cm-ator of the garden was Mr. Dennison, who had 
a Horist's estabhshment on the site of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. A 
contemporary of his was William Wilson, who, with Dr. Hosack, were 
the originators of the New York Horticultural Society, in 1818. He 
was the author of a book on " Kitchen Gardening." Another promi- 
nent horticultmist of that day was Thomas Bridgman, author of •' The 
Gardener's Assistant." 

It was not until about 1810 that coimnercial horticulture had come 
to be hberally patronized, and nurseries, greenhouses, and nuirket 
gai'dens ai)peared in numbei's in the vicinity of Kew York. Floricult- 
ure then began to have a commercial value, but designs made by cut 
flowere were unknown. It is estimated that the value of the annual 
sales in the city of Kew York of cut flowers at the time the Croton 
Avater was introduced did not exceed §1000 ; now (1883) it proltably 
exceeds §50,000 for decorations on New Year's day. 

Of the members of the New York Horticultural Society, the owner 
of the most extensive and costly establishment devotetl to horticulture 
in connection with stock-raising is that of William B. Dinsmore, 
president of the Adams Express (Company, at Staatsburg, Duchess 
(bounty, N. Y., and the largest establishment devoted to gardening for 
])rofit and to floriculture is that of Peter Henderson,* the correspond- 
ing secretary of the society, at Jersey City Heights and New York. 

* Peter Henderson was born at Path Head, twelve miles from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 
1823. His father was land steward of a gentleman in the neighborhood. Peter was edu- 
Gated at the parish school, where he was a foremost scholar, winning more i)rizes than 
any of his fellows of the same age. At the ago of fourteen he became the clerk of a 
liquor dealer— really a bartender — in Edinburgh, and was there subjected to great tempta- 
tions ; but his moral stamina was proof against these temptations. At the age of sixteen 
he was apprenticed to a gardener, when temptations again assailed him. It was the 
practice of the lads of the establishment to go to a tarem everj' Saturday night. Against 
this practice ho set his face so firmly that he nearly abolished it. Prom that time he 
has been an uncompromising and outspoken champion of temperance. So well did ho 
ac(|«it himself as an apprentice and carofid student of botany that at the ajjc of cigliteeu 





l£^- 



KOnnil l)Ef.\l>E, IKliO 187(1 797 

Tlif house of TilTiinv Ot Co., ^'old ami silver smiths and dcalm-s in 
precious stones, un(loul)tedly tlio ri'iircscntative hoiisi- in its hnc of busi- 
ness not only in Ainerica hut in th(! world, and piv-oininently tlie ini)st 
striking exanijtio of the growth of this country in wealtli, taste for 
luxury, and artistic suritiuudings, like most other great successes, iiiid 
a very hunihle origin. The business was begun in the autumn of \s:',~ 
by Mr. Charles L. Titlany, tlie present head of the house, and his 
brother-in-law, the late John 15. Young, who, from tlie townshijjs of 
l>rooklyn ami Killingly, in Windham County, Connecticut, had little 
besides their health, energy, and ambition, to assist them to success. 

At the ilate of the opening of the store, ^Ir. Young alone had had 
any experience, anil that of but six months, in the business they pro- 
]X)sed to folhnv. The stock of Tiffany <fe Young at the start was a 
miscellaneous collection of fancy wares, stationery, cutlery, Chinese 
goods, Berlin iron, fans, walking-sticks, etc. The capitid of tlie firm 
was only one thousand dollai-s, and from the little ciush-book, still pre- 
served by the house, we learn that the amoimt of their sales f(jr the 

ho wns nwardcd the gold mednl offered by the Botanicnl Society of Edinburgh for the best 
scientifically arranged herbarium. .\t about that time ho became a member of a society 
for the advancement of horticultural science, and was selected to prepare a paper for the 
London Oardmer's Uazelle, denouncing the common practice of holding as secrets many 
horticultural operations of the day. It drew from the editor a two-column reply. This 
was Henderson's first appearance in print. Since then the American people have heard 
much through the press about what ho knows of gardening. 

Young Henderson arrived in New York when ho was twenty years of age, with no 
cApital but virtue, indomitable encrgj-, and pluck. He worked for gardeners and florists 
until ho had saved money enough to start the business of a market gardener on his own 
account near Jersey City, in 1847. Ho worked on an average sixteen hours a day. He 
gradually added the florist branch to his establishment, and that is now Uis princi|i»l 
business. His is thought to be the largest establishment of tlio kind in the world. His 
greenhouse on Jersey City Heights presents a covering of more than four acres of gla.ss, 
which, with his seed warehouse in Cortlandt Street, New York, gives employment to about 
one hundred men. Ono peculiarity of Mr. Henderson's establishment is tho quick 
acknowledgment and reward of merit among his employes. 

It is generally acknowledged that tho rapid strides which horticulture has made in 
America, particularly in the vicinity of New York, are in no small degree due to Sir. 
Henderson's writings and example. Ho has written much and well on the subject. His 
first work, " Gardening for Profit." appeared in 18fi6, and down to 1883 nearly 100,000 
copies bad been sold. In 18G8 his " Practical Floriculture" ajipeared, of which about 
50,000 copies have been sold. In 187.5 his " Gardening for Pleasure" was published, and 
more than 20,000 copies have been sold. His last work is " A Hand-Book of Plants" — 
a condensed eyclop.-pdia— published in 1881. The popularity of his writings is due to 
their being eminently practical. 

Although Mr. Henderson is approaching tho ago of threescore years, his mental and 
physical vigor seem unsnri)assed. He has never been sick a day in his life. He sujior- 
iut«.'uds his va.st business with iiisc. and dfsircs lo " die in tin baruess." 



798 HISTOKY OF NKW YORK CITY. 

fii-st tlu-ee days in September, 1837, was $4.98, and for the next two 
months con-espondingly small. On the 23d of December the sales 
were $23<), and for the few days before Mew Year's day (which at that 
time was the jjrincijial gift-day) they amounted to 8675. To mark the 
growth of the business we may add that for some years past the sales 
for the corresponding days I'each hundreds of thousands i)er day. 

In 1840 the firm enlarged their premises to meet the requirements of 
increasing l)usiness. In 1841 Mr. J. L. Ellis became a partner, and the 
style of the Ann was changed to Tiffany, Young <k EUis. In 1845 they 
opened the first stock of standard gold and gem jewelry, and for 
beauty of styles and quality of worlananship and of the gems offered, 
the firm speedily became known as the representative jewellers of the 
country — a ])osition they have ever since maintained. In 1851 Mr. G. 
F. T. Keed, of Boston, entered the firm. 

In 1854 their increased business demanded larger and better accom- 
modations, and, foreseeing the growth of the city, they erected an 
elegant building at No. 550 Broadway, then considered far up town. 
Again, under similar pressure in 1870, they became the pioneers of the 
refail business in advancing up town, and erected the building they 
now occupy, on the south-west corner of Fifteenth Street and Union 
Square, which has since been enlarged, and now has a frontage of 78 
feet on Union Square, 165 feet on Fifteenth Street, five stories in 
height, wliile additions for theii" increasing works are now in progress. 

In Isr.S Tiffany & Co. reorganized the business under the corporate 
laws of the State of New York. That this was a wise move may be 
seen from tlie fact that since then the business has increased so ra])idly 
that it is now the largest of its kind in the world. 

Prior to the entry of ^Ir. Keed to the firm, the ]uiroj)oan purcliases 
Imd been made by Mr. Tiffany- and Mr. Young during visits made once 
or twice each year, but the constant demand for European novelties 
made necessary a ]3artner resident in Euro])e, and it was for this pur- 
pose that Mr. Reed joined them. lie took up liis residence in Paris, 
and the advantages of liaving a re])resentative constantly in the market 
was soon apparent. In a short time the same necessity arose in regard 
to English goods, and a branch purchasing depot was opened in 
London. The constantly increasing travel of Americans to Europe 
and the frequent calls of New York customers at the office in Paris for 
information or in search of gifts to take home as souvenirs, led to the 
opening of a salesroom, which was gradually enhirged until tlieir ware- 
rooms now in the Avenue dc I'Opera are as well known as any in 
Paris. 



(•'onrrii dkiade, is(;o-18:o. 



709 



Tli.« busiuoss of Tiir;iny A: Co. is porliajis imi.jiu-, as the various 
braiRli.'s of tlu'ir manufaeturos miuir.« tlio higlicst class of skilled lal)oi- 
and a twlmieal kiio\vU-d-o for its diivction that can he had only under 
such an organization. Their manufacture of sterlin;,' silverware com- 
menced in is.-,l, and is now doubtless the most extensive in the world. 
Four hundred workmen aiv employed, and aljout one tlKMisand ounces 
of silver use.l pel- day. In the manufacture <^f jewelry, diamond and 
gem cutting, about two hundred pei-sons are employed, and live hundred 
moi-e in making fine stationery, leather goods, and silver-plated ware ; 
and whi-n to this is added the number of paintei-s, engnivei-s, ami deco- 
ratois, clerks, accountants, and othei-s engaged in the wdesrooms. the 
iiggi-egiite is nearly tifteen hundred pei-sons. 

Their manufactures of gold and silver ware liavt; invariably receive.l 
the highest conunen.lation. and at the Paris Exhibition of 1S7S they 
were irwarded the Grand Prix,* one goM. one silver, and four l)ron7.e 
medals, and the decoration of the Legion of Ibmor to :Mr. Tiflfany, who 
has also since received fmm the Eiuperoi- of Russia the gold me.lal, 
Pneinia Digno. 

Since the Exhibition their wares have attracted so much attention 
abroad that they have receive<l letters of appointment as jewellers and 
silversmiths to 'ller :\[ajesty th.- (iuoen of England, the Prince and 
Princess of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, the lunperor and Empress 
of Russia, the Graiivl Dukes Vla.limir, Alexis, Paul, and Sergius. the 
Emperorof Austria, the Emperor of Brazil, the Kingsof Prussia, Italy, 
nolgium, Greece, Spain, and Portug:vl, and the Khedive of Egypt. 

One of the very largo and iinpoitant industries of the city of New 
York is the Itusiness of lish merchandise. It began to a.ssume large 
relative proportions during the third and fourth ilecades. It has con- 
stantly increased in volume until at the close of the fifth decade (ISSO) 
it had become an immense, important, and jn-olitable business. In the 
vear l.sso there were sold in th.- markets of Xew York City nearly 
fifty kinds of lish, besides shellfish and Crustacea— oystei-s,* clains, 
lobsters, crabs, crawfish, scalloi)s. terrapins, and green turtles. There 
were about forty-three million poumls of lish sold, exchisive of (in 

• The oyster business in Xew York is enormous in its extent, nnd has increased 300 
per cent in Ave years. Dnrin« the year en.linR September 1, 1883, there were consiune.l 
in Xew York City alone 8,0(I0,(MH» liaskcts of oysters. At two important points of oyster 
cnltiviition -Prince's Bay and Orcut South Bay— there are about eleven thousand per- 
sons employed. The estimated amount of capital invested in the oyster business in the 
citv is $2.1.000,000. Old and extensive dealers are beginning to eiiii>loy sicaiii vessels 
instead of sailing vessels in carrying oystei-s to the city. It is eslinmt. d tli:it .".o.dOO p<T- 
sons in the State of New York cam n living by handling oy.sters 



SOO HISIOKY OK MKVV VUKK CITY. 

numbers) 1,333,000 shad, 5,000,000 mackerel, 0,300,000 herrings, 
75,000 crawfish, and 6750 terrapin ; also 163,000 pounds of green 
turtle, 2,000,000 pounds of lobsters, and 55,000 gallons of scallops. 

The most extensive fish merchant in New Tork City and i)erliaps in 
the world is Eugene G. Blackford, who is also one of the most active 
and efficient of the four fish commissionei's of the State of Xew York, 
having been appointed by the governor in 1879. lie occupies in his 
business Nos. 72 to 86 inclusive of the " stands" in Fulton Market. In 
his ice-vaults may be seen tons upon tons of frozen fish kept perfectly 
fresh. He has a freezing station in Canada, where sahnon are fi-ozen 
as soon as caught, packed in refrigerators, and sent to the city. Mr. 
Blackford is also connected with others in the fish business in other 
parts of the city. Blackford ik Co. are agents for the Connecticut 
River shad companies. The Blackford^ Fish Company, of which he is 
chief j^roprietor and treasurer, leases five miles of the shore at 
Montauk, L. I., whence fish are sent daily to Fulton Market,* where 
ninet}^ per cent of all the fish sold in New York Citj' is disposed of.f 

* The Fulton Slm-ket house has recently been rebuilt at a cost, including the stalls and 
other fixtures, of about S'290,000. It is in the form of a quadi'angle, with five towers, 
three of which are used for refrigerating purposes ; one is occupied by Mr. Blackford as 
a museum and biological laboratory, in charge of a competent professor of Natra-al His- 
tory, who is employed by Mr. Blackford. Here the oyster has been artificially jiropagated, 
and experiments in iish culture, with investigations into the food and breeding habits of 
all fish, are carried on. The fifth is a telegraph station. The building is of red brick 
with terra-cotta trimmings, and occupies a whole block of ground between Beekman and 
Fulton and Water and South streets. It was formally opened in April, 1883, at a hotel 
near by, where the persons present had a luncheon, and speeches were made by Colonel 
Devoe, the superintendent of the markets. Mayor Edson, and others. The rebuilding 
of Fulton Market was entirely through the efforts of Mr. Blackford. The Washington 
Market house, on the Hudson Kiver side of the city, has also been rebuilt recently. 

f Eugene G. Blackford was born at Morristown, N. J., August 8, 1839. His father was 
a carriage-maker there, and removed to New York City when Eugene was an infant, and 
engaged in other business. At the age of fourteen years this son became a clerk to a shi^j 
broker in South Street. Already exhibiting a taste and love for science, especially for 
chemistry, and devoting as much time as he could to study, his employer came to the 
conclusion that he was not fitted for a merchant, and at the end of three and a half years' 
service he discharged him. Meanwhile the lad had taken some lessons in water-color 
painting, and had aspirations to become an artist ; but his common-sense and his circum- 
stiinces taught him that he must make his tastes yield to the necessity of some business 
pursuit. 

Y"oung Blackford now became a freight clerk in the employ of the Hartford steamboats. 
In the course of a few years he was with the Camden and Amboy Eailroad in the same 
capacity, and then served ten years as a merchant's clerk in the store of A. T. Stewart A: 
Co. To his training there Mr. Blackford attributes his business success in life. On 
leaving Stewart ho became bookkeeper to a firm of extensive fish dealers in Fulton 
Market. Ho was unexpectedly offered a fish-stand in that market. He accepted it, and 



FOURTH DECADE, 18G0-1870. 801 

began the fiub bnsinoHS on bis own iiccount with a caHh cnpitnl of $110 nn<] iin iibnn- 
diiucu of i>luck, energy, and Hterliug virtues. That one Btaud has grown to thirteen, 
eleguutly fitted nj) ut a cost of about $22,000, with aquariums built of marble, hard 
woods, and glass, and filled with live fishes ; and adorned with works uf art indicative of 
tuste and retiuenieut. 

In INT2 Mr. lilaekford began to give attention to the history and propagation of fishes, 
and now be stands foremost niiioug I'^uetioal philosophers in that line of api>lied 
science. He early made the aetpiaintauce of Professor Baird, of the Suiitbsonian 
Institution, who was then United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. When the 
American Fish Culturists' Association was organized he became a ]>romiueut member, and 
has been their only treasurer. At their annual dinner in 1H7(J he procured and prepared 
for the banquet no less than fifty-eight kinds of fish. He was in charge of the fish 
exhibit at the Centennial Exhibition in 1870. The year before he began an annual trout 
exhibition in .\pril, at his establishment in New York, which attracts admiring crowds, 
coming from all parts of the Union. He collected and shipped 13(1 tons of exhibits to the 
Intemotional Fishery Exhibition held in Berlin in 1880. In 1878 a species of fish from 
Florida, which was first described scientifically by Professor Good ond Dr. Bears of the 
Smithsonian Institution, and named the Luljauus Blnrk-fontii, in honor of Mr. Blackford, 
for his services in ichthyology. Ho was the first to discover that we have, in .American 
waters, a fish identical with the English whitebait. In 1870 Mr. Blackford was appointed 
one of the four fish commissioners of the State of New York. His contributions to the 
Smith.sonian Institution have been many and important. 

Mr. Blackford was married in IMdO. to Miss Frances L. Green. He is a member of the 
Washington Avenue Baptist Church, in Brooklyn, and is very active and liberal in church 
and benevolent work. 



FIFTH DECADE, 1870-1880. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE i)npul.iti(in of the city of New York at the beginning of tliis 
decade (18T<>) was '.•+'J,'2!.t2, of whom lS.ii72 were colored jK'isons, 
12 Chinese, and !• Indians. Of tlie wiiole number. 523, It's were 
native-born, and 41i»,«'Vt4 were foreign-l'oi"- Over 4:i,(»tu could not 
read, while 15f.,ouu attended school «luring that year. The inhabited 
city had spread over the whole island, sparsely in the upper wards. 
There were TSO families h\ing in (■,4,044 dwellings, avciuging 5.o7 Ui a 
familv, and nearly 1") to a dweUing. 

The foreign commerce of the district, imjiorts and cxjiorts, amounted 
in value in 1870 to 85<)!1,3:'.7,oiii>. The cen.susof that yoarshowed that 
New York had then become the most extensive manufacturing city in 
the Union. It had 50 national banks, with a capital of $73,000,000, a 
surplus fund of 819,000,000, and undivided profits of over Si>,000,000. 
It h;ixl 32 savings banks, with deposits from 31t;,0(M) depositors <if 
nearly $lo('., 000,000. 

The assessed value of real estate in the city in 1870 was S702,134,35ti, 
and of personal 83O.5,2i)2,0t>0, making a total of $l,ti47,427,O40. The 
total amount of the funded .lebt was nearly $ll»,Ooo,(»nn. This enor- 
mous del)t was largely the result of misrule and extravagant and 
dishonest expencUture of the public money. It was soon enormously 
increased. 

This brings us to a consideration of one of the most unpleastint 
ei.isodes in the history of New York City-namoly. the operations of 
a band of plunderers of the city treasury, iwindarly known as the 
" Tweed Ring,'' or the " Tammany Ring." These operations are of so 
recent wcuiTence that it is too early to attempt to give a truthful and 
impartial narrative of them ; and there arc too many innocent persons 
who would be pained bv a recital of them, in connecti.m with the 
names of the chief actoi-s in the dismal drama, to render here a detaded 
account of the affair desiral)le. This dark chapter in the history of 
the city will therefore be passed t)ver with brief notice. 

For several years the metrojiolis was virtually ruled by "William if. 
Tweed, a cliainnakcr by trade, and a ]).,litician of the baser sort by 



806 HISTORY OF NEU' YORK CITY. 

profession. Active, pushing, and unscrupulous, he had worked his way 
up through petty municipal offices to the position of supervisor, chair- 
man of the boai'd of supervisors, and deputy street commissioner in 
1863. The latter office placed him virtually at the head of the pubhc 
works of the city and of ahnost unlimited control of the public expendi- 
tures. At about the same time he was chosen grand sachem of the 
Tammany Society, which position endowed him vnih immense poUtical 
power. This jiower, by means of his offices in the municipal govern- 
ment and the patronage at his command, he was able to wield with 
mighty force. He took advantage of this power to procure for 
iiimself his election to the State Senate for three successive terms — 
1867 to 1871. Cornipt officials and hungry politicians swarmed aroimd 
liim. With three or four shrewd confidants — men who before had 
enjoyed a fair reputation for honor and honesty — he organized a 
system for plundering the public treasury unprecedented in boldness 
and extent, comprising the expenditures for streets, boulevards, parks, 
armories, public buildings, and improvements of every kind, in which 
the spoils were divided jr/'O rata among the consph-ators. 

These spoils consisted of 65 to 85 per cent of the public mone}' paid 
to contractors and others, who were encouraged to add enormous 
amounts to their bills, often ten times the amount of an honest charge. 
For example : on one occasion the sura of $1,500,000 was granted for 
pretended labor and expense of material, when a fair and hberal allow- 
ance would have been only $264,000. The sum authorized by the 
Legislature to be expended in the erection of the new county Court- 
House was $250,000 ; in 1871, when it was yet unfinished, $8,000,000 
had ostensibly been spent upon it. Whenever any contractor or 
mechanic ventured to remonstrate, he was sUenced by a threat of losing 
the city patronage, or of non-payment for work already done, and so 
conscientious men were often forced to become the confederates of 
thieves. A secret record of these fraudulent transactions was kept in 
the auditor's office under the title of " county liabihties. " The incum- 
bent of that office was a supple instrument of the ])hmderers, and did 
their bivlding. 

To render the plundering more secure fi'om detection, Tweed pro- 
cured from the Legislatm-e amendments to the city charter in 1870, by 
which the State control over the numicipality was withdrawn, and the 
executive power was vested in the maj'^or and the heads of the several 
departments who were appointed by the mayor. The powers of the 
street commissioner and of the Croton Aqueduct board were vested in 
a commissioner of pubhc works, to which im]K)rtiint office the mayor, 




t wi 






KlKTIl DKA'ADK. IHTO IHSO. 807 

who was (iiic (if the •• i-iiiiT." M|>|n>iiitc<l Twccil, wlm was tn liolil tlio 
olMii- four yoais. His cDiifedenitt's wt'io placTtl at the licad of utliiT 
important tlcparliiR'iits comiocted with tlic city liiiaiic-es. Tlic powf-r 
of auditing accounts was taken from tlic suiM-rvisois and ;rivcn to a 
hoard of audit, composed of the mayor, coniptrolltT, and commissioner 
of jiuMic works, who were then the cliief conspirators. 

Tiie sclieme for plunderinj^ tlie puliUc treasury was now coinpletc 
and it was used witii a lavisli liand for the next lifteen montiis.* In 
order to evade joint res])onsiliility tiie hoanl of ainht delegated their 
power to tiie auilitor of tiie city, who w;uj one of tiieir wilhng tools, 
lie signed all the fraudulent hills, often without e.Kamining them, and 
paid over to the chief conspirators their commission of (i5 to So per 
cent on the araouut so audited. Within the space of le.ss than four 
months the sum of §!tj,;312,(iO(» was ])aid from the city treasury, of 
which §5,7Ii»,niM» was ostensihly 6n account of the new county Couil- 
Ilouse. At least >;."),()00,0(i(» of the $i>,yi2,tinn went into tiie pcx^kets 
of the chief conspirators and their associates. 

The waste of the puhlic money at length became so apjiarcnt that 
the most resjiectablc of the daily newsjjapers constantly called puhlic 
attention to the enl, with very little effect. Fortunately an honest 
man named Copeland was ))laced as clerk in the office of tlie auditor by 
Sheriff James O'lJrien. lie stumliled upon the record of "county 
habilities," and making an exact copy of it, ho han(le<l the transcript 
to O'Brien. The latter resolved to use it for his pei-soiial advantage in 
an attempt to force the ring to ])ay a claim he liekl against the city. 
The consi)ii"itors refused compliance, and O'Brien threatened to puli- 
lish the document in the New York T!)in>fi. A little alarmed by the 
threat, they sent the auditor, in the aftcrn(X)n, to negotiate with the 
sheriff, who was supiK)se(l to be at a sporting tavern in a remote p.art 
of the city. Failing to find him, the auditor was returning when he 

• A stmnge social phonoiuenon nppenred when Tweed was at the height of his disrepu- 
table career. Dazzled by the magnitnde of city " improvements," and withont inqniring 
whence he procured the means for dispensinR charities on a munificent scale, some of 
the most reputable citizens of New York publicly proposed to erect a stjitne to him as a 
public benefiictor. And when his daughtorwiw married, sixty-two citizens, gome of them 
of high p.isition in society, bestowed upon her weddinf; presents to the agpreRalo value 
of $70,000. Only one present was as low as $100 in value. Twenty-one persons each 
gave presents valnerl at $1000, ten persons gave $2000 ptesent.s, two $2500, and five gave 
presents to the value of $.5000 each. One of the donors of the latter amount was a woman. 
Some of the most munificent gifts were from persons connected with the ring, but then 
accounted respectable members of societj-, while others ever maintained their high hociol 
position. 



808 IIISTOUY OF NKW YOliK CITY. 

was thrown from his carriage and mortally hurt. The conspirators 
surrounded liis death-bed to prevent damaging confessions, and to 
effect tlie transfer of an enormous amotmt of property which he held in 
his name, but the auditor never regained consciousness. 

For months 0'i>rien unsuccessfuUy pressed his claim. At length he 
gave the document to the propi'ietor of the New York Times, and it 
was publisiied in full detail iu July, 1871. It produced intense excite- 
ment, amazement, and indignation throughout the city. Tweed, 
vainly believing his forti'ess of power was impregnable, sneeringly 
inquired, " What are you going to do about it ?" But pubUc indig- 
nation was so tierce and so univei-sally aroused that the conspirators 
were soon compelled to yield. Day after day the Times struck telhng 
blows at the ring, with accumulating proofs of their crimes. Week 
after week the inimitable cartoons of Xast in Harper's Weehlij struck 
equally teUing blows, for pictures are the literature of the unlearned, 
anil tlie most iUiterate citizen could read and undei*stand those car- 
toons. Yery soon the conspirators in office were driven out and fled 
to Europe. Tweed was arrested, lodged in jail, indicted for forgery 
and grand lai'cenj'^, and late iu IS 73 he was tried, found giiilty, and 
sentenced to a long imprisonment in the penitentiarv on Blackwell's 
Island. 

In the smnmer of 187") Tweed's friends procured his release, on bail, 
when lie was immediately arrested on a civil suit to recover over 
$6,000,000 which he had stolen fi-om the city treasury. Bail to the 
amount of §3,000,000 was required. He coidd not furnish it, and was 
confined in Ludlow Street Jail. Allowed to visit his wife at twilight 
one evening in charge of the sheriff, he managed to escape, fled to 
Europe, was arrested in a Spanish seajiort, was brought back to !N"ew 
York in failing health, and was again lodged in jail. In a suit tried in 
March, 1876, a jury returned a verdict against him for the sum of 
86,537,000, which he could not pay. lie lingered in prison until Jan- 
uary 12, 1878, where he died, at the age of fifty-five years. It was 
I'stimated that the ring had robbed the city of over $20,000,000.* 

When the iniquities of the ring were exposed by the Times in the 
summer of 1871, thousands of indignant citizens were prepared to re- 

* The reckless waste of city money and property at this period was not all done by the 
ring, but by members of the dominant party in the city legislature, largely for political 
purposes. .\ report of the committee of jjolitical reform of the Union League Club, made 
iu January, 1873, showed that during the previous three years no less than $4,896,388 
had been given in lands and money to one denomination of Christians in the city of New 
Y'ork, for the support of its religious, benevolent, and educational organizations. 



Kit') 

1-ll-ril IIKIADK. 1S70 liHMO 



s,K>ml to a call U. u pul-Uc .u.-tin;; at tin- (■o..,kt I mo„ on 1 cv - 
iL ..f Septcnhcr 4th. Ja.ncs Hrowu, the o.unu.nt inu.k.T. calUn t e 
.neetinj,^ tl, order. Ex-Mayor Ilavenu-y.r w;us uuulc d.a.nnan and J2 . 
uf the most respcctai^le dti/.ons were named as vue-presulents. htu^ 
L addresses were nuule. It was shown that the cUy debt was then 
^l U! .M>o 000, an increase of ^.;:{,(KH.,oo(. in two yeare. Strong n.olu- 
Jions were adopted denouncing by name the chief consp.rato.-s, and 
n"mn.ending 'neasures for a repeal of tlu^ iniqmtous ana^uhnen of 
the charter procured l.v Tweed. An ex.-cut.ve conumttee of se^ nt\ , 
con^posed of leading citizens, wa.s appointe<l to take measures to ol,tam 
a fu I exhibition uf 111 the .vccounts of the city and of the pe.-sons wh.^ 
for the past two yea.-s and a half, had drawn money fmn> the c.t 
reasurv ; to enforce existing remedies to obta.n tins mf.jrnmt.on, .f 
.efused\ to recover all moneys which had been trau.lulently or felon, - 
ouslv abstnvcted from the treasury, an.l to iissist, sustuu,, amchrec ta 
united effort bv the citizens of New York, without rt-ferenc-e to partN , 
o obtain good govermnent for the city, and honest othce.. to adm.m - 
er it. The conunittee was organized by the appomtntent of llenr, G 
Stebl,ins chairman, Wilham F. llaven>eyer v.ce-chainnan ^0^^-11) 
■ach secretary, and Enul Sauer treasu.-er. The comm.ttee sent forth 
vn'-Apveal to the I'eople of the State of New York,' wntten by 
Major J M. Uun.ly, and then entered with vigor upon the discharge 

'^S.^''rthe exertions of the Committee of Seventy tlie city was. 
soon purged of the mts^ivory band of plunderers who were cb-iven into 
7Z or were brought to the bar of justice.* The fall election which 

. A week after tUo appointment of the Comunttee of Seventy it was fonn.l that 
A week alter lu ij ^hstracted from the comptroUer-s office, many 

voacherstothennmber °'[^^^;^2T\ol..t this act aroused the uulignation of 
rr'itrlhelthXuI T^utvo^w 

he "'•^<^°;!"",,;^^;; ,'';;, .,i,,e. on tLe recon.mendation of Mr. Havemeyer. who wa« 

nToel t V lp,>li-nt to the office of Deputy Comptroller .Vndrew H. Green. 

a Demoemt. 1)J the appoiui discovered that the vouchers had been 

^:::^inX^^^^'^-^^^^^ The committee .ned upon 

thTKotrrof rSteand requested hin. .o appoint Charles OVonor to a.s.s.H the 

attorn V rneral in prosecnt.ng the foremost officers of the city governn.ent for malfea - 

n lee The governor replied that he had not power to comply wUh the request. 

ru^M con^m n*: thT. course to the attorney-general, whereupon the latter author- 

Ted r OT .nor to act for the St«te. and to employ such a.ssoc,ates as he m.ght deen. 

Mr OConor chose William 51. Evarts. Wheeler H. Peckham. and Judge James 

^ZlJS. I'olte: on the strength of an affidavit of Samuel J. TUden. Tweed w.s 

a^estd and held to buU in the sum of S1,.K)0,.)00. and in due t.me he was .nd.cte.l for 

felony. The remainder of his career has been noticed m the text. 



810 IlISTOKV OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

soon followed was a very exciting one in the cit^^ Respectable Repub- 
licans and Democrats united to crush the foul conspiracy and to fill 
the pubUc offices with good men. The result was the utter defeat of 
nearly every Tammany candidate. Tweed was re-elected Senator by 
brute force and vulgar fraud, exercised by the worst classes of New 
York society. 

An important result of tlie labors of the Committee of Seventy was 
the procurement of amendments of the charter for the city in 1873, 
which is now (1883) the fundamental law of the municipality. The 
amended charter, known as the "charter of 1873," vests the corpo- 
rate power in the mayor, aldennen, and commonalty of the city. The 
legislative powers are vested hi a board of twenty -two aldermen, hold- 
ing office for one year from January 1st. The executive power is 
vested in the mayor and the heads of departments created by the 
charter and appointed by the mayor, by and witli the consent of the 
board of aldermen, for the term of six years. Tlie departments are the 
same as those created by the charter of 1840, already noticed. The 
salary of the mayor is 812,000 a year, and of aklermen $4000. 

The law courts remain the same in title and functions as before, 
with shght modifications. These are the Supreme Court, Court of 
Common Pleas, Superior Court of the City of New York, Marine 
Court of the City of New York, district courts, Surrogate's Court, 
Court of Arbitration, criminal courts, Court of General Sessions of the 
Peace, Court of Special Sessions of the Peace, and poUce courts. 
There is also lield in the city one of the nine United States Circuit 
Courts, and one of the I'nited States District C'ourts. 

The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is twofokl — original and 
appellate— and embraces the entire State. The appellate branch is 
called the General Term, and for its pur'i)ose tlie State is divided into 
I'our judicial departments, of which the city of New York is the first. 
It is composed of a presiding judge and two associate justices. AU the 
sessions of this court are held in tlie county Court-House.* The Supe- 
rior Court has jurisdiction similar to tiiat of the Common Pleas. 

* Thfi present (1883) presiding judge or chief instice of this court is Noah Davis, one 
of the clearest-headed, most sagacious, iipright, impartial, and fearless of judicial officers 
in the discharge of his duty. He is a native of Haverhill, New Hampshire, where he 
was bom on September 10, 1818. He is of English descent, and his ancestors wero 
among the earliest settlers in Massachusetts. In 1825 his parents moved from Haverhill 
to a village in Orleans County, in Western New York, which was afterward named Albion, 
where the subject of this sketch received a good common-school education and a few 
months' tuition in an academic institution. 

Choosing the legal profession as his life vocation, young Davis studied law, first at 



FlKTll DI-X'ADK, IHTO IHHO. 



811 



Tlio t'mictions 1)1" tin- Court «.t' ('(.1111111.11 I'lt-as, <.l' wiiirli Cliiirk-s 1'. 
Diil.v is cliief justieo, liuve I)lm.'ii ilesL-rilicil in :i loniicr chapter. Tlii" 
MariiH' Couit lias no jurisdiction in cijuilv. Its [lowei-s are chiefly 
devoted to the adjudication of cases connected with seamen. The 
(Ustriet courts (so tii-st named in ls:.-_>)are inferior tribunals for the trial 
of petty actions, and eonvspond to courts of justice of the jieace in 
towns. The Surrogate's Court has jurisdiction in the ca-ses of wills in 
every form of in-oceduro. The Court of Arhitration. estaiilished in 
IS1:>, is a court of the Chamher of Conunerct% and has already been 
described. The courts of Oyer and Terminer and of Sessions are 
branches of the Supreme Court set apart f(jr the trial of criminals. 
The police courts are si.\ in numl)er. 

One of the most imjiortant events in the city of New York in 1^7:! 
was the annexation to it of a portion of the adjoining county of West- 
chester, beyond the Harlem River, comprising the villages of Mor- 

Lowiston, Ningiini County, iind nftuiwanl »t Black Rock, now a part of tbo city of 
Buffalo. Atlmitted to tbo bar as an attorney, bo began practice as an attorney, first 
at Gaines, Orleans Connty, ami afterward at Buffalo a short time. At tbo B;^e of twonty- 
five (1813) bo formed a law partnersbip with tbo late Sanford E. Cburcb, who at tbo 
time of his death was chief justice of tbo Court of Appeals of the State of New York, 
with whom be continued in the practice of law at Albion until be (Davis) was appointed 
by Governor Kiuj^. in the sprini^ of 18.57, to tbo office of justice of the Supremo Court of 
the State, to fill a vacancy. In the fnll of that year Judyo Davis was elected to the same 
office for a full term of ei^bt year.s. At the expiration of that term he was re-elected for 
another like term. On account of impaired health he resigned the office in the till of 
ISfi!), and was immediately afterward elected to a seat in tbo Forty-first Congress as a 
representative of tbo district composed of the counties of Monroe and Orleans. 

Soon after his election to Congress .Judge Davis formed a partnership in the practice 
of law in the city of Kew York, with the lato Hon. Henry E. Davies, then lately chief 
justice of the Court of Appeals. Having been appointed by President Grant to the office 
of United States attorney for tbo Sontbcm District of New York, he resigned his seat in 
Congress at the closo of the long session, and entered upon the duties of bis new office in 
July, 1870. He took an active part in the warfare against the ring of public plunderers, 
and in 1872 be was nominated by tbo Committee of Seventy and also by the Republican 
convention for the office of justice of the Supreme Court of New York, in the First .Judi- 
cial District, was elected, and took his seat on tbo bench on the first of .January, 1873. 
On the retirement from tbo bench of the late presiding .Justice Ingraham. of that court, 
.Judge Davis was assigned by Governor Dix to the position of presiding justice of the 
First Judicial Department, comprising the city of New York, for the remainder of Uw 
term, which important position he now fills. 

■Judge Davis has ever been a vigilant guardian of the public morals, whether in munici- 
pal or .sociol affairs. Ho is n " terror to evil-doers" of whatever kind. His latest effort 
in the cause nf jiublic morals was bis charge to the Grand Jury of the Court of Oyer and 
Terminer on November 12, IH.s.l, directing tboiii to make a thorough investigation of the 
gmvest rumors against departments of the city government, especially of the coui])- 
troUer's. public works, and excise departments. 



812 HISTORV 01- NEW YORK CITY. 

risaiiia, West Farms, and Kiiigsbridge, increasing- its area about thirteen 
thousand acres, and so nearly doubling its former area of about four- 
teen thousand acres. The now territory forms the Twenty-thml and 
Twenty-fourth wards of the city.* 

The same year (1873) was marked by financial disaster in the city 
and all over the country, and was the period of the lieginning of a 
panic and years of great depression in business until the resumption of 
specie payments by the government and the banks in 1S79. These 
<lisiisters were mainly due to the reckless operations of specidators in 
the Xe\v York Stock Exchange for several years pre\iously. That 
Exchange is the market-place for the purchase and sale of pubUc 
stocks, bonds, and other securities. It is located in Broad, near Wall 
Street. The market value of a seat at the Stock Board is from $2o,()0(i 
to S3o,<HM>. About three hundred thousand or four hundred thousand 
shares of stock change hands daily, and the value of railroad and 
niiscellanoous bonds dealt in is from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. In 
government bonds the transactions now (1883) average each day 
$400,000, while private operations by members amount to several 
millions. 

The Stock Exchange building is in the style of the rrench Renais- 
sance. It is five stories in height, and has an L rimning through to 
AVall Street. Its frontage is 70 feet on Broad Street and 162 on Xew 
Street. The Board room is 1-il feet by 53 feet in size. The I'emainder 
of the building is tlivided into offices. The vaults in the basement for 
the security of valuables are said to be the most extensive in the 
United States. 

The scene upon the floor of the Stock Exchange; dui-ing business 
iioui"s is one of indescribable noise and confusion, especially during 
times of financial distm-bance. Then it presents a most striking jihase 
to the student of human nature. The business methods of the 
Exchange are also peculiar. It is estimated that $9,000,000,000 or 
$lO,O00,0(M 1,000 are nominally transferred from hand to hand for s])ec- 
ulative pur|)Oses in the course of a year. An expert broker assei'ts 
tiiat 10,000 shares a day out of 300,000 shares sold would cover all 
sold on legitimate investment, f 

* The city is now bounded on the north by the city of Yonkers, on the east bj- the 
Bronx and Kast rivers, on the south by the Bay of New York, including its islands (Gov- 
ernor's, Bed!oe"s, and Ellis's), and west by the Hudson River. Its extreme length is 
now a little more than sixteen miles, and its greatest width (from the Hudson to the 
r.ronx) about four and a h.ilf miles. 

f .\inong the most eminent members of the Stock Exchange a short time before the 



i-ikhi decadk. ihto ih80. "^'^ 



Wiis disturlHMl l.v another riot (the precursor of u rno.-e senuus one tlu. 
next ve.r) l.etween t.'o religious faction.s of tlie r.sh ,.o,.ulut.on, 
knoU re pectively ..s Oran,.Mnen and Kibbonmen. Th.- ...rnu-r we.-e 
J^lstanti, the latter were Uon.an Catholu^s. T e Orangen.en we . 
in the habit of celebrating the battle of the I'.oyne July 12 VS. 1...M. 
in Ireland, when Williani III. of England, the Trotestant Pnnce of 
Orange, won a victory over the Uon.an Cathohc tn'-T^, who we 
adhen-nts of James II. These celebrations always produced dl-lcchn, 
among the Irish iwpulation. 

In 1S7(» the Orangemen celebrated the event oy a praU' .m-l a 
picnic at Ehn Park, on Ninth Avenue (the old Uloonung<la e Koad.. 
where they were atUvcked by a gang of Irish laborei-s on the I oul.- 
vard, near bv. Missiles of every kind an<l lireanns were used. an. 
tZe pe.-s.ms were killed and several wounde.1. The not was Muelle.l 
hv the pohce. This affair created gre^vt excitement ""^S^''^ ''^j^'^,'^- 
tive factirms, and when the next anniversary approached the Rd.bon^ 
men o,K>nlv threatened to attack the Orangemen if they dared to 
parade on'julv 12 (ISTl) ; whereupon Mayor Hall ..sued an o.de,- 
through the c'hief of police, fo.bidding the parade. Great ^^as the 

public- indignation because of this ^^^^-^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^f uJof .,"^d 
free assembla-e to the dictation of a rehg.ous and jioht.cal faction, an.l 
Governor Hoffman imme<liately .-evoked the mayor's order. 

Most of the 0.a,.gemen had a.-.-angcd to celebrate the day .n New 
Jersev but Gideon Lodge- "^ 1'^" men, taking advantage of the pe.-- 
..vission .nven, paraded in the city. They were esco.-ted by nu,ne.-o..s 
Xn.e"n a.;/ four regin.ents of militia, one of t^.e,u (the N.nth, 
mo.mted. The streets were lined with spectators When t >o p.-oces- 
sion reached Eighth Ave.u,e, between Twenty-fou.-th and Twenty- 
fifth streets, a shot fh-ed fron. a tene.,.ent-ho..se w=us the s.gnal for a 

• .f 1ST'. ,N«s Lo Grand Lnckwoo.l. « short, stout man. ^rl.osc almost youthfnl 
pame of '« ■'j;"%^,;;;"" ^1.;,^, years- wear an.l tear in WaU Street h«<l no. touched 

LocSooTrCo vhi c'h ho founded, for many years had a controlling influence m the 
toekExVanse Ho b..l l.een in Wall .Street since he was a boy sixteen years of age. In 
f GOhelaTnc^^^^^ fortune. His credit .-as unlimited. He Imjlt near Nor- 

S where he was born in 1821, .he costliest mansion in Connecticut. He l^-l -««« J 
rn^;e„t railway enterprises, and was regarded as a mod.l man .n -"T -P-t - ^^ » 
Street. A financial stom> cuue and swept away his m.lhons, and ,n Feb nar> 8. - >^. 
Lockwood died, a comparatively poor n.an, for he gave up everj-th.ng to l"; '«'^''°7^ 
Ss pastor said at his f'neral : - T have never known a n.an who endeavored to bo more 
true to his country, his family, and his ( Jod. than Mr. Lockwood. 



814 IIISTOHV 01-' NEW YOltK CITY. 

general onslaught by a mob gathered there, composetl of Eibbonmen 
and many of the dangerous class. Pavements were torn up and chim- 
neys were pulled down for materials for assault. These were rained 
on the procession without a sign of retaUation until private Page of 
the Ninth was shot from his horse. His assailant was immediately 
shot down, and a volley of bullets was fii-ed on the rioters. The con- 
test was sharj) and decisive. The mob was dispersed, and the proces- 
sion, having vindicated the right to free assemblage, soon afterward 
disbanded. The city was excited by a fearful jwinic, and business was 
suspended, but order was soon restored.* 

In the smnmer of 1875 one of the most important works for facilitat- 
ing the operations of the immense railway freight and passenger traffic 
centring in the city, known as the Fourth (or Park) Avenue Improve- 
ment, was completed. The Grand Central Depot, between Forty- 
second and Forty- fifth streets and Fourth and Vanderbilt avenues, 
afforded a joint terminus for thi-ee trunk railways — the New York 
Central and Hudson Eiver, the Harlem, and the New Haven— but the 
approaches to it from the Harlem Eiver were dangerous to human life 
on account of the continual passing of surface trains. To obviate this 
four tracks were sunk into an unmense tunnel extending from Forty- 
second Street to One Hundredth Street, and thence by a viaduct and 
open cut to Harlem Eiver. This immense engineering work cost about 
$6,000,000, one lialf of whicii was paid by the city and one half by the 
roads, f 

The next year (1876)— the " centennial year" — a great pubhc work, 
having a bearing on the commerce of the city of New York, was 
partially effected. At the lower end of Long Island Sound, at the 
entrance of the East Eiver, is Hell Gate, a strait, so called because of 

* In this conflict two soldiers, Samuel Wyatt anil Henrj' C. Page, and one policeman, 
Henry Ford, were killed, and twenty-six policemen and soldiers were wounded. Of the 
rioters, thirty-four men, one woman, a girl, and a boy were killed, and sixty-seven were 
wounded. Archbishop McCloskey and others of the Koman Catholic clergy had, on the 
previous Sunday, earnestly requested their flocks not to interfere with the Orange pro- 
cession. They afterward excommunicated the leaders of the rioters. 

f The distance from the Grand Central Depot to the Harlem River is four miles and a 
half, and this is the extent of the engineering work. Iron bridges on brick arches over 
the sunken tracks are at all the street crossings, while iron railings fence in the tracks 
on both sides. A part of the way the roads run through a partly brick-built and partly 
rock-cut tunnel, and over the Harlem Flats the roads are on a stone viaduct, the cross 
streets passing underneath through arches. The space for trains in the Grand Central 
Depot is covered by a glass and iron roof having a single arch of a span of 200 feet and 
an altitude at the crown of 110 feet. The entire length of the building is 695 feet, and 
its width 240 feet. About 125 trains now (1883) arrive and depart daily. 



I'MKTII DICl-.\l)K. 1M;0-I8tt0 M.) 

a (liiiii.ffrMiis \\iiiil[i(M)l in it at certain tiiiics of tin- liilf, eau-scd Ity 
sunken ledges of i<M.-ks. In IsTd the Xational (iovernnient (lircetcd 
tlio removal of these oi)slruetions to navigation. The engineering 
wt>rk was confided to (Jenend Xewton. The drilling and charging of 
the r<K.'ks with nitro-glvcerine <Mru|ti<'d ahout six yeai"s. and in the 
siuniner of isTO the whole mass wius ex|iloded, anil mainly effected the 
desired ivsult. The channel is now jii-rfectly siife, Imt preparations for 
another ex]ilosion are in progress. 

In lS7(i the Emperor and Kmpress of Brazil visited the city, the first 
of reigning sovereigns who ever set foot on the soil of the Ilepuhlic 
excepting the King of the Sandwich Islands, who came the year he- 
fore. Tlie royal Brazilian visitoi-s were informally receiveil, and enter- 
tained as unostentatiously as if they had been j)rivate tourists of dis- 
tinction. Dom Pedro was earnestly interested in the study of our 
institutions, industries, and national resources. In July, after visiting 
the great exhibition of the world's industries at Pliila<lelphia, he read 
his parting address to the people of the United States at a meeting of 
the treographical Society at Cliickering Hall, New York, and then 
departeil for his broad dominions in South America. 

In the same year (ISTfi) the French residents of the city presented to 
it a bronze statue of I.afayette, executed by the eininent sculptor Bar- 
tholdi, in token of gratitude for the substantial sympathy of its citizens 
shown for France during the Franco-German war. This statue was 
unveiled on Septendjer tith. It stands at the southern border of Union 
Square, between the bronze stiitnes of Washington and Lincoln.* 

* The bronze statneof WusUington, iitthe sonth-east comer of Union Square, is eques- 
trian, of heroic size. The bronze statne of Lincoln, ft simple standing figure, is at the 
south-west comer of Union S<iuare. Both were executed by Henrj- Kirko Brown, who for 
many years has been a resident of Newburgh. The statne of Washington was erected 
many years ago, and was the first pulilic work of art of the kind ever set up out of doors 
in the city of New York. The money to pay for it was collected chiefly through the 
exertions of James Lee, Benjamin H. Field, and other cnteqirising merchants and citi- 
zens. The statue of Lincoln was erected by popular subscriptions shortly after his 
a.ssa.ssination. Besides these and the statues in the Central Park, aln-.idy mentiunid, 
there is the bronze statue of Franklin in Printing House Sqtiarc. erected in 18(')7. at the 
expense of Captain De Groot, formerly a steamboat captain on the Hudson River after a 
design by Plassman ; the bronze statue of William H. Seward, l>y Randolph Rogers, nt 
the south-cast comer of XIadison Square, erected in 187f> ; and the statue of Washington, 
by J. Q. A. Wiu'd, erected in front of the United States Sub-trcasuiy building, standing 
on the site of the old Federal Hall, whore ■Washington was inaugurated the first President 
of the United .States. It was erected by the (^hamber of (^llllllll'roe. and was unveiled on 
the centennial anniversary of the evacuation of the city by the British, which took place 
on November 2-1. 178.1. .\l tlie unveiling Oiori-e 'William Curtis, LL.P., pronounced an 



810 HISTUKV (iK NEW VoliK CITY. 

It was during this decade tliat tlie elcvated-i-ailway system was in- 
troduced into the city of N^ew York, the question of rajiid ti-ansit in 
the city practically solved, and its vast usefulness to every class of citi- 
zens demonstrated beyond question. 

For nianj" 3'ears the necessity for means of more rapid transit in the 
city, on account of its peculiar sliape, than the surface railways and 
omnibus lines afforded, had been seriously felt by all classes of citizens. 
Yai'ious projects to accomplish this result were proposed and aban- 
doned. At length an elevated railway seemed to be the most feasible, 
and the " Gilbert" road was begun in (xreenwich Street in 1866. In 
due time two companies jarocured charters — the Gilbert and New York 
Elevated. The Gilbert was at first an object of ridicule, and after a 
sickly existence of about five years it was " sold out by the sheriff." 
The company was reorganized in 1871, but the enterprise was so ham- 
pered by the strong o])position of the surface railway companies, and 
by injunctions and other obstacles in the courts and the Legislature, 
that it seemed at one time as if the work inust be abandoned. But the 
roads had continually gained friends and extended their lines. A few 
courageous spirits had kept up the good fight. They had cariied the 
legal (juestion to the Court of Appeals for adjudication. 

orutiou iu the presence of a large mxiltitude covered by nmbrellas, for rain was falling 
copiously at the time. On the pedestal of the statue is the following inscription : 

■' Ou This Sire in Federal nail. 

April 30, 1789, 

George Washington 

Took the Oath as the First President 

of the United States of America." 

In the evening, after the unveiling of the statue, the Chamber of Commerce and many 
guests banqueted at Delmonico's. 

Preparations are now (1883) in progress for the erection in the harbor of New York of 
the most colossal statue ever produced. It is by Bartholdi, the French sculptor, and is 
the gift of the "people of the Kei5ublic of France to the people of the Republic of the 
United States," as a monument in memory of ancient friendshij), the abolition of slavery 
in the United States, and as an expression of the sympathy of France in the centennial 
annivcr.sai'y of American independence. It was conceived before that anniversary, and 
the colossal hand bearing a torch was on exhibition on that occasion, and also afterward 
in Madison Square, New Y'ork. The statue is of beaten copper, is 148 feet in height, 
and cost $250,000. This sum was subscribed by 250,000 Frenchmen. The statue is en- 
titled " Liberty Enlightening the World." It is a female figure, bearing a torch aloft, 
and wearing a coronet of stars. The National Government set aside Bedloe's Island, in 
the harbor of New York, as a site for the great work, and promised to maintain it as a 
lighthouse. It will stand upon a pedestal and base neai-ly 150 feet in height, giving to 
the whole work an altitude of about 300 feet. The pedestal will cost about $250,000. It 
is in course of construction under the supervision of General C. V. Stone. It will he paid 
for with money raised by voluntaiy subscriptions. 




w . 



M^-^V^.vVV.\ 



KIKI'll I'KlADK. 1H7()-I«tt0. 817 

III lUc spi'lii",' of isTT tlio cloViitiMl niatl passcil into nrw liamls. 
Cyiiis W. Field bocanie its pirsident. With iiis accusUniuHl ciKM-'ry 
ami si^'acity ho waged the war vi-^orously, and <,'ained for the enter- 
prise hosts of friends and ainitli- siipi«)rt. In the fall the Court of 
A])pi'als deeitled all (|uestions in favor of the elevated roads. Their 
eliartei-s were deelared to lie eonstitntional. Injunctions were tlis- 
solved, and all iiiipedinients were hrushed away. On the invitation of 
President Field a larj,'0 nuniher of distinguished men — representative 
citizens — gathereil at Dehnonico's on Deceiniier 2<;tli, to participate in 
a " feast of thanksgiving." On that occasion Mr. Field said : " In the 
month of ^lay [1^78] we hope to be able to convey you all in- steam, 
ill roomy, comfortable cai-s, with seats for all— men, women, and chil- 
,|,.en— swiftly and smoothly, without fatigue and without weariness, 
from the Battery to the Central Park." 

It wiis done ; and now (lSs;l) four elevated railway lines are in suc- 
cessful openiti(m in the city,* oirrying millions of people annually be- 
tween the Battery Park and the Harlem River. They have amazingly 
increaseil the conveniences and comforts of the working people, vastly 
enhanced the value of real estate in the upper part of the city, and are 
advantageous to all classes of citizens and to almost every material 
interest. 

This decade and a jiortion of the next were marked by centennial 
celebrations of important events in the history of the Revolution or the 
old war for independi-nce. The (irst wa.s the celebration at Lexington 
antl Cimcord of the skirmishes thei-e on the lUth of April, 1775 ; the 
la.st was the celebration of the evacuation of the city of New York by 
the British troops on November 2."», 17s8. 

* These nre the Second, Third, Sixth, .ind Ninth Avonne railways. The first starts 
from Chatham S(iniire, eonneots there with the Third Avenue line, and extends to 
One Hundred and Twentj-- seventh Street ; the second begins at South Ferry and the 
City Hall, and extends, by way of the Third Avenue, to the Harlem Kivcr ; the third 
begins at South Ferry, runs through Greenwich and other streets until it reaches Sixth 
Avenue, and thence along that thoroughfare to Central Park : and the fourth, beginning 
at South Ferry, runs up Greenwich Street to Ninth Avenue, thence to the Harlem 
River. Tlie two companies owning the.se roads -the New York Elevated and the Metro- 
politan — have boon practically consolidated by the leasing of both roads to the Manhat- 
tan Company. At the time when the Court of Appeals removed the impediments in the 
way of elevated roods, the seventeen surface rtilroads in tlie city were carrj'ing an aver- 
age of over irir,,00O,0OO persons a year. The omnibus lines carried 14.0(M),(l(KI more. In 
18S3 there were nineteen city railways, the aggregate earnings of which during the year 
ending -Tune :I0 was about $1U,000,OOU. The earnings of the Manhattan Elevated road 
was $(;,21i;,(KJ0. 



818 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

The State Society of tlio Cincimiati, of which Ilainilton Fish * is 
president (and also president of the general society) and John Schuyler 
secretary, celebrated the centennial of the founiling of the society on 
May 13, 1S83. On this occasion a number of the officers and members 
of the society went up the Hudson in the government steamer Chester 

* Hamilton Fisb, son o£ Colonel Nicholas Fish, a distinguished oflBcer of the Revolu- 
tion, was born in New York City August 3, 1808. His father was distinguished at the 
battles of Saratoga and Monmouth in Sullivan's campaign, and the siege of Yorktown 
and the captm-e of CornwaUis. After the war he was adjutant-general of the State of 
New York, was activo.iu public affairs in the city, wus supervisor of the revenue there, 
and was ever an eiiicicnt worker in the religious, charitable, and benevolent institutions of 
which he was a member. His son Hamilton was thoroughly educated, and at the age of 
nineteen was graduated at Columbia College. He was admitted to the bar in 1830, and 
married Miss Kean, a descendant of Herman Livingston, of New Jersey. 

Mr. Fish took an active part in XJolitics in early life as a member of the Whig party. 
In 1842 he was elected to a seat in Congress. He was nominated for the office of lieu- 
tenant-governor of New York in 1S4G, but was defeated by the Anti-Renters and their 
friends, whose principles he had denounced. He was subsequently elected to that office 
on the retirement of Addison Gardner. In 1848 he was elected governor of the State of 
New York by about 30,000 majority, and in 1851 was chosen United States Senator. He 
strongly opposed, in that body, the repeal of the Jlissouri Compromise. He has been an 
active member of the Republican party from its formation until now. 

At the close of his term in the Senate, in 18.57, Mr. Fish visited Europe with his 
family, returning a short time before the breaking out of the Civil War. He earnestly 
espoused the cause of the government, and contributed liberally of his means and per- 
sonal services in support of the national authority. In 1862 he was commissioned with 
Bishop Ames by the Secretary of War to visit the Union prisoners at Richmond, with a 
view to afford them relief, but they were not permitted to enter the Confederate lines ; 
they however made such negotiations that on their return a general exchange of prison- 
ers was agreed upon. 

General Grant, on his accession to the Presidency of the United States in 1869, 
invited Mr, Fish to the chief seat in his cabinet, as Secretary of State, and he performed 
the difficult oud delicate duties of that position during eight years consecutively, with 
great ability as a sagacious statesman. He suggested the Joint High Commission for the 
settlement of the Alabama claims, and conducted the matter to a satisfactory conclusion, 
with honor to himself and to the nation. He disposed of other international questions 
with equal sagacity and success. 

When Jlr, Hayes entered the Presidential chair Mr. Fish retired to private life, but 
not to the indulgence of ignoble case. He was ever an interested spectator of and often a 
participant in the social movements of the day, and watches the course of public affairs 
at home and abroad with the deepest interest. He is active in the religious, benevolent, 
and educational movements in society. In the New York Historical Society he has been 
very active and efficient as a member and presiding officer, and in various social organiza- 
tions, such as the Union League Club, he is an efficient actor. In 1854 Mr. Fish was 
elected president of the General Society of the Cincinnati, and in 1855 he was chosen 
president of the New Y'ork State Society of the Cincinnati, both of which offices he still 
retains. Mr. Fish has done much for the honor and jirosjierity of his native city. His 
son. Hamilton Fish. .Jr.. iidietits in a large degree the abilities of his father. 



Kimi I>KCAI>K. lS70-iyH(l. 81"J 

,1. Ail/iiir, ;iii(l visitfil tlic lii';i<l(|ii.irtiTs of tlin Itaivui Vuii Stfuln-n at 
till' N'orplaiuk mansion in Fisiikili, wlicre the prcliininarv nii-iusures for 
tiio organization of tiic society took pliice ; also the centennial at New 
Windsor, where that or^^^anization was perfected.* These were about 
twenty-Hve in nunil)er. accompanied liy a few invited yui«ts. They 
were saluteil with c-annon peals from the front of AVashington's heud- 
i)uartei"s at Newburgh. 

ilany social, religious, scientific, artistic, cliaritablc, and Ijenevolont 
institutions in Xew York have fii-st appeared since the beginning of the 
fifth decade and during the two or three subseiiuent years. As most 
of these have a histtny yet to be made, only a brief notice of a few uf 
them will be given. 

* This society was foundtil in May, 1783, liy the officers of the Cotitinentnl army, for 
the promotion of a cordial friendship and nnion among themselves, anil for mutual help 
in case of need. To perpetuate the society, the constitution provided that the oldest 
male descendant of an original membtr may bo admitted into the order * and enjoy 
the privileges of the society. The original constitution is written on parchment, and is 
signed by Washington and all the officers of the cantonment at New Windsor at that 
time. There were originally a general society and thirteen State societies. Many of the 
latter have ceased to exist. There are now onlj* those of Ma^ksachusctts, Rhode Island, 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Slaniland, and South Carolina. The Hon. Ham- 
ilton Fish, we have observed, is president of the general society and of the New York 
State society. Of the latter, William H. I'opham is vice-president. John Schuyler secre- 
tary, Alexander J. Clinton treasurer, Edward W. Tapp assistant treasurer, and the Rev. 
M. H. Hutton chaplain. 

• The order or badije consists of a golden eagle, with cnatnellinj^, piifpended iipoD a ribbon. On the 
breast uf the eagle \& n mcdallioD, with a device repret^nling Cinciuoatusathis plough, receiving the Ro- 
man senators who cnrao to offer hiui the chief magistracj of Rome. 



CHAPTER II. 

AMOXG tlie various social institutions in New York City the club 
holds a conspicuous place. Club life is not so ]}revalent here as 
in European cities, yet there are about eighty clubs, of various shades 
of character and intention, in the metropolis. 

The Lotus Cluis is one of the earliest creations of the kind of the 
fifth decade. In March, 1870, six ,young journalists met in the office 
of the Xew York Leader to take steps for the formation of a club 
which should bring into agreeable social contact jom-nalists in particu- 
lar, and literary and professional men, artists, actors, business men, 
and men of leisure of genial disposition and of aesthetic tastes. These 
young men were De Witt Yan Buren of the Leculer, A. C. Wheeler of 
the World, G. W. Hows of the Evening Express, F. A. Schwab of the 
Times,'^ W. L. Alden of the Citizen, and J. H. EUiott of the Home 
Journal. They organized an association, and called it the Lotus Club, 
electing De Witt Yan Buren, a brilliant journalist, the first president. 

* The New York Times, a leading metropolitan journal, was founded in 1851 by George 
Jones and other capitalists, and Henry J. Kaymontl, who was its editor-in-chief. Its 
first issue was early in September. It took a high i)osition in journalism at the start in 
its business and editorial aspects, and has maintained it until now. Mr. Kaymond had 
been assistant editor of the Tribune and the Morning Courier and Enquirer for several 
years, and brought to the new establishment scholarship, great ability, experience, a 
wide knowledge of men, and indomitable industrj' and i^erseverance. 

Mr. Kaymond was a native of Lima, N. Y., where he was born Januarj- 24, 1820. He 
graduated at the University of Vermont in 1840, studied law, was a contributor to 
Greeley's Xeic Yorker, and on the establishment of the Tribune became as.sistant editor. 
He had aecjuired great distinction as a reporter. Whenever Daniel Webster was about to 
make an importiint speech in Congress he sent for Kaymond to report him. He was 
fond of controversy. His discussion of socialism with Mr. Greeley and his controversy 
with Archbishop Hughes may be remembered by middle-aged readers. An astute poli- 
tician, he devoted his paper largely to political topics, until after the administration of 
President Johnson, whose reconstruction policy he at first supported but afterward aban- 
doned. Elected a member of the New York Assembly in 1850, he was chosen its 
speaker, and in 1854 was elected lieutenant-governor of the State. He assisted in the 
formation of the Kepnblican party in 185(5, and wrote the address to the people for its 
first national convention. In 1857 he refused the nomination for governor of the State 
of New York, went to Europe in 1859, was a warm supporter of the gnvernment during 
the Civil War, and was elected to Congress in 18G4. Mr. Kaymond died of apoplexy, 
after attending a political meeting, June 18, 1869. 



I'-IKTU DKtADK, 1S70-1880. >^"<-'l 

lli'diftl MH.ii .il'tcrwanl.iuitl A.Oak.-v Hall. lluMi mayor <»t' tlic c-ity, 
was clinson to sucroccl liiiii. 

At the l)fj,'iniiiii.i; a ivunioii of tlic* mctnhoi-s cn-cry Saturday fvcning 
was pi-ovidotl for. and tlic "Lotus Saturday ni^rlits" liavc iKrouio 
famous. At tlioso reunions might always be found most ajrreeahle 
company. A good dinner early in the evening, music, recitations, 
exhibitions of new works of art, and general convei-sation make u|> the 
chief pleasure of the evening, ^[onthly art receptions are held during 
the winter, and there is also a " ladies' day" once a month. Many 
distinguished pei-sons in literature, art, science, and the learned profes- 
sions have been entertained at dinner by the Lotus. 

The home of the Lotus Club is in a brown-sU)ne front edifice on the 
corner of Twenty-fii-st Street and Fifth Avenue. It is elegantly fitted 
up, its walls garnished with paintings, and the whole furnished with 
(•very applianci^ refjuisite for a liist-class club-house. Its membershi]) is 
hmited to f'.txi ; in 1SS3 it had 4(1(1 meml)ei-s. The initiati<m fee is 
$2<">, its annual dues $50. In 1SS2-S3 Whitelaw Ileid, of the Tnh'iiu; 
was president, Thomas W. Knox secretaiy. and Frederick B. Noyes 
trea.surer. 

TuK Nkw Yokk Prkss Ciab was instituted in December, l-^T-i. 
Active membei-ship in the club is limite<l to pei-sons employed on the 
public press of the city and vicinity, to city correspondents of news- 
Iiai>ei-s abrf)ad, and t(") gentlemen engixged in literary jiui-suits other 
than that of journalism. It was first formed by James Poot-.n, 
Jeremiah J. Roche, and Howard Carroll, and called the Journalistic 
Fr.iternity. It received its ]>rcsent name in October, 1S74:. The first 
home of the club was a small room ; now (18S3) it occupies a suite of 
handsome rooms at Nos. 110 and 1-21 Na.ssau Street, with a fine 
librjiry, rich in files of newsjiapers and reference volumes. The Press 
Club is one of the best and most flourishing of the clubs of New York, 
and numbers over three hundred and fifty active members and several 
honoi-.iry membei-s. 

The officers of the club in 18S3 were : Tmman A. :Merrimim, presi- 
dent ; George W. Pearce, fii-st vice-president ; James J. Clancy, second 
\ice-president ; J. W. Keller, third vice-president ; William H. Stiver, 
treasurer ; George Slater, financial secretary ; iVlbert E. Berg, record- 
ing secretaiy ; Augustine Ilealy, con-esponding secretary, ami II. 
Clay Lukens, librarian. 

SoKcisis, a dub for women, was organized in ^farcb, lsr,s, with the 
long-cherished oiiject in view of jn-omoting jileas:int and useful relations 
ainoiiir women of thon<rht and cultiin-, and render them li.'lpful to each 



822 HISTORY OF NEW YOUK CITY. 

other. A preliminary meeting was held at the house of Mi-s. Jennie C. 
Croly (" Jenny Jraie") composed of the following named ladies : Mrs. 
H. M. Field, ^frs. Professor Botta, Miss Kate Field, who acted as 
secretary ; Mrs. Charlotte Wilbour, and Mi-s. Croly. These signed an 
invitation to several ladies to meet at the same place. Fourteen 
responded in person ; an association was formed, and at the suggestion 
of Mi-s. Croly they adopted for it the name of Sorosis, a Greek word 
sioTiif^Mng aggregation — the union of manj'^ in one. Miss Alice Gary 
was chosen the fii-st jiresident, but was soon compelled to relinquish the 
position on account of ill-health, when Mi-s. Croly was elected to fill 
lier place. She has held the office continuously since March, 1875. 

The club numbered in 1883 about one hundred and fifty members, 
divided into ten standing committees, each a representative of some 
active interest of women. These committees have charge of the social 
meetings, which take place twice a month at Delmonico's, and provide 
papers for oral discussion. Music and readings comjiose the entertain- 
ment. Gentlemen are not admitted to these meetings, but there are 
evening receptions to which they are invited. The officers in 1883 
were : Mrs. J. C. Croly, president ; Mrs. ^'incent C. King, treasurer, 
and Miss Mary A. Newton, secretary. 

There are two Jockey Clul)s in jS'ew York — the American and Coney 
Island. The former was founded by Leonard Jerome and others hi 
ISfit) ; the latter was organized in 1879. Mr. Jerome estabhshed 
Jerome Park, near Fordham, beyond the Harlem River, and there a 
track was laid out and convenient buildings erected. The first race there 
occurred in September, 18(i0. The American is the most prominent 
racing association in the country. It has a fine club-house at Jerome 
Park. The officers of the club in 1883 were : August Belmont, presi- 
dent ; A. C. Monson, treasurer, and J. II. Coster, secretary. 

The Coney Island Jockey Club is composed of the j^ounger mem- 
bers of the American Club. Leonard Jerome is its president. It has 
one of the best race-courses in America at Sheepshead Bay, and a fine 
club-house at Manhattan Beach. Xew York City and its vicinity has 
always been a popular centre for the owners of thoroughbred horses. 
At the Union Course, on Long Island, so early as 1825, Flirtilla and 
Ariel ran a race for a purse of §20,00(1 a side. 

The Germans of the city have a flourishing club known as the II. vk- 
jioNiE, and the Spaniards have one called La Akmonia. The German 
Arion Society or club is asocial and musical association well known 
in the city through its concerts and annual masquerade balls. 

TuE Blossom is a famous political club. It was originally the Ivy 



KIKTU 1)K<A1>K. lt<70 1880. HM 

(irwii. (ir^c^mi/cil in 1m!4. T1h> lirst president was (). \V. I!reiiii;in, 
with William M. Tweed as vice-president. Tweed was one of its great 
li;;lits until he was smhlenly e.xtinj^uislied. The jircsident in lss3 wius 
Kdwanl Kearney, a distinguished Tannuany .sjichcni. The cluli hiuj 
elegant (juartei-s on the corner of Twenty-tliird Street and Uroadway. 

Tlieix> are several athletic cluhs, and clubs representing some special 
intent or calling, like the Ilidt^iind Leather, the Merchants', the Chess. 
the Free Trade, the Kac(|uet, the Cricket, and the I'nivei-sity Club. 
( )ne of the youngest of all these is the Aithuks' Ci.iii, established late 
in lSs-2, designed to bring the older men of lettei-s into more intimate- 
relationship with yrmnger men <if the fraternity. It had in less than a 
year fi-om its organization over fifty niembei-s. 

"We have ol)served that religious, benevolent, and charitaiilc institu 
tions have multiplied since ISTO. Besides about four hundred and 
seventy-live church organizations, there were in the city in lss;5 ai)out 
SO asylums and homes, 2~ dispensaries, 24 hospitals, 20 medical institu- 
tions, and about 200 societies, exclusive of the HO clubs, which wera 
formed for various objects, but largely for benelicent jjuqioses. Be- 
sides these societies there was a large nmnber of seci-et societies, each 
having a benevolent feature. These were respectively named I'nited 
American Mechanics, Ancient Foresters, Dniids, (lerman Turn Vei-ein. 
six Hebrew societies, nine Masonic lodges, numerous Odd F'ellows' 
lodges, Onler of Hermann's Sons, Order of the Sons of Liberty, several 
oitlere of temperance associations, and three benefit societies. There 
were also fourteen trades-unions, all of which have l)enevolent features. 
A large number of the institutions and as.sociations referred to are old 
orgiinizations, yet comparatively few f)f them date their firigin previous 
to 1S8(I. 

One of the earliest of these more modern benevolent institutions is 
tlie WokKr.No WoMKx's Pkotkctive Uxiox, at Xo. 38 Bleecker Street. 
It was founded ]>rimarily for the imriM>se of aiding and protecting the 
large number of women and girls who, by the loss of husbands, fathei's, 
or brothel's in the war, hail been thrown u]ion their own exertions 
for support. It was foumled by leatling citizens. Chief-Justice C. V. 
Daly was its first presidcmt. Its mission has lieon (and is now) most 
benelicent. Before this Protective Union was established the working 
women of Xew York City virtually had no leg.d protection ag.iinst 
iinscru])ulous employei-s, no matter how just their claims, i»r they could 
not aiford tiic exjiciisc of counsel.* 

» The officers for 1882-83 wltc : Smiiucl Willuts (since dccenscd), prcsitlcnt ; •'. H. 



S-U HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

Tiiio West Side Eelief Assocr.vriox began its work in ISii'.t, and in 
1S76 a " Seaside Sanitarium" was connected witli it for tlit; relief of. 
tlie sick and destitute cliildren in the city during tlie hot niontlis. 
Tliis sanitarium was first estabhsliecl at Sea View, on the Long Branch 
Eailroad. It was removed to Far Rpckaway beacli in 1S78, where it 
still remains. During the years 1876-83, inclusive, over sixteen thou- 
sand pei-sons of the class mentioned, with many mothers, were afforded 
the blessing of sea air by this institution.* 

The Ladies' Home Society of the Baptist Church in the city of New 
York was organized in February, 1S()9. Its object is to provide the 
aged, infirm, or destitute members of the Baptist churches in the city 
with board, clothing, medical attendance, and their accustomed relig- 
ious services, t 

St. Mary's Feee Hospital fok CiiiLDitEN was founded in 1S7<>. It 
is one of tlie most active and useful charities of the metropolis. It was 
established imder the auspices of an association of members of the Prot- 
estant E]iiscopal Church known as the Friends of St. Mary, to aid the 
religious order of the Sisterhood of St. Mary, belonging to the same 
church, and which is devoted to the care of the sick and needy, the 
orphan and the fallen, and the education of the young, without distinc- 
tion of creed or nationality. It began in a small way on November 7, 
1870, at No. 206 West Fortieth Street. The increase of its work 
demanding larger accommodations, the Sisterhood were finally enabled 
to l)uild the spacious edifice now occupied by this hospital at No. 407 
AVest Thirty -fourth Street. It was opened with 156 children in 1880, 
and is jtui-suing its benevolent work with zeal anil success. 

Thic Flower and Fkuit Mission is a most salutary auxiliary to the 
system of nursing in hospitals and elsewhere, always bearing a healing 
influence to the sick. It was established in 1870 by benevolent ladies, 
who at the beginning were met with the utilitarian remark, " You had 
better turn your roses into In-ead." They did better ; they persevered, 
and won the gratitude of hosts of the sick and suffering, who were so 
benefited b}' theu- ministrations that they looked eagerly for the visits 
of the "flower ladies." The work was yet prosecuted with zeal in 

Parsons, secretary ; Moses S. Beach, treasurer, and Mrs. Marthii W. Ferrer, superin- 
tendent. 

* The officers for 1882 were : Henry King, president ; Thomas Burgh, D.D.S., vice- 
president ; H. G. Ham, secretary, and James Lewis, assistant secretary. 

t The officers for 1882-83 were : Mrs. D. C. Hayes, Brst directress ; Mrs. S. M. Ambler 
and Mrs. D. Mnrphy, second and third directresses ; Mrs. John M. Brace, treasurer ; 
Mrs. Theron R. Butler, corresponding secretary, and Mis. William J. Todd, recording 
secretary. 




A^/i^.^4-^^^ 



-ii?-^^ 



KIFIII DKCAUi:, IHTo-lM'^i). 



825 



l.ss:!. In INS^ font ritnit ions t if llowcrs ami iVuits \Vfn> received fnnii 
tlie city coriservjitories aiul fnnii l.'il towns; and tliere were distriij- 
iitcd in the hospitals, homes, and anion;^ the sick poor in tenement- 
houses !.">(.•, 000 Ixnujuets and alargei]Uantity of fruit. Of tiiese, 45,o00 
dislrihutions were made in tenement- houses. Tlie reception-rooms 
of the mission are at No. i;>!i Fourth Avenue. 

There is also a Hiiii.i; ami FKirr Missio.n and <'oiree-iiuuse in Kiust 
Tiiirtyfourtli Street, estal)hshed in is?.'), for a simihir purpose. In 
connection witii its Ijeneficent woriv in distrihutin^ij; flowei-s and fiuit 
and dehcacies among the side is a Loan Relief Asswiation, a li)i|o;iiiir. 
house, a kindergarten class, and a restaur.mt.* 

An imjiortant institution foi-the treatment of diseases of the eye and 
ear was founiled in ]S(ii> liy J. Herman Knapp. a native of Prussia, f 
under the title of the Xkw Yokk OrnriiAi.Mic axi> Aikal l.N-rrrLTE. 
Its objects were defined as the providingof a liispensary and a hospital 
for the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear, aiul a school of 
oi)hthalmology and otology, the lienefits of which institution should be 
;;iven gratuitously to patients unal)le to pay therefor, and to other 
])atients for compensiition, but all moneys so received shall be applied 
to the support of the in.stitution.* 

The Home for Old ^Iex aso Aged Couples, at Xo. 4n7 Hudsrjn 

• Tho officers for 1883 were : Mrs. M. A. Elder, prcsiilent ; Mrs. Rebecca Collins and 
Mrs. William F. Mott, vice-presidents ; Miss Elizabeth H. Kodman, treasnrer ; Miss 
Sarah H. Jturray, recording secretary, and Mrs. P. M. Clapp, oorrespondini,' secretary. 
There is a board of twenty.flve managers, nil ladies, and an a Ivisory 1 oard of eight 
ppntlemen. 

f Herman Knapp, M.D.. was bom at Daabom, Prussia, in 18.32. Aftera full collegiate 
conrse he began the stndy of medicine, at the age of nineteen years, ut the University of 
Mnnieh. He continued it at Wurzbnrg. Berlin, Znrich, and Vienna, and graduated at 
the age of twenty-four. He then continued his studies at Paris. LiTndon, and Utrecht, 
and at the age of twent.v-eight became a lecturer in the University of Heidelberg. In 
IHG5 he was appointed professor of ophthalmology in that institution, and became dis- 
tinguished for his contributions to medical literature, tho results ut his scientific re- 
searches. 

Dr. Knapp came to New York in 18H7. established the Ophthalmic and Aural Inslitnte, 
and founded a purely scientilic periodical called Arcliirr.i nf OiMhnlmnliuiii mul fllii'iHjy, 
published in the English and (lermr.n languages. It has appeared regularly ever since. 

Dr. Knapp is an active niembfr of several medical societies, and is consulting .surgeon 
to a number of charitable institutions in the city. In 1882 he was chosen professor of 
ophthalmology in the University of the City of New York. He holds a first rank among 
pppcinlists who treat diseases of the eye and ear. 

{ The officers for 1882-83 were : Frederick S. Winston, president : William A. %\"heelock 
and Dr. \V. H. Draper (since deceased), vice-pr.'sidonts : Eugene S. Itallin. treasurer, and 
Philip Bi.siiinger. secretary. There is a board of twenty-one trustees, several surgeons, 
ond clinical assistants. Mrs. Josephine Ibuightaling is rmtron. 



826 llISTOKi" OF NEW YORK CITV. ' 

Street, is devoted to the assistance of those who, having been accustomed 
to the comforts and in many cases the elegancies of life, tlirough loss of 
property or other causes find themselves in old age without means for 
their support. The admission fee is $250 for each person. These fees 
are placed in the permanent fund, and cannot be used for current 
expenses. The Home is entirely dependent upon voluntary contribu- 
tions for its maintenance. 

The good work began in 1872. Probably no institution of a similar 
nature has had witliin its walls so many good representatives of pi-ofes- 
sional, mercantile, and social Ufe. x\. beautiful site for an edifice has 
been purchased by the trustees, on a height west of Morningside 
Pai-k, where they liope soon to erect a suitable Imiliiing.* 

The CniRcn Mission to Deaf Mutes was established in 1872 by the 
Kev. Thomas Gallaudet, D.D. Dr. Gallaudet and his father are uni- 
versal! v known as the friends and successful instructors of the so-caUed 
deaf and dumb. Dr. Gallaudet began his special work among them in 
September, 1856, when he estabhshed a week-night Bible-class for 
adult deaf mutes in the vestry-room of St. Stephen's Church. He 
founded St. Ann's Church (of which he is still rector) in 1852, and in 
1S72 he became the founder of the Church Mission to Deaf Mutes for 
their temjjoral and spiritual welfare. Its lieneficent operations have been 
extended through the country as far as possible. In the course of time 
deaf mutes were ordained deacons, the first time in the history of the 
Christian Church. They have been powerful heljjers in tlie good work 
of the mission, which is far-reaching in its designs. It is a jierpetual 
blessing to the class of citizens for which it was founded, f 

A new profession for women has been opened bj' the estabhshment 
of training schools for nurses in New York. In 1872 the attention of 
the local visiting committee of the State Charities Aid Association X '^'^as 



* The officers for 1882-83 were : the Right Kev. Horatio Potter, president ex-officio ; 
the Rev. Isaac Tuttle, D.D., vice-president ; Herman H. Cammann, treasurer, and 
Henry Lewis Morris, secretary. 

f The officers for 1882-83 were : the Right Rev. Horatio Potter, president ; D. Golden 
Murray and the Rev. H. Krans, vice-presidents ; A. L. Willis, secretary ; 'Williain Jewett_ 
treasurer ; the Rev. Dr. Gallaudet, general manager, and the Rev. John Chamberlain, 
assistant manager. There is a board of twenty-five trustees. 

I The originator of this association is Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler, daughter of Colonel 
fJeorgf L. Schuyler, of New York City. It was suggested to her benevolent mind by a 
\isit to the Westchester County Poorhouse, not far from her country home. The 
wretched condition of the inmates shocked her. She resolved to attempt a reform. It 
was accomplished in a large degree in the course of a few months by Miss Schuyler, 
assisted by a few ladies of the neighborhood. A permanent association for the purpose 



KIKTIl DKrAOK, 187il-l«80. 827 

callril to the condition of tlio sifk in UcllfViU' ll.ispit.il. Tiicy found 
tliat I'ondition cxtR'nu-ly wivtciicd for tlio want of c()ni|)rtcnt nui-SL-s. 
Tiicy set tlicnisi'hi's t<i tlic task of estaldishinj,' in tliat lios|)ital a train- 
\u'^ si-lioo! foinui-scs. and it was accomplished. They were met at lii-st 
witii opposition and inditTerence ; at the same time they were encoui'- 
aged l)y tiie waiin a]ipioval of sucii eminent physicians as the hite Dr. 
James K. AVood, and Di-s. Austin Fhnt and Stephen Smitli. Dr. M'. 
Gill Wyhe ofTered to go to Europe at iiisown expense and gather infor- 
mation as to the methods of similar institutions there, and it Wixs under 
liis direction that tiie Tkaixinc; Siiiool fok Xikses at Bellevue was 
organized. A conii)etent person (Miss Bowden) Wius placed at the head 
of the school, and its good work was speedily manifest. There is a 
Nui-ses' Home atXo. 4-2(i East Twenty-si.vtli Street. On their gradua- 
tion the nurses are furnished with a diploma, and a hadge hearing the 
words, " Bellevue Hospital Training School for Xuises," with the 
figure of a stork, the symbol of watchfulness. This is one of the most 
useful institutions in the city, and is giving jxiwerful aid to the work of 
the medical profession. 

In 1ST5 the Xew York lloma^opathic Surgical Hospital and the 
Homoeopathic Hospital for Women and Children were merged into one 
institution, which was incorporated under the title of the Haii.vkm.vxx 
HosPHAL OF Tuii rriv oF Xkw York. Connected with it is a Ladies' 
Hahnemann Hospital Association. With these auxiliaries it is a strong 
and very flourishing institution. Its objects are those for which all 
hospitals are founded, but the system of homoeopathic thenipeutics is 
its distinctive feature. The institution occuj)ies a s])aciou-; building on 
Fom-th Avenue, between Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth streets. The 
coraer-stone was laid in 1877, on which occasion Salem II. Wales, the 
chairman of the executive committee, in an address g:xve a brief histoiy 
of its origin. Mr. Wales has been one of its most .active officers from 
its beginning.* 

The Pkovidf.xt Dispensary for Working Women .vnd Gikls was 
founded and established in January, ISSO, liy Miss Ella A. Jennings, 
M.D., an earnest and philanthropic young woman, and a graduate of 
the Woman's Medical College of Xew York. The design of the insti- 

of niiling tho State Bonrd of Clinrities in ita work of reforming the pnuper system in lUu 
State wa8 organize'! in 1S72. and clothed with power by the State. It is doing noble work 
in its chosen field of labor. 

* The oflicers in 1882-83 were : Snlem H. Wales, president ; Eoger H. Lyon, secreturj- ; 
John T. Willcts, treasurer ; William Bryan, JI.D., resident physician. Mrs. Jonathan 
Stiugcs was president of the I.adios' Ilnhnemann Association. 



828 HISTORY OF NEW YOliK CITY. 

tution is a noble oue, ami its works have been inos-t beneficent. It fur- 
nishes to \vorl<ing women and girls an opportunity for examinations, ad- 
vice, and treatment, by one of their own sex, at almost a nominal price. 
There have been during its existence an average of 2500 patients pre- 
scribed for and treated annually. The dispensary is open evenings as 
well as during the day, for the acconunodation of those who cairnot 
attend in the daythne. The dispensary is conducted under the auspices 
of an advisory committee of well-known laches and gentlemen. It is 
at No. 144 East Seventeenth Street. It is estimated that thei'e are 
moi*e than 180,000 working women and girls in the city of ISTevv York. 
In contemplation of the suffering in such a vast army, the value of such 
an institution may be approximately estimated. 

Xew Yoi'k City presents facilities for acquiring medical education 
second .to none in the world. American students have now no urgent 
necessity for seeking instruction in medical science in transatlantic in- 
stitutions. This recognized fact is manifested by the hosts of students 
who fill the medical schools of Xew York City, and for the last two 
years have swelled the number of annual graduates to over five hun- 
dred. The catalogues of three schools show the names of pupils from 
every State in the Union, from South American states, from Central 
America, from Mexico, from Brazil, from Canada, and in some instances 
from France and Germany. 

There are in the city seven medical colleges, to all of which the hos- 
])itals are open for the acijuirement of practical knowledge. Of these 
colleges, four are allopathic, one is homoeopathic, one is eclectic, and 
one is a M'oman's college. These have all received notice in these 
pages. They all have the advantages of the best medical talent in the 
city, either in their chairs or as consulting physicians and surgeons. 

Foremost among the medical associations in the city is the Xew 
York Academy of Mkdicixt^, of which Fordyce Barker, ^I. D., LL.D.,'- 

* Fordyce Barker, M.D., LL.D., is one of the most experienced and eminent physi- 
cians of our country. He is of English descent, and was born at Wilton, Maine, May 
20, 1819, where his father was a prominent physician, but in later years resided in New 
York, and died there in 1858. The subject of this sketch was graduated at Bowdoin 
College in 1837. Choosing the healing art as a profession, he studied it under Drs. 
Bowditch and Perrj- in Boston, also at the Harvard Medical School, attending two full 
courses of lectures. Ho was also for a year a private jjupil of the eminent Dr. Charles 
H. Stedman, and acquired valuable experience through his residence in the Chelsea Hos- 
pital, of ivhich Dr. Stedman was physician. Returning to Maine, he entered the Bow- 
doin Medical College. On his gi-aduation, in 1841, he received the degree of M.D. His 
thesis on the occasion was phthisis pulmonalis, a disease which had particularly com- 
manded his attention becan.se it had ended the life of his mother a short time before. 

Determined to be thoroughly prepared before entering upon the practice of his profes- 



FIFTH DKCADK. 1870- 1S»0. 829 

is pi'csidi'iit. It was rniiiuli'il in l>47 In" tin- associiitioii cif tlic licsl aixl 
iiiDst cmiiu-iit men in tlic in-uCi-ssion, fur tiiu avoWL'tl |iui|)i>se's of ciiiti- 
vatin;f till' srieiK-e of iiu'dicino, tlic a<lvaiici'iiieiit of tin; ciiaraitei' and 
iionor of the profession, tlie I'levation of tlii' standard of medical educa- 
tion, and lln^ promotion of the puMic health. Nohly have these |iur- 
lK>ses biH.m pursued foi- more than a tliird of u century, with the 
liappiost results. 

Tlie lalioi's of the Acatlemy in tiie work of sjinitaiy reform alono 
entitle it to the lasting firatitude of every dweller in tin' metro]M)lis. 
" 1 claim for it," miul Dr. Willard Parker, its former president, " the 
ri^ht to recognition as the fountain-heail of whatever <>xcellenoe New 
York may hoast as to sanitary rejiulations ; the right to style it.self the 

siou, Pr. liurker went to Kiirope, ami aftur devoting con.sidcrablu time to Htudy iu the 
great hospitals of London and EdinViurgli, ho went to Paris, where he remained about 
two years, stndyin<; nndiT the most eminent physicians and receiving the degree of M.D. 
With his diploma he returned home and began the practice of medicine at Norwich, Conn. 
He was called back to Maine to take the chair of obstetrics in liowdoin llcdicul College, 
after which he wa.s elected professor of midwifery ami the diseases of women in the New 
York Medicjil College. lie had married, a few years before. Miss Elizabeth Lee Dwight, 
of S|>riuglield, JIass., an accomplished young lady of high social position, and ho now 
made New York City his |)eriniineut home. 

In 1854 Dr. Barker was appoiiited obstetric physician to the Bellevne Hospital, and 
held that position until 187-1. In 18(il he became professor ot clinical midwifery and tho 
diseases of women in the Bellevne Jledical College, which was oiganized that year, and 
still fills that chair. He is cnnsnltint,' physician t.> liellovne Hospit,-»l, to the Nursery anil 
Chilli's ni<s]>ital, to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and LUrgcnn to the Woman's Hospital. Ho 
is one of tlio most active and efficient members of tho .Voulemy of Medicine. In 18.^7 ho 
was elected its vice-president. He is now (1883), and has been for several years, presi- 
dent of that institution. In 18.5!t ho was elected president of the New York State Medical 
Society, and ho is a member of mo.st of the principal medical organizations in the city, as 
well as of many charitable institutions. Ho is also an honorary Fellow of the Royal 
Medical Society of .Vthens, Greece, and of the obstetrical societies of London, Edin- 
burgh, Philadelphia, and Louisville ; of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, and of 
several State medical societies. 

Dr. Barker has made many vaInal)lo contributions to medical literature. The most 
important and widely known and appreciated of his works, anil the one on which his 
reputation as an author chiefly rests, is cnlitled "The Puerperal Disease." It is an 
octavo volume of about six hundred pages. It has p,is.sed through several editions, 
and been translated and pnbli.shcd in the Italian, French, and German languages, at 
Milan, Paris, and Leipzig. .V leading French medical journal speaks of tho work as 
follows : " These lessons on tho pner|)cnil diseases will place Fordyce Barker in the rank 
of the great clinical teachers — Choniel, Andral, Trousseau, Graves, of Dublin, and Hughes 
Bennett, of Edinburgh." Dr. Barker's vjist experience in the special lino of puerperal 
diseases exceeds, prob.ibly. that of any living physician, covering many thousand 
cases. Ho stands confessedly at the head of practitioners in that department of tho 
medical profession, and ho has a deservedly high reputation in every other department 
of the healing art. 



830 HISTOKV Ol" NEW YUKK (.ITV. 

bulwark between disease and the public weal, and tiius it has been 
worth to this city by its services, millions of dollars. For to the Acad- 
emy New York is indebted for the existence of its protecting Board of 
Health — a board that has warded off disease that might have involved 
the lives of thousands of citizens and millions upon millions of prop- 
erty. The Academy set in motion that efficient Board of Health that 
did tliat great work of stamping out cholera \vhich saved untold lives 
to the State. This offspring of the Academy has inspired most of the 
legislation upon hygiene ever since, reformed our buildings, given us 
improved sewerage, checking the adulteration of food, and especially of 
punishing those who have destroyed unnumbered children with adul- 
terated milk." 

For many yeai-s the Academy longed for a pei'inanent home. It was 
gratified in 1S75 by the purchase of a lot and building in West Thirtj^- 
first Street, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Since then, by the 
numilicent benefactions of Dr. Abraham Dubois (deceased) and the gen- 
erous subscriptions of members of the Academy, the building has been 
so enlarged as to cover the entire lot with a library hall and audience- 
room, which was completed in 1S79 and dedicated on October 2d of 
that j^ear.* 

Three institutions designed for the diffusion of knowledge and estab- 
lished early in the iifth decaile appear conspicuous in the social history 
of Xew York (^ity. These are the American Museum of Xatural His- 
tory, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Lenox Lilirary. The 
second one nameil is within the Central Park, the otlier two are on its 
borders. 

TuE American Museum of Natueal History, of which Morris K. 
Jesup t is now (1883) president, was incorporated in April, 1869, for the 

* The Academy possesses a valuable library of about eighteen thousand volumes, open 
free to the profession and the public for consultation and reference. A portion of these 
volumes is the gift of an ex-president of the Academy, Samuel S. Purple, M.D. They con- 
sist of many very rare and precious books, and were valued, at the time of their presen- 
tation, at $10,000. The publications of the society are several volumes of " Transac- 
tions," of the " Bulletins," and more than fiftj' addresses, memoirs, reports, etc. 

The ofScers of the Academy in 1882 were : Fordyee Barker, M.D., LL.D., president ; 
James R. Leaming. M.D., Frank H. Hamilton, M.D., LL.D., and Robert F. "Weir, M.D., 
vice-presidents ; Edwin F. Ward, M.D., recording secretary ; John G. Adams, M.D., 
corresponding secretary ; Ilorace P. Farnham, M.D., treasurer. 

f Jlorris K. Jesup is of English descent through both parents, who were of the genu- 
ine Puritan stock who first settled New England. His family for many generations lived 
and died in Fairfield County, Conn. He is the only survivor of the eight children (six 
sons and two daughters) of Charles and Abby Sherwood Jesup. The latter was a daughter 
of the Hon. Samuel B. Sherwood, a graduate of Yale, an eminent lawyer, and a member 



I ll-Tll 1)KCAI>H, 1870-1H''». ^'^^ 

purpose of ..stal.lishin;, an.l .Maintaining^ in tl.- .ity of N'"-^-;-;; - 
nulmn an.l lil.nuv of natural l.islory ; ..f enrounig.n;,^ un.l a. .l.p.nj^ 
tiT vof natural scionc-e ; of a.lvanci.,,^ th. g.-n..al kno.-lo.lge o 
,X subjects, ana to that end of funusiuug popular n.t.uefon and 
r cltion. Having mised money enough in the course ol a lew weeks, 
^:^v f..n sn..sc,i,.tions l.y n.ena.ers of tl- boa.d of tmsU..* t^l. 
manaoei-s pu.vhased a valuable collection of spec-nnen. of n-.tu.a 
^^:;. including the KUiot collection of hinls of N..th An.er.ca. ;u,d 
the entire nu.seun. of Prince Maxin.ilian of Neuw.ed. "^X l-'';- - 
of the Park ( 'omuussioners these ac.iuis.t.ons were exh.h.t.-d .n tin, 
Arsenal buildings in Central Park until the present fire-proot bun.hng 
(onlv a win.' of a conteniplate.l immense stinicture) was con,pl<-te.l and 
So.; to ;i.e public in I>..end.er, IsTT.f J^^^ ^'f^'^^'^^^!^;;' ^^^ 
rlbly .lispose.1 in haUs or .-n baU-omes. The halls are 1 ... tec-t m 

rf? In 8i3 he entered the service of Rogers. Ketchnm A Grosven-.r. Durr h- r.- 
linel r 'e vL.. ,1 .a1.,«V.lo business e.l.xc.tion, until 1852. when he ..e««n bus.ness 
"n'Ju .;:wL .ir. n..n>eof ClarU .V .Ies.,p. Four ye^rs afterv^anl he or«..a.zed 
.1 o «rn, of M K .lesnp & Co. {now, in 1883, Jesnp. Paton & Co.) 

F r he be^innTng o£ his business career Mr. .lesup b.s earnestl.v . levote.l a l«r,e 
port! o h. Ihue ana means to the work of char.ty an.i philanthrop,-. "<> »- ^^^ 
rhe^rrXai foanaers of the Young Men's Christian .Xssoeiation. an,l conlnbu.c.l hberallj 
o th fll^aforthe erection of itselegant an.l spacious hou.. ^-T:^^^^^^^ 
president of the Five Points House of Industrj-. presi.lent of the New \ork f^»> ^''^ ^° 
Soc V presi.lent of the .American Maseum of Natural History. v.ee-pro.sKlent of ho 
J::;:^i^ Alliance, and director of the Deaf ..nd ^^^f^ ^f^^J^ %:^l,^: 
tions He was among the 6r.t to recognize the need of the I n.tcd States H'"st. n 
CrmisSon during the Civi, War. was efficient in effecting its organ.zat.on. and was Us 

^'xTreaders of this wcrk will find the name of Mr. Jesup conneete.l officially wnh 
Jnv octo bell and .„ost efficient institutions in the city designed for the pro.uot.ou 

^ Ihe arciiitec. , „«ndstone door and window trimmings. 

m,„»l .ajumi ot 11,. mm..™. .«nl.i«lng .b.«l «0..n ..r.. «I l.»a. 



83-^ IlISTOUV OF NEW YORK (1 lY. 

length and (Wi feet in width. Tlie collections have been arranged under 
the wise supervision of the learned Professor Albert S. Bickmore, the 
superintendent of the museum ; and so constant are the accessions to 
the collections that more room is greatly needed for a proper disposi- 
tion of the contents of the institution. It embraces in its present posses- 
sions and its grand design everv^ department of natural histor}",* and 
it promises to speedily become one of the grandest institutions of the 
kind in tlie world. It is already a very popular ])lace of resort, 
especially for young j)eople. The number of its visitors during 
the year ending September 1, 1883, was fully C.u.dou.f It is a poten- 
tial instructor of the people. 

The Lenox Library with its buiklings and ground is the free gift to 
tlie citizens of Sew York from the late James Lenox, and is the noblest 
and costliest of the munificent benefactions the city of his birth has 
received at his hands. The library building is on Fifth Avenue, front- 
ing Central Park, between Seventieth and Seventy-first streets. The 
institution was incoi-porated in 1870, and by its charter was placed in 
the charge of nine trustees — namely, James Lenox, "William II. Aspin- 
wail, Hamilton Fish, Piobert Ray, Alexander Van Rensselaer, Daniel 
Huntington, John Fisher Sheaf e, James Donaldson, and Aaron Belk- 
nap. The trustees hold the office for life, filling all vacancies in their 
own number by a vote of two thirds. 

* In addition to the ordinary departments of natural history, the museum has an 
economic department, in which is illustrated, by specimens, the products of the forests 
of our Republic which are useful in the arts and manufactures. This department was 
established through the liberality of the president of the museum, Morris K. Jesup. 
It also has a most attractive department of North .\merican archieology and ethnology. 
A lecture department for oral instruction in natural history was inaugurated in 1879 by 
Professor Biekmoi'e, who gives lectures at the museum at stated times to classes made 
up of teachers in the public schools of the city. The instruction imparted to these 
teachers is given, as designed, to their pupils, and so the children of the public schools 
are reached by these lectures. 

\ Admission to the museum is free of charge on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and 
Saturdays each week. The conditions of its support are : the trustees are to furnish all 
the exhibits and to keep them accessible to the public ; the Department of Public Parks, 
as the representative of the city and State, furnishes the grounds and buildings, equips 
the same, and keeps them in repair. A contribution of $1000 at one time constitutes 
the giver a patron. |oOO a fellow, and $100 a life-member ; or books and specimens of 
twice the amount in valoe may be accepted instead of money. 

The first officers of the .\merican Museum of Natural Histoi-y were : John David Wolfo, 
president ; Eobert L. Stuart and William A. Haines, vice-presidents ; Theodore Eoose- 
velt, secretary, and Howard Potter, treasurer. The officers for 1883 were : Morris K. 
Jesup, president ; Eobert Colgate and D. Jackson Steward, vice-presidents ; Hugh 
Auchincloss, secretary ; J. Pierpont Morgan, treasurer ; Professor Albert S. Bickmore, 
superintendent. 



KIITII liKiAlMv ISTU-IHSO. 

Tho L<M,..x Uhnu-y Nvas ..sUtl.lislH-l U>v - Um" imbh. ..xl..l.innn un.l 
sc-hobrlv us., of tlM.'.n..st ra.v an.l l..vcious of such n,.,nun..-nls an. 
moMUTials of tl.o typographic art an.l the historic past '-''=' ^■;;;;^';;;i;: 
the wreck an.l been preserve.l t.. this .hiy." It .s unhl<.. an> olhe 
lil.rarv. It is n.>t a f,n-eat gene.ul hhmry inte.ulecl m .ts en.h.wn.ent 
,„.l ;.,uipn,ent for the use of mule.s in all or nmst of tin, .lepa.tnu-nts 
of human kn..vvle.lirc, yet it is absolutely with.mt a peer or »n^'U a 
rival in ih.- sp.-cial coil.n-tions to whi.-h th..^ t,uste, generosity, an. liberal 
scholai-siiip of its loun.ler .U'V..te 1 hs b.st gifts of mtelWtual ab.hty 
„,1 ..n,,!.: pccu,.iary res.mrc.es. - It rep.-es.nts the fav.,nt., stu. ..« of 
a lif..tin,econsecrate.l, after .lue offices ..f religion an.l ch.nty. to the 
ch.)icest pui^iuits of literature an.l art." 

Th.> inu...sing structure which contains this rare collectu.n " I'^.-rary 
an.l art treasures is built ..f Lockport lini.^st..ne, which resen.bles hgh 
..ranite. It has a frontage ..n Fifth Avenu...f V,^-> le..t an-llUfeol 
on each ..f the two cross streets, an.l is three stories in height with a 
baseuLMit. Nearly ooinpleted at the beginning of 1877, the c..llecti.>n 
of paintings ami 'sculpU.io w.ts Hrst opened t,> visitors m . anuary ..f 
that year The entire expense r.f the buil.ling an.l its furnishing, 
amounting t., fully s1,000,0.h.. was lK>rnc by Mr ':''"''^;''^:;':; "'' 
also emlowed the institution with a permanent fun.lot n.-arly $->..•',(.,.(.. 
With a very few exceptions, the .'iitire contents of the building-its 
.-Kcee-lingly'rareaiul costly books, its paintings ami sculpture, and its 
ceramics-arc the gifts .,f the gener.M.s f.mmler.* Mr. Leimx, as this 

. The Ul,r,.rv is sp^cUlv ri.li .n sp.cin.ens of tho c.rlior i.roclncts of the art of print- 
in. La of firit Jl co.nplete editions of f«.nous .-orks for cxa.uplo : oop.es of eyeo 
kno^" edition of banyan's " PUgrim's Progress." of M.lton's " P«r.,l.se Lost, of 
Son's "Complete Angler,- etc. It contains specimens ot nearly every kno«-n ea- 
Uon o^the Bible, ot Shakespeare's works, and of conspicuous .Vmencan publuat.ons. 
There n,»A.e seen a perfect copy of the famous Ma^arin Bible (so c.lU.,,,, i'""'-'. '' - 
bel ved, by Gutenberg and Faust about U-'iO -the first complete book pnnted rom 
mo -able tvno. There are two copies of the '• Biblia Pauperum." a su^all book of fort) 
pajes pi^^ted from engraved blocks in the manner of the Chinese pnnt.ng. It was 
r2,ed lout 143.1. or about twenty years before movable t,-pe -- invented. There .s 
ZafU".ent o^ " Sebctions from the Histories of Troy." printed by Ca.ton ..bou 
147.1 U.« first book printe.1 in the English language ; also a copy of the first book printed 
on the \«.erican continent, bv Roman Catholics in Mexico, who sot up the hrst prmtvng 
;:ess si in America. The library also contains a very valuable coUect.ou of nuu...cnpt 
books, including beautiful copies of the Biblo several 1-ndred years "l''--""" °^ 
paper and velluu.. The number ot books in the collection m 1883 was -J^-'^ ''«-'-> 
thousand volumes, including the libmry ot the late Evert A. ^"-V'.k.nck of New "kork. 
who presented il to the Lenox Libra.y a short tiuie before h,s doa 1, .n 18,S. 

The art HIery occupies a greater part ot the central portion ot the second sto^. «nd 
contains about one hundred and fifty paintings, chieBy modem, executed b, distin- 



\ 



.834: HISTORY OF NEW YOUK CITY 

collection attests, was one of the most learned and industrious collectors 
during a long life. 

Only four of the original trustees of the Lenox Library were living 
in 1883. Mr. Lenox, president of the trustees, died early in 1880.* 
Kobert Lenox Kennedy has since filled that office, with George H. 
Moore, LL.D., as treasurer. The institution has been fortunate in the 
selection of its immediate managers. Dr. Moore is its general superin- 
tendent, lie brought to that service the experience of nearly a quarter 
of a century as librarian of the New York Historical Society. The 
librarian is S. Austin AUibone, LL.D., the learned author of "A Dic- 
tionary of English Literature and British and American Authors, 
Living and Deceased " — a work of vast research and labor, containing 
3U,000 biographies and hterary notices. These gentlemen are among 
the most accomphshed and thoroughly informed bibhographers in the 
country. 

gnished American and foreign artists. Among the most valuable of these is the cele- 
Ijrated painting by Munliacsy, the eminent Hungarian artist, representing " Blind Milton 
Dictating Paradise Lost to His Daughters." It was presented to the institution by its 
president, Mr. Kennedy. 

* Mr. Lenox on his death-bed requested that no particulars of his early life and career 
should be published. He was the only son of a successful Scotch merchant, Ilobert 
Lenox, in the city of New York, and had five sisters, all but one of whom married. 
James was born in New York City in the year 1800, and received an education appropri- 
ate to his station and large inheritance. It was expanded by rare opportunities of for- 
eign travel, with wide experience of men and things. His inheritance was large, and he 
had the opportunity to indulge his tastes to the fullest extent. He never married, lived 
a secluded life, and had very few intimate friends. His private charities were very 
extensive, but known only to himself and the recipients. His public benefactions were 
munificent. In every relation in life his influence was that of a thorough Christian gen- 
tleman inspired by the sense of duty and governed by the obligations of justice. He 
died calm and peaceful, as he had lived, at his home in his native city, on February 17, 
1880, in the eightieth year of his age. His enduring monument is the great library he 
had gathered and presented to the city of New York. 



niAPTER III. 

'"T^HE Motropnlitan Musoum of Ait, situiitprl on the eastern border 
1 cil' tlie Central Park, opposite Eiglity-secoml Street, is tlie jiroduet 
of tiie cultivated taste and reKnement and tlie wealtli and genemsity 
of tlie citizens of the metropolis. It is a permanent coadjutor of otiier 
art as.sociations in the city designed to cultivate a knowledge and a 
love for the line arts of design in every department. 

A memorial from American citizens in Europe suggesting the impor- 
tance of estahlishing a museum of art in the City of New York, was 
transmitted to the lion, .loiin Jay sis president of the Union League Club, 
some time during the summer of ISfiit. It was referretl to the art com- 
mittee for consider.ition. The committee coasisteil of (ieo. P. Putnam, 
Chairman, J. E. Kensett, J. (I A. Ward, W. "Whittredge, Geo. A. 
Baker, V. Colyer, and S. P. Avery, Secretary. At the October meet- 
ing of the club it was voted to allow the use of the theatre to the art 
committee for convening a gathering of citizens to consider the object 
urged by the committee. The meeting was duly held there on Xovem- 
ber, 2'i, ISC'.t. William Cullen Pryant presided an<l S. P. Avery and 
A. J. Ploor acted as secretaries. Xotable persons imule addresses, and 
a general committee of fifty were ajipointed to carry on the wr)rk. 
Several of these gentlemen became trustees and have so continued. Mr. 
Putnam was one of the most active and esteemed members until his 
death.* 

The iissociation was organized m the spring of 187o by the ap]X)int- 
ment of John Taylor Johnston f pi-esident, and a board of executive 

• The corporators named in the charter were : John Taylor .Johnston. William Collen 
Bryant, .John A. Dix. George W. Curtis, William 11. .\.s|>inwall. Christian E. DetmoM, 
.Vndnw II. (ircen, William .1. Iloppin, .John F. Kensett. Edwin D. Mnr^an, Howard 
Potter, Henry G. .Sttdibins, William T. Blodgett, Samuel L. M. Barlow. George F. 
Comfort, Joseph H. Clioate. Frederick E. Church, Robert Gordon. Richard 51. Hunt. 
Robert Hoe, Jr., Eastman Johnson. Frederick Law Olmsted, George P. Putnam. Lu- 
cius Tuckerman. J. Q. A. Ward. S. G. Ward, Theodore Weston, and Russell Sturgis, Jr.. 

f John Taylor Johnston was born in New York City April 8, 1S'2II. His father was 
John Johnston, of the mercantile firm of Boorman & Johnstm. and his mother (who 
lived until she was ninety-six years of agei w.is a daughter of J ihn Taylor, another emi- 
urut New York merchant. Both parents were of Scotch lineivge. 

At the ago of twelve years young John was placed in the high .school at EdinburRh, 



836 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

officers. Having acquired some oxeollent paintings of the various 
European schools, tlie first public exhibition was given at No. HSl Fifth 
Avenue, in February. 1S72. The following year tiie famous di Cesnola * 



where he remained a year antl a half, when he entered the University of the City of New 
York, of which his father was one of the founders and benefactors. He graduated at the 
ago of nineteen, chose the profession of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. \t 
the early age of twenty-eight years he was chosen president of the Central Railroad of 
New Jersey, and held that position twenty-eight years, when impaired health compelled 
him to resign. At an early period he became largely interested in railroads and the 
anthracite coal-trade, the development of which became the chief employment of his 
business life. His literary culture and his ajsthetic tastes impelled him to devote much 
time and money to the gathering of a very valuable library and a rare and costly gallery 
of paintings and sculpture and articles in other departments of the arts of design. He 
was one of the earliest and most earnest promoters of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
and on its organization in 1870 he was chosen its first president, which position he still 
holds. From the beginning he has been its most devoted and liberal supporter. He is 
also president of the University of the City of New York, and is an active and generous 
officer in many religious, social, literary and benevolent organizations in the city of his 
birth. Mr. Johnston has always acted in accordance with the spirit of his remark to a 
friend nearly forty years ago : "I con-sider it just as much my duty to give to benevolent 
institutions as to pay my butcher's bill." From his youth he has had ample means to 
act upon this sentiment. 

In 18.50 Mr. John?ton married Miss Colles, of New Orleans. With a charming domestic 
circle around him, he dispeu-ses hospitality with a generous hand. From his young man- 
hood he has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is an elder therein. In 
every relation in life— business, social and domestic — Mr. Johnston is an exemplar 
worthy of imitation. 

* Emmanuele Pietro Paolo Maria Luigi Palma Count di Cesnola was bom at Kiva- 
rolo, near Turin, Italy, June 29, 1832. His family came originally from Spain, but since 
1282 they have resided in Piedmont, and as early as the fourteenth century were invested 
with feudal privileges and power over the region where the subject of this sketch was 
born. There are now two distinct families of Palma in Piedmont— that of the counts of 
(Jesnolrt, of which he is the representative head, and that of the counts of Borgofranco, 
the latter being a branch issuing from the di Cesnolas. 

L. P. di Cesnola (as he signs his name) received a thorough collegiate education, after 
which he was placed in a seminary, with a view to his i)reparation for the priesthood. 
He preferred a secular life, with more activity, and when in 1818 war broke out between 
Austria and Sardinia, he left the seminar*' and entered the Sardinian army as a volun- 
teer. He behaved so bravely that in 1819 he was promoted to a lieutenancy on the 
battlefield. He was then the youngest commissioned officer in the Sardinian army, 
being a little morn than seventeen years old. After the close of this war he was sent to 
the Royal Military Academy at Cherasco to complete his military education, where he 
was graduated in 1851. He served in the army several years, and early in I860 came to 
.\merica, landing at New York. In June, 1861, he married Miss Mary Isabel Reiil, 
daughter of Captain Samuel C. Reid, V. S. N. , the brave commander of the privateer 
Oeneral Armstrong in her struggle with several British ships in the harbor of Fayal, in 
18U. 

Di Cesnola entered the United States volunteer sen-ice in .\ugust, 1861, as lieutenant- 



KIKTII DKCADK. 1870 1880. 837 

collection i>l" Cvpiiuti' anlKiuitios \v:us added to tho museum, Iwing pur- 
chiused liy tlie piesidi-nt iind (lejK)sit»'tl in the museum, and sul>.se(iuently 
l)ecomin'; its ])r<>iiorty. This iuhhtion made more ample room neces- 
sary, iind the museum was removed to the L)uu;i,diis mansion, in Four- 
teenth Street, where it remained until its removal to its present per- 
manent home in Central Park, furnished hy th<^ Park ("ommissionei's 
in accordance witii an iK-t of tlie Legislature which authorized tliem 
to provide a site, erect buildin>j:s, and keei) them in repair for the 
use of tlie institution, tho latter to i)ear tlie expenses of all tho collec- 
tions witliin its walls — their punhase, arrangement, and preservation. 
The present Imilding was completeil and first occupieil by the museum 
in tiie spring of isTlt. 

Tlie institution hius established industrial art schools for jKipular 
education in drawing, modelUng, etc., acquisitions which are useful in 
most of the industrial ])ursuits. It ha.s been the recipient, witliin a 
comparatively short period, of various valuable gifts, which, with the 
otiier collections, form tiie subject of several descriptive hand-boolcs. 



colonel of the Fourth New York Cftvnlry, and thronghont the war he performed gallant 
services wherever opportnnity offered. Receiving early the commission of colonel ho 
led a brigade of cavalry much of the time, winning honors everj-where. In a cavalry 
charge he was severely woimded, made a prisoner of war, and was confined in Libby 
Prison a long time. Ho was with Sheridan in his campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. 
President Lincoln, a few days before his assassination, appointed di Cesnola Ameri- 
can consul at Cypms. Tho delivery of his commission to him was delayed. It was 
given him by President .Johnson, but before the close of the year (180.5) he was at his 
post of duty, where he remained until 1877, wlim the consulate was abolished. 

It was while di Cesnola was in ('\-i>rus that he rendered to the history of the fine arts the 
inestimable service of di.scovering and collecting the specimens of C>-priote antiquities 
now displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of .\rt, and which furnish the long missing link 
connecting Eg.N-ptian and Assyrian art with that of fireece. Scientific and liternrj- socie- 
ties conferred membership on him : the Kings of Italy (Victor Emmanuel and Humbert) 
gave him several knightly orders : so also did the King of Bavaria. In 1882 King Hum- 
bert caused a large gold medal to be stmck in his honor, which was sent to him as a 
New Year's gift. Both Columbia and Princeton colleges conferred on him the honorarj- 
degree of LL.D. 

In 1872 the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as we have observed, secured, by purchase, 
the Cypriote anti(iuities collected up to that date, and di Cesnola was granted an ex- 
tended leave of absence to visit Now Yiirk and arrange and classify them. He returned 
to Cjimis and made other important discoveries and collections. These were also secured 
to the mnseum. In 1877 he made New York his permanent place of abode. He was 
appointed a trustee of the mnseum, and when it was removed to its present home he was 
made its secretary and director. Since that day all the time and energy of di Cesnola 
have been spent for tho single purpose of promoting the success and growth of tho 



838 HISTORY OF iNEW YORK CITY. 

The latter giviitly facilitate the study of the collection by the casual 
visitor and the student.* There is also a small but very valuable col- 
lection of American antiquities. Twice as much space as the present 
building affords is required for the proper display of the possessions of 
the museum, which, at the beginning of 1883, were valued at more 
than $018,000. The institution is entirely free of debt. The public 
are admitted to the museum four days out of the week — Wednesday, 
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, f 

There are several organizations in the city designed to promote 
the cultivation of the arts of design — the Xational Academy, the art 
schools of the Cooper Union, the American Water-Color Society,:]: the 
Ladies' Art Association, the Decorative Art Society, § etc. Among the 

* These hand-books are descriptive of pictures by the old masters, potteries of the 
Cesnola collection, sculptures of the Cesnola collection. Oriental porcelains, loan collec- 
tions, loan collections of paintings and sculptures, collections of casts from ivory carv- 
ings, the Vanderbilt collection of drawings, and the Johnston collection of engraved gems. 

f A contribution of $1000 at one time constitutes the contributor a patron, |500 a 
fellow in jjerpetuity, and $200 a fellow for life. Honorary fellows for life may also be 
elected by the trustees. The trustees are elected annually by the corporators, twenty-one 
in number, to serve for seven years, one seventh retiring every year. The comptroller of 
the city of New York, the president of the Department of Public Parks, and the jjresident 
of the National Academy of the Arts of Design are ex-ojjich members of the board of trus- 
tees. The ofBcers for 1883 were : .John Taylor Johnston, president ; William C. Prime 
and D. Huntington, vice-presidents ; Henry G. Marquand, treasurer ; L. P. di Cesnola, 
secretary and director, and William L. Andrews, librarian. 

The museum building occupied in 1883 is but a poi'tion of a contemplated vast struct- 
ure. It is 218 feet long and 9.5 feet wide, built of red brick with sandstone trimmings, 
externally. It is lighted tlirough an immense arched glass roof and large wall windows. 
Its foundation is on a solid rock. 

X This society was founded in 1866. Before this time a room had been set apart at the 
annual exhibitions at the Academy of Design for the display of water-colors. Several 
prominent artists perceived the rapidly growing taste for peiintings in water colors, and 
the skill exhibited in this department of art, and not wishing it to take a secondary place, 
conceived the idea of a separate exhibition and of a society devoted to the interests of 
painting in water colors. The subieet was already attracting much attention abroad. A 
society was organized with the obiect of furthering the interest of this department of art, 
the holding of annual exhibitions where the works of its members might be displayed 
and sold, and of bringing together artists who paint, themselves, and are anxious for the 
further development of painting in water colors. The society has been eminently suc- 
cessful. Its annual exhibition at the Academy of Design, in Jnnnnry cacli year, forms 
one of the most interesting attractions for cultivated people in the city. The officers of 
the society for 1883 were ; T. W. Wood, president ; Henry Farrer, secretary. The rooms 
of the society are at No. 51 West Tenth Street. 

§ The Society of Decorative Art was founded early in 1877 for the establishment of 
rooms for the exhibition and sale of women's work in the arts of design — drawing, 
painting, embroidery, etc.— and for the diffusion of a knowledge of decorative art among 
women and their training in artistic industries. It aims to encourage art-workers to 



KIl'TIl HKCADK. 1870 IHSO. 839 

more n'coiitly loriiird art assiH'iations tiit! Akt Siikkxts' Lkakik 
appoai-s till' most iiotalilc. It was suji^ycsti'd liy tlie (Iftriiniiialinn of 
tlic ri)iin<il of tlie Xalitnial Aoailcmy of tlio Arts of iJcsi^ni, in isT.'i, 
not to i('o[)eii tlic ilcpartiiifiit of sc-liools until in DetTinln-r. Tiiis 
determination c-aused inueli disjippointiiicnt amoiif^ tlic art students in 
New York and those who designed to return, and in July some of the 
former annr>uneed their intention of forming an association to lie ealletl 
the Art Students' League, with th(^ approhation and under the charge 
of the accomplished Professor L. K. Wilmarth, the conductor of the 
schools of the Academy. The League was organizi'd in Sejitemlter, 
1S7.">, and incorjiorated in ls7>>. Its olijects were the estalilishment 
and maintenance of an academic school of art that should furnish a 
thoroui^h coui'se of instruction in drawing, ])ainting, sculpture, artistic 
anatomy, pers|)ecti\'e, and composition. It is not intendetl for iicgin^ 
nets, and no eleinentai-y instruction is given. The students must have 

muster the ilotnils of ono kind of deoori»tion, and thereby secure n rciiutiitiou that will 
have a commercial value ; to assist those who have worked nnsnccessfully in choosing 
n popular direction for their labor ; to open classes of instruction : to establish a circu- 
lating' library of hand-books on decorative art ; to seek methods for largely disposing of 
the products of the labor of the workers, and to develop the art of needlework. The 
officir.s of the .society for 1883 were : Mrs. AV. T. Blodgett, i)residcnt ; K. B. Mugoon, 
treasurer, and Mary Cndwallader .Tones, secretary. 

Auxiliary to the last-named society is that of the New York Exchange for Woman's 
Work, designed for the benefit of women of cultivation in reduced circumstances, by 
enabling them to help themselves in any proper manner in procuring remunerative em 
ployment, especially in the production of drawings, paintings, embroidery, etc., which 
do not jireseut the excellence required by the standard of the Society of Decorative .\rt. 
That society received in one year 1200 applications, comparatively few of which could be 
favorably considered, in accordance with the ndes of the society. To oid those who 
fulled was the impiUse which gave birth to the exchange. The benevolent heart and 
mind of Mrs. William G. Choate conceived it. Early in 1S78 she invited a few friends 
to her house to consider tlie matter. Several other meetings were held. .\ society was 
formed in April, and it began its labors on Decoration day — May :tO. Its prescribed 
duty was and is that of a commission merchant. It receives and sells the productions of 
women's genius and their lingors, and returns to the worker the proceeds, less a com- 
mission for the supjuirt of the exchange. Its first article sold fetched ijtlO. The 
exchange was incorporated in November, 1878. The first oflficers appointed were : Mrs. 
W. O. Choate, president : Mrs. Lucius Tuckennan, Mrs. William E. Dodge, Mrs. Dr. F. 
N. Otis, and Mrs. II. II. Anderson, vice-presidents : Mrs. Dr. C. It. .\gnew, recording 
secretary ; Mi.ss Eleanor Agnew, assistant recording secretary ; 5Irs. F. B. Thiirber, cor- 
responding secretary, and Mrs. E. A. Packer, treasurer. 

This institution is doing a vast amount of good in a quiet way. Th" originally chosen 
olBcers still (18SS) conduct its affairs upon Ihe princijile embodied in its business motto : 
" Keep out of ilebt ; waste nothing, and spare nothing which shall contribute to its suc- 
cess as a benevolent enterprise." 



840 UISTOHV OF NEW YOHK CITY. 

attained a certain standard before tliey can bo admitted to tiie lowest 
(Antique) class. 

The meiubei'sliip of the League is limited to artists and students — 
ladies and gentlemen who intend to make art a profession. The 
instructors are selected from the best known of the younger American 
aiiists. The ladies and gentlemen work together excepting in the Ufe 
classes, which are arranged for the alternate use of the room. They 
draw from nude or draped figures. The school is divided into several 
classes — Antique, Life, Portrait, Comjwsition, and Sketch. Lectures 
on artistic anatomy are given once a week during the season of eight 
months— October 1st to May 1st. The schools are open every day in 
the week — morning, afternoon, and evening. 

The entire support of the institution is drawn from the tuition and 
members' fees. A monthly reception is given. These receptions pre- 
sent a charming collection, not only of cultivated people, but of rare 
sketches, finished paintings, and other products of the arts of design, 
bric-a-brac, and curiosities in art. The League is full of enthusiasm, is 
higlily successful, and is performing the most efficient and salutary 
service in the reahn of art cultivation.* 

* Alt cultiire in the city of New York lias made ivonderful progi-ess during a score of 
years just passed. Perhaps nothing will better illustrate this and the number and value 
of works of art in the city than the following statistics of sales and collections, which 
have been kindly prepared for this work by Mr. S. P. .\very, who is universally knov u 
and esteemed in the ai-t world : 

Fifty years ago the sale of paintings was mainly confined to the works of old masters, or 
copies from them. For many years Michel Paff was the only dealer. He imported many 
fairly good old pictures, some of which turn up nowadavs. The Hunter collection (of 
Hunter's Island) was a noted one in its day. Later on " Old Levy" distributed by 
auction large numbers of old pictures : this was before the days of Allston, Cole, Inman, 
Mount, Diu-and, and others. Philip Hone's was one of the earliest collections in which 
appeared paintings by living artists -Leslie, Newton, etc. Luman Eeed was one of the 
earliest patrons of American art, and the sum of S^OO for a single picture was considered 
a very extravagant price, the paying of which almost endangered the credit of a man in 
business. Gradually came the formation of modest collections of paintings by American 
artists ; then others were formed, which were supplemented by foreign pictures, generally 
by third-rate English artists : then others of more pretension were gathered, such as that 
of the late W. P. Wright, who built a gallery at Weehawken, N. J., his most famous 
picture being the " Horse Fair," by Eosa Bonheur, now in the gallery of Mrs. A. T. 
Stewart. Marshall O. Roberts was long noted for his love of art and for his liberality to 
artists, which continued until his recent death. Mr. August Belmont, on his return from 
the Hague, where he resided some years as the American minister, brought over a 
number of very choice French, Dutch, and Belgian pictures, which formed the nucleus 
of a collection that for a long time remained the most valuable in the city. Mr. Boker 
brought to New York and publicly exhibited for several years the collection known as the 
" Dusseldorf Gallery." This led to large importations of paintings by German artists. 



I'lrni DKi'ADK, is;0-i8»(). >1L 

Til.' i<)«.iiis nf ilif I.cii'iUf arc at X.». :'.s "U'l-st Fourlopiitli Stivt-t. 
Till- itllici'i-s lor l>>s;! were : W. St. .Fnliii Ilar|KT, ]iii'si(li'iit. ami .Miss 
<;. Kit/ liaiuloljiii, coiTi'.s}iiiniliiij,f siriclarv. 

The auction snlo of the cnllpction of Mr. .laiiies M. Hurt in tho pimic tiiiios of l.S.",7 iinivnl 
that works of art were a yooil invesliiient. In l«<!;t c«uii» the sale of Sir. John Wnlfu a 
collection— Fronirh, German, Flemish. Dutch, an.l a few EugliKh and .American jiictures. 
They realizeil $114,000, an amount iit-nr licfore reached in this country, and for many 
years unsnriiassud. The dispersion of these tine works assisted very much in the found- 
ing of collections hy Messrs. .1. T. .Johnston, 1!, L. Stuart, .\. T. Stewart, llobert Hoe, \. 
Healy, and others. In IMIl-l S. I". Avery sold by auction a number of French paintings and 
water-color drawings ; $;{(l,ll(lO was realized, a Troyon bringing the hirge<it sum, $31511. In 
1HG7 he sold his private collection ot 120 cabinet pictures by .Vnierican artists for $IH,2.5(I, 
a head by Elliott bringing tho largest price, $800. In IHIJH, 181 paintings of various 
Hohools were sohl for $14,850, one by Bougnereau for $l."wO. In 1872, 150 paintings 
brought $47,070, a Boughton reaching tho sum of $2200. Tho same year the Vnnderlip 
collection sold for $2;t,000, oni, by Eiefstjihl reaching $2700. In 1H75 Mr. Oandy sold his 
collection for $30,570, a Bierstadt reaching $2100. In 1870 Colonel J. Strieker Jenkins's 
collection sold for $00,025, an Escosiira fetching tho highest price, S2000. During the 
same year the gidleries ot Mr. John Taylor Johnston, who for some twenty years had been 
a most generous patr.m, were scattered. Tho collection consisted ot 101 works in oil, 132 
in water.colors, and some marble statues. The artists of various nations were included in 
this famous gathering,and the sales realized tho unprecedented sum of $:J28,280, Church's 
" Niagara" bringing the highest price, S12,5(M). In 1877 the U. M. tllyphaut collection 
of paintings, exclusively by .\merican artists, realized $43,020, Kensett's " Autiiinii on 
Lake George" selling for $i'.3.J0. In 18fiS tho lale Governor Latham's (of CiUiforuia) 
collection of 83 pictures brought 5101,205 -Gironie the largest amount, $5500. In 1879 
the joint collections of Messrs. Sherwood and Hart realized the sum of $77,080, a Knaus 
reaching $3300. In the same year Mr. Albert Spencer scild 71 paintings tor $82, .500, a 
Gemmo bringing SGOOO. In 1«80 the Nathan collection brought $311.1 17, a Boiiguereau iit 
$6000. The same year Mr. J. Abner Harper sold 144 works f ir $lor, 700. a Van Marcke 
realizing $;J725. In 1882 a part of the collection of Messrs. >Iorton and Hoe sold for 
$50,570 ; one by Regnault brought $5900. In 1883, 60 pictures belonging to Mr. J. C. 
Uunkle sold for $66,195, one by Millet for $3850. The fact that during the dates given 
above thirty-four collections of works of art, sold at auction by Messrs. Leeds, Somer- 
ville, Leavitt, and other auctioneers, under the direction of Mr. Averj-, realizing tho 
totd of $1,427,870, will give an idea of tho extent of the art trade. Tho highest price 
ever jiaid at auction was tor Church's " Niagara," bought for the Corcoran Gallery. 
At the Blodgett side Ills " Heart of tho .Vndes" brought SlO.OilO. Mr. .James G. Bennett 
paid for a small Meissonier, eight by ten inches, at the Johnston side. S11..500 ; at the 
same sale Turner's " Slave Ship " brought $10,000. At Mr. John Wolfe's second auction, 
1882, a Bougnereau sold for $10,100. 

The well-known house of Messrs. George A. Leavitt it Co. sold in 1871 the Alexander 
■White collection tor $ni,000 ; in 1872, Legrand Lockwood's gallery tor $76,520, a Bier- 
stadt bringing $5100 ; the same year a portion of the gallery of Mr. IVlmont tor $52,250. 
In 1873 the Everard collection brought $06,480 ; in 1877 the NewcomV^o collection real- 
ized $34,900, and the Maynard collection $40,000. In 1881, the Reid collection, $70,600 ; 
and tho Coale collectiim. $71,477. In 1882 the .John Wolfe collection of 82 works realized 
$131,815 ; a work liy Cot sold tor $0700. 

These statistics show how important th'^ .-.rt intero -.t has becoino. There is no w.ny of 



842 HISTOKV OF XEW VUKK CITY. 

One of the most important tliscoveries in tlie realm of art is the 
process of photographic engraving, made by Mr. John C. Moss, the 
chief of the Moss Engraving Company, of Xos. 5.33-537 Pearl Street. 

arriving at tbe sum of money annually spent in New York for objects of art of various 
kinds at private sale ; the Messrs. Leavitt's sales alone often foot up over half a mill- 
ion. The sums invested by the leading dealers— Knoedler, Schaus, Avery, Reichard, 
and others — would be a sui'prise to most persons. Then there are the sales made at the 
annual exhibitions of the National Academy of Design, Society of American Artists, the 
Water-Color Society, Artists' Fund, etc. The purchases made at one of the exhibitions 
of the National .\cadeiny have reached as high as §40,000. There is no accounting for the 
amount annually sold by the artists themselves, and they number over five hundred, 
their productions going all over the Union, and even to foreign countries. As an evidence 
of the interest taken by the jjublic in the exhibitions of works of art, we may refer to the 
Loan Collection exhibited in 1876 at the Academy of Design and the Metropolitan 
Museum of ^Vrt (then in Foui-teenth Street). The sum netted was nearly §40,000, which 
was applied to the extinguishment of the debts of these institutions. The paintings 
shown at one of the annual receptions of the Union League Club have been insured for 
the sum of $400,000. .A.t the present time (December, 1883) there is on exhibition in the 
galleries of the National Academy of Design a loan collection of paintings and various 
objects of art, rare and valuable, which are insured for over one million dollars, the 
object being to raise funds to assist in erecting on Bedloe's Island a pedestal for Bar- 
tholdi's statue of Liberty enlightening the World. 

The money annually spent for European and Oriental porcelain is large, sing'e vases 
often selling for from one thousand to five thousand dollars. It frequently happens that 
paintings by such celebrated artists as Heissonier, Rousseau, Troyon, Millet, Decamps, 
Gt'rome, Bonguereau, Knaus, Rosa Bonhenr, Diaz, Munkacsy, Fortuny, etc., are sold at 
prices ranging from one thousand to fifty thousand dollars. Tbe late Sir. A. T. Stewart 
paid Meissonier the sum of 300,000 francs (SG0,000) for Jiis picture called " 1807," troops 
defiling past Napoleon on their way to battle, the duty and other expenses increasing 
the cost to 867,000. This, we believe, is the largest amount ever paid for any painting 
imported into this country, and it is believed that if it were now offered for sale it would 
bring a much larger price. Recently 51r. H. G. Marquand of this city purchased from 
the Marquis of Lansdowne a head of a burgomaster on a small canvas, by Rembrandt, 
for which he paid £5000 (S25,000) and expenses. 

To go into detail regarding the number and value of the thousands of works of art in 
collections, now numbering hundreds, would require too much space, and would be 
monotonous in the repetition of the names of world-renowned artists. Masterpieces of 
art can be found in the homes of persons whose unobtrusive lives and modest establish- 
ments would seem to preclude the possibility of such possessions. In addition to the 
large amount invested in works of art in this city, we must also bear in mind the conse- 
quence New York is assuming as the art centre of the Union, from whence is distributed 
works of art to the most remote States. It is not within the province of this article to 
refer to collections formed outside of this city, but we may mention the one so recently 
and so liberally made by that generous resident of Brooklyn, Mr. George I. Seney. It is 
in numbers hardly second to any in this city, and in artistic and pecuniary value is not 
outranked by many. The freedom with which he loans his treasures for any good cause 
is worthy of commendation and imitation. Messrs. A. Healy, John T. Martin, H. T. 
Cox, Kenyon, Graves, Howell, and others have collections of more or less note in om- 
sister eitv. 



KII-TII DECADE, 18T0-1S80. 843 

So early as Isl.'l Niccplidnis Nicpc-c, a Frriu-lniian, att('iii|ilc(l lo |ir<>; 
duco engraveil jilates tur ]iiiiiting from by tlie aid of siinli<,'-l;t. lie 
died witliout aecoin])lisliin'j^ sucii a result, hut lie won renown as a 
coworker with Daguerre in perfetting a great discovery. Othei-s suh- 
sequently attempted to produce engravings or etchings by lieliogra])hic 



It maj" bij interesting to put in aliibiibetical order the mimes of some oi the be^st known 
collectors -viz. : J. J. and William 15. A.stnr. R. Arnold, S. K. Barker, S. L. II. IJarlow, J. 
A. BoKt-vick, August Belmont, T. R. Butler, H. R. BiHliop, J. U. Beunclt, G. R. Blan- 
chard, E. S. CUapin, (Jeorge C. Clarke, T. B. Clarke, James B. Colgate, S. J. Colgate, 
Israel Corse, R. L. Cutting, Charles A. Dana, Joseph W. Drexel, W. li. Dinsmore, E. 
Davis, J. M. Fiske, H. C. Fahnestock, H. 51. Flagler, R. Gordon, M. Graham, C. K. 
Garrison, Jay Gould, F. Harper, J. A. Harper, H. Hilton. R. H. Halstead, C. P. Hunting- 
ton, H. O. Havemeyer, Theodore Uavemcyer, G. G. Haven, Robert Hoe, estate of .Samuel 
Hawk, M. K. Jesnp, R. L. Kennedy, L. Kountze, H. G. Marquand, Mrs. E. D. 
ilorgan. J. P. Morgan, Jlrs. Charles Morgan, D. H. McAlpin, J. Milltank, O. D. Jluun, 
T. B. Musgrave, D. O. Mills, H. V. Newcombe, C. J. Osborne, W. H. Osbom. Dr. F. N. 
Otis, J. W. Piiiehot, J. L. Riker, W. Rockefeller, Mrs. M. O. Roberts, James A. Raynor, 
Albert Spencer, Charles S. Smith, .lames H. Stebbins, Mrs. Paran Stevens, Mrs. A. T. 
Stewart, Mrs. R. L. Stnart. Mrs. Jonathan Sturges, L. Tuckerman, W. H. Vanderbilt, 
C. Vanderbilt, W. K. Vanderbilt, F. W. Vanderbilt, P. Van Volkenbergh, Mrs. B. D. 
■\Vorsham, C. F. Woerishoffer, Miss C. Wolfe. Many of these collections are not large, 
liut each one contains gems of cost an<l high merit, worthy of a jilaceiu the most famous 
galleries. It would be impertinent to dwell upon the cost of individual paintings, or to 
estimate their aggregate value, but some general knowledge may be gathered from the 
facts given above. We may, however, venture to say that these eighty collections will 
easily average in value one hundred thousand dollars— say $8,U0O,0OO in the aggregate- 
but it is quite probable that forty of these would realize that amount. 

The most valuable of any of these collections is that belonging to Mr. William H. 
Vanderbilt. His two superb galleries contain about two hundred pictures, the average 
cost and artistic merit of which are much beyond those of any collection in the country. 
Their value must considerably reach over a million dollars. We have not tLe space to 
catalogue these gems of art — they are well known to thousands of our people, tlianks to 
the facilities given by the owner, who so generously shares with the whole conntrv the 
study and enjoyment of the masterpieces of art produced by the great jjainters of the 
past fifty years —the best known of which, like Meissonier (one of whose works is, for its 
size, probably the most valuable painting in the country). Millet, Diaz. Tadema, Rous- 
seau, Dui)re. Domingo, Knaus, Rosa Bonheur, etc., are represented by the half dozen. 
The formati<m of this grand collection, made with such care and cost, gives assurance 
that it will always remain intact, a possession for our city. 

But few of our collectors have regular picture galleries, like Mr. Vanderliilt, Belmont, 
Stewart, and Roberts, but have their possessions distributed about their houses. This 
precludes the admission of the public, but most of the owners freely loan them from 
time to time for charitable and other purposes, and thus they become known and are 
enjoyed by large numbers of persons. For want of space the names of many worthy 
patrons of art are omitted, as well as other facts of much interest ; but those we have 
mentioned will show the reader how extended and impoitant is the art impetus of the 
time. 



844 HISTORY OF NEW YUKK rlTY. 

processes, but it was tcs(m-v('(1 I'di' ^h: iloss to perfect ^vllat others had 
failed to ilo. 

Mr. Moss entered u])oii his investigations and experiments in tlie fall 
of 1858, after reading accounts of the attempts of Professor Grove, of 
England, to etch upon a daguerrian plate by means of electricity. He 
Avas then a resident of a village in the interior of Pennsylvania. He 
needed a galvanic battery for his experiments. Unable to buy one, he 
constructed a rude one himself. His first experiments pi'omised speedy 
success, but he was compelled to wait and suffer in expectation, pov- 
erty, and wasting privations and worriment for many years before he 
grasped the coveted prize. The story of ^his struggles forms one of the 
most interesting chapters in the romance of inventions, worthy of the 
minutest record, but space wiU allow only the most meagre outhne 
sketch. 

Mr. Moss, working as a journe\niian printer in Philadelphia, after 
trying various processes foi- etching on zinc and lithographic stone, 
tried the gelatine process, by which a matrix was formed, and in it a 
metal plate cast, and from this impressions might be printed tyjio- 
graphically. After spending nearly three years in experiments with 
this process, he became satisfied that pictures equal in finish to good 
wood-engravings could not be ]iroduced by it. He tried other meth- 
ods, and finally, in 1867, he succeeded in making good relief plates 
for typogra])lilc printing. Mr. Moss had removed to New York City, 
where he brought his discovery into practical use, and finally to its 
jjresent perfection. With others he formed the Actinic Engraving 
Company, which was incoqjorated in 1871. It was succeeded the next 
year by the Photo-Engraving Company. Mr. Moss dissolved his con- 
nection with this company in 1880 and founded the establishment now 
known as the Moss Engraving Company. It is believed to be tlie most 
extensive engraving establishment in the world, employing about 200 
pei-sons, Avho do the work of 2000 wood-engraver's. This conii)any has 
tmned out millions of engravings, for every conceival)le purpose, in 
apparent perfection, and yet Mr. Moss contemplates great improve- 
ments. 

The process of producing pictures which was discovered by Mr. Moss 
is not patented. Some of the most important elements in it are not of 
a kind that a patent would protect, iluch of the work is performed 
openly, and that which is not is performed by a few jiersons whose 
interest and trustworthiness make its secrets safe in their hands. The 
secrets do not consist in one thing only, but in a considi-ralile nuniljer of 
things, some of which are chemical combinations of a sulitle and deli- 



I'lKTII DHiAUr.. 1'mII IH^O• ^''^' 



cate chanu.t..r, .lilV.-riu^ aln.u.t .laily, as .lH..,nnn...l l,y „.,„,,...:,,., 
and otlKT afunspluTic- .o.uliti..ns.* Tl... pruoss ,•.■,. r...lu,vs ,n i-l'- 
L-siuulo any .hawing, or ste.!, woo.l. or liU.o.aai.h.c cngrav.ng, oM 

. Many Burrc,.titi....s .Ut.n.pts have be. n nnulc to obUiu « knowledge of "'<-";-■■;■'-_ 
by br^^u'ry .f >." -orkmcn. ..ersonal o,.s.rva,.nn« uudor false i,retei.ce«. a, ul ■• U 
decepuJe u.etUo.U-b„t «Ubo,.t suo-.s. MrMoss ban patented n.eebaUK-al c.-.a..- 

. tnr ....rrviiii' on kis uroi'tss, and Uial is .dl. 
^Xb; drM:;rt!rL-v.rer of tbe process, was bom in Washington Con.j^ 

John l.uv. „,e<bauic in moderate eirouinstances. Hi. 

^b:rz^:d .r:at r J;.tb. f. a r^b...... ;•------:;:;: 

of^obnCaWiu B^t^Wdidnot^ne,^..^ 

"r''''V:'ur^tb.tand^ -Ho"^^^^ to «ivo only one half his tiu.e to 

hi^ri:'::r;:<; r!;:, -l^to .nd, in «» aeade.. and of the ^"^-.e t Z'^^: 

.o„s to beco.ne " .-"T/ .^i" m!:; rzr^^o^r" bo^^rt i.:z::l 
:r:.:!rr i::::;^:;:;;rn;o,,M r ::!.. she beea... .,.. . enthn.. 

astic in the matter as myself." , i . :„ 

Mr Moss had en«a«cd in the business of photography, and became a ^e„lo„» student m 

r:" ;tr::rrr: r-'r;;: c,.....,. ... ...... .... ,1- <- r«.;|... 

inr» cliAnrpsented hcrhujbinu witu perici-iniouiii!! . j.ui !»»,.» 

:f reined with joy. The order .as e.mplet.d ; the ^.0 — --^^U Moss 
vmtors were supremely happy. " Had not that -''i;'™V"'="-=''^'- ; ^ .'''■ 
to the author ol this work. " the Moss process might never l'"-/^"- ^f "'!^f ;^.,^^ 

Mr Moss expected to sell his " process" for a hvrge sum of money. He was d s^.p. 
nnin^ed No one seemed willing to ri.sk money in it. They vent to ^.w \ork ,n 18 .3. 
^d h re S™"ed "existence. In their humble dwelling they made some good plates 
r;:^ingf^u.hieh.t.e.d.oa..nt.nof^b^ 

Mr. Moss to form a stock company for the development of ,t on a large «ul. . 



84(; HISTOKV OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

or new, sometimes in tiie space of a few houre, and ;.t one half tlie 
cost, or less, of the original. The work is most exquisite in finish. 

Four remarkable societies organized in the city of jSTew York, unique 
in character, and in beneficent influence most powerful and salutary, 
have distinguished the fouilh and fifth decades. These are the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to xVnimals, the Society for the Suppres- 
sion of Vice, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and 
the Society for the Prevention of Crime. 

The germ of the first named society found itself quickened in the 
heart and brain of Henry Bergh while he was secretary of the Ameri- 
can legation at the Eussian court during our late Civil War. It grew 
apace. On his return home, and after a careful consideration of the 
subject, he took measures for obtaining the jiassage of a law and the 
organization of a society for the relief of dumb beasts from cruel treat- 
ment. He obtained the signatures of seventy leailing citizens of Xew 
York (forty -two of them deceased in 1883) to a petition to that effect, 
and with these, and the forms of a law and of a charter for a societj'^ 
prepared by himself, he went to Albany and procured the passage of 
both. Before this time no State in the Union had on its statute-books 
any act to protect duml) animals from the excessive cinielty of mankind. 

In April, 186fi, an association was organized, with the title of The 
AsiEKic.vN Society foe the Peevextion of Ceueltt to Akqials. Mr. 
Bergh was chosen president of the society. At the close of a brief 
speech he said : " This, gentlemen, is the verdict you have this day 

Actinic Company was formed, with Mr. Moss as superintendent. He soon perceived 
that he was made a packhorse to bear the chief burdens of the concern, without adequate 
remuneration. He withdrew, and the Actinic expired, for he carried away with him the 
essential secrets of the process, which was its life. 

With an honest clergj'man, who loaned him capital for the purchase of machinery, etc., 
on condition that he should hare a half interest in the invention, Mr. 3Ioss formed the 
Photo-Engraving Company. The capitalist was so cautious, and so unwilling to spend 
money for the production of work that should successfully compete with wood-engraving, 
that ilr. Moss found himself as badly off as before. At length ho prevailed upon the 
clergyman to consent to the issuing of a specimen-book of their best work. This made 
the process widely known. It was the dawning of a bright day of prosperity, which 
brought healing to the spirit of the patient discoverer, who, through vexations, disap- 
pointments, overwork, and worriment, had almost lost his hold upon life. He slept only 
about two hours out of the twenty-four, and was reduced from 160 pounds to 115 pounds 
in weight. At the end of eight years ^Ir. Moss disposed of his interest in the company 
and founded the present Moss Engraving Company, wh:ch is one of the wonders of the 
city. Mr. Moss considers it as yet only a " little child, ' which he expects to see vastly 
improved in growth and excellence within a verj' few years. 

Mr. Moss, at the age of forty-tive years, has realized the dreams of his early manhood, 
nnil has been rewarded for his exertions and patience with fame and fortune. 



I'IKIII HKCADK. 1S70 ISMU. S4 . 

rt'iulnrd, that tlif l)l<MMl-rc(l liaiul uf ciiiclty sliall no liiiij^cr tortiiii' 
tlumlj iM-asts witli im]»uiiily." On that very i-veniiijLr, witli th<" puis- 
siiiR-e of thi,' wliole State of Now York to sustain him in the form of 
law, Mr. lU'fgli went foitli on liis s('lf-im])osi'(l hinnanc mission, ami 
from that iioiir until now he has pati'olled the streets of New VorU. its 
liines and alleys, in storm ami sunshine, with vijujihint eye, determined 
will, and dauntless courage. From the beginning he was assailed with 
insults and threats hy the ignor.mt and vicious ; with ridicule anil con- 
tumely by a |M)rtion of the ])eo])le, the press, and of the legal ]»r(jfession, 
and even from the seat of justice ; and he was misrejjresented and 
maligned liy " sportsmen,'" high and low in the soc-ial sc-ale, who 
resented his interference with their unmanly fuiv in shooting tied 
pigeons anil otherwise torturing dumh animals. He was sneered at as 
"the ubiipiitous biped," the " ifoses of the oppressed beasts," etc., 
and was derideil as a fanatic, a seeker after notoriety, u Don (^ui.xote 
to be pitied. Even some of the medical j)rofetsion, with whom he 
waged a long contest on the subject of vivisection without aniesthetics,* 
sometimes treated him discourteously, and even with scorn. In the face 
of these discouragements ilr. Bergh never faltered in his holy work. 
It was founded on eternal justice, and he was conscious that justice 
could do no wrong. lie gave his time, energy, and money freely to 
the cause. With the most perfect self-disinterestedness he fought the 
good tight, and triumphed. His work and his methoils are now 
api)roved by all good and wise men. The press, the pulpit, and the 
bar api)laud him, and to-day Henry Bergh f stamis before the world 

* In tlie office of the president of the society may be seen a jiortniit of Mngendie, an 
eminent French physician, under which, in the bold handwriting of Sir. Bergh, are tho 
words : " A French phy.siohigist, otherwise known as the ' Prince of Drnte Tortnrers," 
who dissected, alive, over 4(1, UUO dnmb animals, and ere he died confessed that vivisec- 
tion was a failure." 

t Henry Bergh is of German and English Puritan lineage. His father was Christian 
Bergh, an eminent shipbuilder in New York, mentioned in another jinrt of this work. 
His mother was Elizalieth Ivers, of a Connecticut family. Henry was born in tho city of 
New York in 1H23, and received a good academic and collegiate education. Before lie 
had comi)leted his course at Columbia College he went to Europe, where he spent some 
time. In his twenty-fifth year he married Matilda, daughter of Thomas Taylor. Blessed 
with fortune and leisure, they spent many years in Enrope, at intervals visiting almost 
every part of the continent and travelling extensively in the East. Literature was Mr. 
Bergh"s pas.sion, and was his chief study and pursuit. He is the author of nearly a dozen 
dramatic pieces, a book of tales and sketches, and other works. 

In \HC,i Mr. Bergh went to St. Petersburg as secretary of legation, where he received 
special attentions and honors from the emperor, who placed the imperial yacht at tho 
disposal ol the secretary and his wife to visit tho gre^it navnl station at Cronstadt, accom- 
panied by an officer of distinction— an honor never lufuro shown even toa prince. Mrs. 



S4S niSTOKY OK NEW YOHIv fITY. 

iis a ])liilantlii'()pist of llie liighest type and a self-sacrific-ing IjeiKjfactor 
of mankind. His lal)f)i-s for the comfoi't of dumb beasts have reflected 
incalculable benefits, economically and morally, upon human society 
at large. 

The association of which ^Ir. Bergh is president has effected most 
sjvlutary changes, in the condition of domestic animals especially, far 
and wide.* Similar associations h.avo been organiziKl in many places in 

Bergh could not endure the climate o£ a Russian winter, especially in-doors, and llr. 
Bergh resigned his office. While there a circumstance called his attention to the suffer- 
ings of brutes at the hands of men, and methods fur their protection, which, as we have 
seen in the text, resulted in the formation of the notable society of which he is president. 
Since that time Mr. Bergh's life has formed an essential part of the history of the 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

Of the scores of stirring events which have marked the career of Mr. Bergh in connec- 
tion with the society of which he is the founder and head, we have space to notice only 
one, which is characteristic of this good citizen and his methods, and shows his active 
sjTnpathy for every suffering creature. It is related as follows, by C. C. Buel, in Scrihiier's 
Monthly for April, 1879 : 

"One day he paw from his window a skeleton horse scarcely able to draw a rickety wagon and the 
poverty-stricken driver. Mr. Ber^h hastened oat and said : ' 

" 'You ought not to compel this horse to work in his present condition.' 

" * I know that,' answered the man ; ' but look at the horse, l^iok at the wagon, look at the harness, 
and then look at me, and say, if you can. which of us is most wretched.' Then he drew up the shirt-sleeve 
of one arm and continued ; ' Look at this shrunken limb, past use ; but I have a wife and two children at 
home, as wretched as we here, and just as hungry.' 

'** Come with me,' said Mr. Bergh ; ' I have a stable down this street; come and let me (.nve one good 
square meal to your poor horse and something to yourself and family.' He plar-ed oats and hay before the 
stay of the family, and a generous sum of money in the hand of the man. Sir. Bersrh has often pleaded in 
court for some person arrested for cruelty whose miserable poverty and the dependence of wife :ind chil- 
dren were made to appear by the te^imony." 

Nearly ten years ago Mr. Bergh rescued two little girls from the hands of an inhuman 
woman. The circumstance excited much public attention and led to the formation of 
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, of which his earnest coworker in 
the cause of humanity, Elbridge T. Gerry, is president. Shrinking from notoriety, and 
wholly devoted to the great cause in which he is engaged, 3Ir. Bergh prefers to make his 
personality subordinate to his high mission. When, a few years ago, several influential 
citizens proposed to erect a bronze statue in his honor, he said : " No, gentlemen, your 
well-meant kindness would injure the cause." It was only after earnest and repeated 
solicitations by the author of this work that Mr. Bergh consented to allow his portrait to 
appear in it. 

In person Mr. Bergh is tall, sinewy, and well proportioned, and of dignified and com. 
manding presence. He is quiet and ctmrteous in manner, of refined sensibilities and 
tenderness of feeling, and of persistent and dauntless courage in the performance of 
what he conceives to be Lis duty. He has fought and won a great battle for justice and 
humanity that assigns him a place among the heroes of history, and he enjoys the respect 
and even reverence of the vanquished. It has been justly remarked that Mr. Bergh has 
almost invented a new type of goodness. 

* In the year 1882 protection was given to 1400 horses found at work and disabled by 
sickness, lameness, sores under harness, old age, overloading and overcrowding, etc. : 



ni-TII I>KIAI)K. 1H7()-1H«0. ^-i-' 

tliiitv-six of tilt' States of tlif riiiuii. in tin- Distrkt of f'.>luiiil>ia, in 
('aniida, and in Cuba. Eac-li of tlie societies lias adojited the seal of 
the j)arent society desifrned liy Mr. ]k>rgh— a human lirute lieatinM^ a 
horee attached to an overloatied dray and fallen to the ;,Tound. By 
the side of the lioise stands the \n<xv\ of Mercy with a drawn sword 
restruinin"^ the ci'uel man. Tlie sultstantial symitathies of many friends 
have been manifested hy munilicent gifts to the society for its lieneli- 
cent use.* 

Side by side with Mr. Bergli, as a valiant champion of justice and 
mcn-alitv. stands Anthony Comstcxk. the secretary of Thk Nkw Yokk 
SociKTY FoK TiiK Sii'PKKssioN OK Vici;, wliicli was iiicoriMmitcd in May, 
1S73.+ Its object is the enforcement of the laws of the .State of New 
York and of the United States for the suppression of the tnule in and 
circulation of obscene literature and illustrations, advertisements, ami 
articles of indecent and immoral use. Its charter re(iuire<l the jiolice 
force of the city of New Y<n-k (as well as all other places where ])olice 
organizations exist), as occasion should retjuire, to aiil the society, its 
members or agents, in the enforcement of all laws which now exist or 
which may hereafter be enacted for the suppression of acts and offences 
specitieil in the charter. ( )ne half of the fines collected through its 
instrumentality for the violation of the laws accrue to its benefit. 

The society had its origin in a movement of the Young ^Men's Chris- 
anil under the dirit-tion of tli<^ iigents of tho society. 1858 horse* and 260 dogs, goats, 
cat.s, cows, slieep, and other animals were humanely killed. From the organization of 
the society, in \H(W. to 1HH3. it had prosecuted in the courts nearly 10.000 violations of 
tho humane laws of New York, and its officers had interfered in more than 22,700 cases 
in New York, King.s, Queens, and Richmond counties alone. The olBcc of the society is 
at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-second Street. 

The officers of the society in iaS3 were : Henry Bergh, i)resident : T. C. Acton, H. B. 
Claflin, Peter Cooper, the Rev. Morgan Dix, P.D.. Elbridge T. Gerry. E. S. .Jaffray, 
Benjamin D. Ilicks, .John T. Hoffman, W. C. Schermerhorn, and Alfred Wagstaff. vice- 
presidents : Charles Lanier, treasurer ; .1. W. Edwards, assistant treasurer : Henry Bergh, 
•Jr., secretary ; Elbridge T. Gerry, counsel : Charles H. Hankinson, superintendent. 

* A Frenchman from Rouen, who had accumulated a fortune and had watched with 
interest the work of Jlr. Bergh, sent for the latter to visit him while he lay sick ond 
dying in the hospital of St. Vincent da Paul, in 1871. He made a will leaving his entire 
property- $1.51t,(KM) to the society, believing he had no living relative. It is known that 
provision is made in wills for bequests to the society aggregating fully halt a million 
dollars. 

f The corporators named in the charter were : llorris K. Jesnp. Howard Potter. Jacob 
F. Wyckoff, William E. Dodge. .Tr., Charles E. Wniitehead, Cephas Brainerd, Thatcher 
M. Adams, William F. Lee, I. Pierpont M.irgan. .1. M. Cornell, W. H. S. Wood, Elbert 
B. Monroe, George W. aarke, Cnrnelius R. Agnew, M.D., and R. B. JIcBumcy, of New 
York City, and Moses S. Bench and Henry B. .Tones, of Brooklyn. 



850 IIISTOHV OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tian Association of Xew York. An investigation made early in 18(H) 
revealed a fearful evil to wliicli the young of both sexes were ex^josed. 
Chiefly through the untu-ing and fearless exertions of Antliony 
Comstock, a citizen of New York, the Legislature of the State of New 
York and the Congress of the United States had passed laws for the 
suppression of obscene literature and its concomitants. In 1866 a com- 
mittee of the Young Men's Christian Association, with the powerful 
co-operation of Mr. Comstock, attempted to enfoi'ce these laws, but 
the castle to be assailed seemed almost impregnable. Bad books and 
obscene articles were sold openly in defiance of laws. Perceiving this, 
Mr. Comstock assumed the often perilous work of a voluntary detective 
and c<)m])lainant. He has pursued this task with increased dihgence 
and fidehty ever since, and has conferred an inestimable boon upon 
society at large. 

"When tlie Society for the Su]ipression of Vice was formed, at the 
house of ]\Iorris K. Jesup, Mr. Comstock was made its secretary and 
chief agent. For a long time it attacked obscenity only. At length, 
fully armed with legal power, Mr. Comstock assailed huge frauds and 
swindles of every kind— bogus bankers and brokers, and medical insti- 
tutions, lotteries, gift schemes, gambling-houses, etc. Clothed with 
the power of special agent of the Post-OtRce Dejjartment and of his 
society, he has successfully waged a relentless war ujjoii the peculiar 
strongholds of Satan's kingdom. One by one their buttresses have 
crumbled beneath his blows, and there seems to be a bright ])romise 
that the " good time coming" is near at hand when these fortresses 
shall lie in hopeless ruin. The Society for the Suppression of Vice, 
which is engaged in this holy war, stands pre-eminent among the insti- 
tutions in Xew York formed for the promotion and defence of private 
and public purity and virtue, and Anthony Comstock is the Great- 
heart of the association.* 



* In i» volume entitled " Frauds Exposed ; or, How the People are Deceived and 
Robbed, and Y'outh Corrupted," Mr. Comstock has given a vivid picture of the character 
of the evils assailed. This book and the reports made to the society present a most 
alarming picture of the fearful virus which has permeated and still permeates the social 
life of our people. 

Chief among the poisons which were infused into the fountains of purity was licentious 
literature and pictures of every kind. Under the sanction of law tons upon tuns of 
books, stereotype plates, and photographs have been destroyed. When the warfare was 
begun there were lf>5 different obscene books published. The society seized and 
destroyed the stereotype plates of 1G3 of these. It has siippressed in the State of Mew 
York fifteen lotteries, and to-day there is not a lottery office in the city of New York 
where the general public can buy a ticket. According to the annual report of the society 



FIFTH DKCAhK. 1S70-1880. •^51 

A SocttriY KOK TiiK 1'kkvkntion i>k CiuME was fonnod in lS7t',, having 
for its specific object the enactnicnt and enforcement of laws agjiinst 
illegal venders of intoxicating lii|Uors and other violations of the excise 
laws, tiie jjroprietois of disorderly houses of every kind, lottery offices, 
|MX»l-selling, immoral newspaper advertisements, dance-houses, concert- 
s<il(X)ns, anil other corrupting social evils. Through the; exertions of 
this s<X'iety sjdutary laws for tlie supi)i-ession of these evils have heen 
jia.ssed, and with the power of tiie new ]KMial coile the society will l)e 
enai)led to do nmch good. The officers for 1SS2 werti : the Rev. 
Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., jn-esident ; Lloyd A.spinwall and 
Uenjaniin N. Martin, vice-presidents ; I'enjaniin Tathain, treasurer ; 
Charles E. (yildersleeve, secretary, anil a boai-d of cigiiteen directors. . 

"We have oljscrved that an act of Mr. Bergh led to the formation of 
the Xew York Suciktv for thk Phevkntion »v Ckueltv to Chiluken. 
Benevolent pei-sons had long felt the necessity of some organized 
power to protect children from tiie cruelty of intemjierate jiarents and 
other guardians of minoi-s, and sulferings incident to extreme i)overty 
or positive neglect. The incident alluded to powerfully stirred the 
public mind and heart. The State Legislature passed a general law in 
l!S75 authorizing the incorporation of societies for the purpose of pre- 
venting cruelty to children, and giving them full power to prefer and 
prosecute comi)laints against violatoi-s of the law. Under this the 
New York society, of which Elbridge T. Gerry * is the president, was 

in 1883, twcnty-fonr tons of obscene matter and six tons o£ gamMing implements were 
ilestroyed during 1882, and 700 persons were arrested. The fines imposed npon violators 
of the law amounted to S<15,25r), and bail bonds to the amount of 853,400 were forfeited, 
making a toUxl of $118,65G sent to the public treasury through the efforts of the society. 
So rigorously has the warfare and the purification gone on that the evil is largely suj). 
pressed, but there is much yet to be done, as a recent occnrrenci> inilicates. \ package of 
sixty obscene pamphlets intended for a student in a college in a neighboring city reached 
the hands of Jlr. Comstock, who traced out the publisher and had him arrested. Ho 
then visited the college, and found four boys in the prepamtory department and one in 
the senior class who had the grossest obscene matter in their possession. The ]>rinripa] 
of the girls' high school in the same city had found similar matter in the hands of his 
pupils, several of whom, daughters of respect.ible parents, had V>efn expelled, saspendcd. 
or reprimanded. This is only a glance nt the great evil which the society is fighting in 
a special field of conflict. It presents a subject for the most anxious thought and decisive 
action on the part of every parent or guardian of the young. 

The officers of the society for 1882 were : Samuel Colgate, president ; A. S. Barnes. 
William E. Dodge, .Jr., and Morris K. .Tesup, vice-presidents ; Killian Van Rensselaer, 
treasurer, and .Vnthony f'ouistock, secretary. 

* Elbridge T. Gerr>' is in the prime of life, having been bom in the city of New York 
on Christmas day, 1837. His father was an officer of the United States Navj-. and his 
mjthor was a sister of the late Peter Ooelet. of New York. Mr. Gerrj-'s grandfather was 



852 HlSTOin' OF NEW YORK CITY. 

organized in 1874 and incorporated in 1875, and has worked with zeal 
and efficiency ever since. In 1S7G the Legislature passed a more 
comprehensive law, restricting the industries in which children may be 
employed, and jirotecting them against exposure. 

"Witli eidarged powei-s the society is doing a most beneficent work 
for tiie imfortunate little ones. It has never received one dollar from 
the State or city authorities, while it pays its taxes even for the water 
with which the children picked from the gutters are washed. The 
institution is supported by the benevolent citizens of Xew York, who 
never allow a worthy object to be neglected. Tiie society co-operates 
with the Board of Ilealtli in exposing and closing up fraudulent estab- 
lishments for the jiretended care of children, and in promoting the 
health and comfort of the young in tenement -houses or worse habita- 
tions. It gathers from the dark recesses of the city suffenng little ones 
and places them in asylums or good homes. It guards children from 
the grasp of men and women who seek to employ them for selfish 
purposes. Already its labors have borne rich fruit,* and the ])romises 
of glorious results in the future ai-e bright and al)undant. 

a signer of the Declaration of Independence, governor of the State of llassachusetts, ami 
Vice-President of the United States. 

Mr. Gerry graduated at Columbia College in 1857, studied law with the late 
William Curtis Noyes, and became one of the law firm of Noyes & Tracy. On the death 
of Mr. Noyes he formed a law partnership with the late William F. Allen, judge of the 
Court of Appeals, and Benjamin B. Abbott. On the dissolution of this firm Mr. Gerry 
continued the practice of law as counsel, and has appeared in many very important 
cases. Having ample means at his command, he has gathered one of the most complete 
and extensive private law libraries in this country, comprising about 12,000 volumes, 
many of which are very rare and costly. It is specially rich in works on canon and 
ecclesiastical law. Mr. Gerry was a member of the Constitutional Convention of the 
State of New I'ork in 1867. In 1870 he became counsel for the Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals, and holds that j)osition now -1883. He is regarded by the 
founder of that society as its corner-stone. Mr. Gerry naturally took a lively interest in 
the movements which resulted in the formation of the Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Children. The legislation on the subject was secured by his earnest efforts, 
and was fashioned by his legal ability. When its first president, John D. Wright, a 
preacher among Friends or Quakers, died, Mr. Gerry was ajipointed to fill his place. 
Like Jlr. Bergh and Mr. Comstock in their respective spheres of action, he performs its 
duties fearlessly, conseientioiisly, faithfully, and most efficiently. 

In 18fi7 Mr. Gerry married Miss Louisa M. Livingston, daughter of Robert J. Living- 
ston, and great granddaughter of General Morgan Lewis, who. in the course of a long life, 
held the important offices of attorney-general, chief-justice, and governor of the State of 
New Y'ork, and at the age of eighty-one years was president of the New Y'ork Historical 
Society. 

* Since the society began its work, in 1875, to the beginning of 1883, no less than 
10,450 complaints had been received and investigated, involving more than 31,333 chil- 





■'^^^ccTC^e^ 



KIFTll DECADE, 1870-1880. >^i>'-i 

A groat Wdilv lias rott'iitly lieeii coinploted by t lie society. Hy per- 
sistent efforts it lias iinliK'e<l the city uuthoiities to establish a hospital 
for victims of contagicjus diseases. No more important result than this 
was ever accomplished for the prevention of physical i)ain, suffering, 
and death to the heljiless children of the poor, living in tenement- 
houses and neces.sarily exposed to cimtagions of everj' kind. It will 
afford a safeguard against the spread of such diseases from their centres 
of contagion among tiie children of the rich and ])oor alike. 

The home and reception place of the society is in a spacious building 
tive stories in height, at No. loo Kast Twenty-thii'd Street.* 

dren ; 30C8 casos Imil l)ecn prosecnteJ, 2H18 convicted, and 5911) children had been 
relieved and placed in homes or institutions. In the reception-rooms, which had been 
in operation only two years, there had been sheltered, clothed, and ted IVJO children, and 
6339 meals furnished. During the year 1882 there were prosecuted 1035 cases, 11109 con- 
victions secni'ed, and 1853 children relieved and placed in homes or in over thirty of the 
different institutions in the city. These prosecutions have been conducted under the 
charge of Lewis L. Delafield, the counsel, and John B. Pine, the attorney of the institu- 
tion. It is the province of the society to rescue children, of the other institutions to care 
for them afterward. Both are working for the same happy result. 

* The officers of the society for 1883 were : Elbriilge T. fJorry, president ; Jonathan 
Thorne, Henry Bergh, Samuel Willcts, Lewis L. Delafield, Benjamin D. Hicks, William 
H. Macy, Benjamin H. Field. Benjamin B. Sherman. Thomas C. Acton, and Sinclair 
Tonsey, vice-presidents ; William L. Jenkins, treasurer, and F. Fellows Jenkins, super- 
intendent. There is a board of fifteen directors, composed of Charles Haight, John H. 
Wright, R. E. Haines. William H. Webb, William H. Giiion, Henry L. Hognet, Harmon 
Hendricks. Ambrose C. Kingsland, Jr., Wilson M. Powell. Nathan C. Ely, J. W. Mack, 
George G. Haven, F. D. Tappen, J. H. Choute, and Henry S. /Uleu, 



CHAPTEE IV. 

AT the close of the fifth decade (18S(») tlie wliole of Manhattan 
Island and a portion of the southern part of Westchester County 
included in the city of New York vras quite densely settled. The 
island was nearly covered with buildings, excejrting in its parks and 
squares, Trinity Cemetery, and a rough region beyond Washington 
Heights toward Kingsbridge. There were then sixteen public parks 
or squares, of which Central Park was the chief. * 

The northern part of the city beyond Fifty-nintli Street presented 
broad avenues used for fashionable drives outside of Central Park. 
These were the Boulevards, Central, St. Nicholas, and Eiverside 
avenues, and the Kingsbridge Road. Central Avenue begins bej^ond 
the Harlem Eiver, at the end of Central (fonnerly Macomb's Dam) 

* These were : Abingdon Square, Battery Park, Bowling Green, Central Park, City 
Hall Park, Gramercy Park, Jackson Sqiiare, Slaclison Square, Morningside Park, Mount 
Monis Square, Reservoir Square, Stuyvesant Square, Riverside Park. Tompkins Square, 
Union Square, and Washington Square. Several of these have already been noticed. 

Abingdon Square is formed by the junction of Hudson Street and Eighth Avenue and 
several cross streets. It is a triangular inclosnre of trees and grass. It was formerly in a 
fashionable quarter. Jackson Square is a small triangular opening at the junction of 
Hudson and Thirteenth streets and Greenwich Avenue. Morningside Park is an irreg- 
\ilar piece of land extending for about 500 feet fi-oiu the north-western corner of 
Central Park at One Hundred and Tenth Street. It extends northward to One Hundred 
and Twenty-third Street, with an average width of about OllO feet. Riverside Park is 
also an irregular and narrow strip of land lying between Riverside Avenue and the 
Hudson River from Seventy-second to One Hundred and Thirtieth Street. Its average 
width is about 500 feet, its entire length nearly three miles, and its area about 178 acres. 
Mount Morris Square is on the line of Fifth Avenue, between One Hundred and 
Twentieth and One Hundred and Twenty-fourth streets, and contains about 20 acres. In 
the centre is a rocky hill about 100 feet in height. Fifth Avenue is here broken by this 
rocky eminence. Reservoir Park lies between the Reservoir and Sixth Avenue and 
Fortieth and Forty-second streets. The Crystal Palace, in which the first international 
exhibition in .A.merica was held, occupied a portion of this ground. Stuyvesant Square 
is between Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets. It is intersected by Second Avenue and 
occupies about four acres. It once formed a part of the farm of Governor Stuj^resant. 
Trinity Cemetery is between Tenth .\ venue and the Hudson River and One Hundred and 
Fifty-third and One Hundred and Fift.v-6fth streets. It belongs to the corporation of 
Trinity Church, and was established when interments in the city were prohibited. 



1-IKTll KKiAPK, lsTO-1880. ^55 

Hrid^'p oviT llic Ilarlciii River, extends to Joroine I'jirU. and llience to 
Yonkei-s. It is a lavoi-ite resort for jwrsons owning fleet Iioi-ses. cspe- 
fiallv on Sunday, when the avenue is thronged with wealthy men 
with fast trotting-iioi-ses, untraimnellt'd by the social restraints of the 
Knickerbocker period. On the line of the road are many houses of 
" refreshment" as famous as was Cato's in the olden tin\e. 

The Boulevard begins at tho junction of Fifty-ninth Street and 
Eighth Avenue, extends across Ninth and Tentii avenues, and runs be- 
tween Tenth and Eleventh avenues to One Hundred anil Sixth Street, 
where it entei-s Eleventh Avenue and continues to One Ilundreil and 
Sixty-seventh Street. It is laid out with great tiuste, with two wi<le 
roadlx'ds separated by small paries of grass and trees in the centre. 
The Southern Boulevard starts from the north end of Third Avenue 
bridge over the Harlem River, and turning eastward follows the line 
of the Westchester shore of Long Ishunl Sound some di.stance, when it 
turns westwaid and joins Central Avenue at Jerome Park. At its 
southern portion it commands some fine views of Ixmg Isbind Sound. 

St. Nicholas Avenue avus formerly Harlem Lane. It begins at the 
northern end of Central Park at the junction of Sixth Avenue and One 
Hundred and Tenth Street, extending north-westerly along the 
grounds of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, and thence to Fort 
Washington. There it joins the picturesque Kingsbridge Road, which 
leads across the Harlem River and thence to Yijnkers. 

The Transval (iicross the valley)— ha])pily .so called by General Viele 
—comprises all the region of the island nortii of Manhattan Valley at 
( )ne Hun<lr«'d and Twenty-fifth Street. That valley is a depression of 
a high ridge ahnost to the sea-level. Beyond this valley, and stretch- 
ing northward, is a long elevated plateau sloping in a scries of natural 
terraces (now largely covered with forest trees) to both rivet's. This 
whole suburb of the city is very picturesfpie, affording at many jwints 
magnificent views of land and water. It is clustered vvith historic asso- 
ciations of the old war for inde])endence. It is already dotted with 
elegiint private residences. This region will undoui)tedly become, in 
the near future, the fa'orite dwelling-placo of wealthy and fasiiionable 
citizens. Improvements already begun and in contemplation prophesy 
this. It is proposed to have the streets and avenues conform to the 
topography of the oi-iginal sui-face. avoiding straight lines and arbitrary 
grades. A series of broad, longitudinal avenues have already been laid 
out, connected by lateral streets, leaving large tracts of ground to l>e 
subdivided in accordance with the views of the owners, without dicta- 
tion from the authorities. This will atTonl an o|ipnvtnnity fitr the eul- 



856 HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

tivation of the pictiu'esque and beautiful. Harlem Rivci" is destined 
to speedily become the bearer of vast ships of war and of commerce.* 

New York has undergone a corajilete revolution in the style of its 
architecture, domestic, commercial, and ecclesiastical, within a very 
few years. In the extent of ornamentation, in spaciousness, in height, 
and in interior decorations and furnishings, the dwellings of the very 
wealthy .in New York now surpass those of any other city in the 
world. The extravagance of all past times seems to have been ex- 
ceeded in this city in the opening years of the sixth decade. We have 
not space to present even a single example. Suffice it to say, the most 
elaborate stone carvings without, and the most elegant and costly 
carved woods, mosaics, paintings, sculptures, tapestries, rich hangings, 
rare embroideries, stained glass and luxurious upholstery, with the 
rarest curiosities of the arts of design from all lands, are everywhere 
displayed in the dwelhngs of the rich which have been built since the 
centennial year. We are told of a 810,000 chimney-piece, a §35,000 
bronze railing, a stained-glass window that cost $60,000, and a house 
that has §200,000 worth of upholstery and decorative art in it.-f- The 
cost of these things is the monument of the man who builds for pi'esent 
purposes. The horoscope of the future is clear to the mind's e3^e of a 
wise observer. 

Among the commercial structiires are many of enormous dimensions, 
such as the Mills building on Broad Street, Temple Court on Nassau 
and Beekman streets, the Mutual Life Insurance Company on Nassau, 

* See "The Transval of the City of New York," by General Egbert L. Viele. 

f Among the more sjiacious, costly, and rielily furnished houses abounding in works 
of art are those of Mrs. A. T. Stewart and of the Vauderbilts. For the use of less wealthy 
citizens, apartment-houses known as French flats have been built. They promised to 
be a boon to i^ersons of moderate income, but extravagance has frustrated the designs of 
the originators, and now none but comparatively rich families can afford to occujjy 
them. Of this class of dwellings the Dakota apartment-house on Eighth Avenue, oppo- 
site Central Park, furnishes a conspiciious example. Great height is now a marked 
feature of these houses. One on Fifty-seventh Street and Seventh Avenue is ten stories 
in height in front and fifteen stories in the rear, and will accommodate thirty-eight 
families. 

The first French flat was built in the city in 1869, as an experiment. Thei'e was very 
little demand for them for some years. After the panic of 1873 they were sought after. 
In that year 112 were built. Fully 700 were built in 1883. 

It is estimated that a majority of the people in New Y'ork City now live in tenement- 
houses, which term includes the apartment-houses or flats for the well-to-do citizen. 
Only about one seventh of tho dwellings in the city are " fir.st class," occupied by a 
single family. 

The Iribiine building is the pioneer of tall business edifices. Buildings from live 
to ten stories in height are now common. 



1-irni iiKfAUK \x:o i»«<o. 



Clodar. an.l LilxTtv streets, tl.e PiYxluce Exchange,* fronting Bowling 
(Jrceu; the Welles, Tost. I'nite.l Hank, an.l the Equitable Insurance 
l.uiklings, the Union Dime Savings I'.ank on Sixth Avenue and Thiity- 
seconil street. Those of the Metiio.iist Hook Concern, the American 
News Comi)any.+ and of many retail dry-goods mei-cliants up town 

• The New York ITo.Uice Exchange, tlio largest OHtnblishment of its kin.l in the world, 
probnblv. wiis or«.ini/.e.l in 1861, nud w.us ineorpomUd in 18"i2 under the title of New 
York Coniinereinl A«soeiiition. This niiine was clianged in W.H to New York Produce 
Exclmnne Trevious to IHOl there wiis no institution of the kind in the lity. Us n.eni- 
l)ershii. is limil.d to HimO, ami it is now (IKHil) full. This exchange is the resort of all 
the principal meroUauts dealing in agricultural productions, and most of all the larger 
transjictions in these articles are efifeeted on its floors. A magnifieent new building for 
the exchange was completed in the autumn of 18H3. covering the whole square bounded 
by Whitehall, Beaver, New, and Stone streets, and fronting on the Bowling (Jreen. The 
structure is of brick with granite trimmings. It forms a grand architectund feature o£ 
Now York. The general stvle of its architecture is a modified Italian Renaissance, with 
strongly developo.l horizontal cornices. The ground floor is occupied by large offices 
and the room of the Maritime Exchange. On the second floor are the main Exchange 
Hall, 215 by 134 feet in size and 60 feet in height, and the offices of the exchange, com- 
mittee rooms, etc. The stories above are divided into 301) offices. 

f Early in the first decade of ouv history the Sun newspaper created the newsboy. 
Before 18.50 he developed into the proprietor of a news-stand, which in time expanded 
into the newspaper and periodical agency. Finally, in 1864, there appeared an assocm- 
tion known as the American News Comi>any, composed of seven members -Sinclair 
Tonsev Henry and George Dexter, S. W. Johnson, .lohn Hamilton, Patrick Farrelly, and 
John J. Tonsey. These were the original stockholders ; now (1883) the number is 
seventy five. At first the company confine.l their business to the distribution of news- 
papers and magazines ; now they distribute bonks, stationery, fancy goods, etc. Since 
the advent of this company, less than twenty years ago, news agencies have been estab- 
lished in all part of the Republic. They now number about thirteen thousand, in most 
of which the American News Company has a controlling or a prominent interest. Its 
business has grown to enormous proportions. Its home employ.s, men and boys, number 
nearly two thousand. In the city of New York alone, between forty and fifty horses are 
employed in carrying newspapers, magazines, and bonks from the offices of publication 
to the various railroad stations. The company handles an average of sixty tons of paper 
each day. The entire trade of the company amounts to about $1.5,000,000 a year. Sin- 
clair Tonsey is its president. 

The newspaper advertising agency is akin to the news company. It was begun m 
New York about 1828, by Orlando Bourne. V. B. Palmer established such an agency in 
Boston and Philadelphia about 1840. With him, in Boston, wasSamuel M Pcttengill, an 
enterprising young man, who in 1849 established a newspaper agency in Boston on his 
own account '; and now the firm of S. M. P, ttongill & Co.. of New York and Boston, is the 
most conspicuous in the business. It has a house in Boston and another in New York, 
and these are active agents in procuring advertisements from merchants and others for 
nearly ten thousand newspapers in the ITnited States and the British provinces, and have 
paid them many million dollars for advertising. The amount of advertising by New York 
merchants alone is not less than SIO.OOO.ODO yearly, and is constantly increo-sing. There 
are business men who expend yearly $100.0(10 in advertising, to the profit <f themselves 



858 HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

are fine structures. Tlie Chemical Bank anil the Eleecker Street 
Bank of Savings occupy their old buildings. The stock of the former 
Avas quoted, in 188;^, at over two thousand per cent above par. The 
assets of the Bleecker Street Savings Bank, as we have said in a pre- 
ceding notice of it, arc the largest of any similar institution in the 
country. There are about one hundred and forty reputable hotels in 
the city, some of which present to the eye elegant and imposing edi- 
fices, such as the Fifth Avenue and the Windsor. 

The pojjulation within the Umits of the city of Xew York in 1880 
was 1,206,577, an increase in ten years of 393,000. Since that time its 
growth has been more rapid than ever before. At the close of 1883 
the city pro]ier contained probably fully 1,450,000 inhabitants. But 
this number by no means indicates the extent of tlie real population of 
the city, for the surrounding municipahties within fifteen or twenty 
miles of K"ew York are largely peopled by New Yorkei-s — men doing 
business in the metropolis. Even Brooklyn, distinct in nianj'^ social 
aspects from New Y'ork, with its 700,000 inhabitants, is in a large 
degree but the stalwart child of the great city on Manhattan, slightly 
separated hitherto from its mother's embrace by the waters of the East 
Eiver. It is no longer thus separated, for the great Suspension Bridge 
which spans the East River, cora])leted in May, 1883, has firmly united 
the two cities as one in fact, if not one in legal form and name. In- 
cluding what may be called the suburban population of New York, its 
citizens numbered probably, at the close of 1883, at least 2,000,000. 
This growth had been gradual until 1880, when the enormous sudden 
increase began.* 

The East River Suspension Bridge, alluded to above, is regarded as 
the grandest monument of engineering skill in the world. A sti'ucture 
for connecting New York and Brooklyn, consisting of a single arch, 
was jH'ojected more than seventy years ago.f The project was revived 

and the newspapers. Mr. Pettengill is a native of Naugatuck, Conn,, where he was bom 
iu March, 1823. 

* The popuhvtion of the citj' of New York has doubled six times in a century— doub- 
ling on an average once in seventeen years. New York City in 1883 was sixty-five times 
as largo as the New York City one hundred years ago. The rate of increase in the popu- 
lation of the country at large (doubling once in twenty-five years) is insignificant in com- 
pai-ison with that of New York. .\t the rate of increase shown by the enumeration 
during the last twenty-five years— a rate made less by the influence of the Civil War and 
other causes— there may be now children in their nurses' arms who may see a metropolis 
here having 10,000,000 inhabitants. 

f In 1811 Thomas Pope, an architect and landscape gardener, proposed to erect a 
" fl.ving pendant lever bridge" across the East Kiver between New Y'ork and Brooklyn— 
a single arc, of which the chord was to be 1800 feot and its altitude above liic;h watt-r 223 



FIFTH DKiAHK. 1M70 1H'<i). ^'>'i 

by Thoimus MtEIriitIt, i'l tlic New York Trihu,,,, mon- tlian forty 
years iijifo, and John A. l{<>L'l)ling, an eminent enj,'incer, su^'f,'este(l a 
stracture of tlie general plan of the one under consideration so early ;ls 
1857, estimating the cost at §L',u()(i,(i()(i. 

The" necessity for such an inter-municipal connection became more 
and more apparent, and the Legishiture of New York chartered a 
bridge company for the purpose, lixing the capital at ^5,0(»(>,(mio, with 
l)o\ver to increiuse, and giving authority to tiie cities of New York and 
Brooklyn in their corporate cajiacity to subscrii)e for the stock of the 
comjiany, wiiich was organized in May, 1807. Mr. Koebling was ap- 
pointed chief engineer. He submitted plans in September. 

In the sju-ing of 18ti0 a board of consulting engineers, at the request 
of Mr. Roebling, e.xamined his plans. Soon afterward the War De- 
partment ai)i)ointed a commission of three United States engineei-s to 
report upon the feasibility of the phm and its relations to navigation. 
The plans weie fully approved l)y both commissions, and the construc- 
tion of the bridge was begun on January ?>, 187(i. Before a stone of 
the great structure had been laid .Mr. rv(X'i)ling died, from the effects 
of an accident. His son. Colonel Washington A. Koebling, who had 
long been associated with his father in bridge building, and had taken 
a conspicuous part in making tiie plans of the East River Bridge, was 
chosen as his fit successor. 

We will not attenii)t to trace the history of the building of the 
bridge, nor to give a description of it. The event of its construction is 
so recent anil the newspajiei-s of the day and other publications have 
given such minute details of the whole affair that the story of its 
formal opening to the pul)lic use, on the ^-ith of May, 1883, told in 
brief outline, must suffice.* 

feet. The nbutraents were to be bnilt in the form of warohouses. Pope's invention was 
pronounnecl excellent nnd the project feasible by seventeen lending shipbailders of New 
York, among them Henry Eckford, Christian Bergh, .\dam an.l Noah Brown, and .loseph 
Webb. More than twenty years earlier a bridge between the two cities was contemplated. 
» The cost of the bridge was nearly $20,000,000. It was thirteen years a-building. Its 
entire length from its New York terminus, opposite the City Hall, to .Sands Street, 
Brooklyn, is 5989 feet, or a little over a mile. The width is 85 feet. There is room for 
a train'of cars and two lines of vehicles to pass on each side of the foot promenade. The 
space nnder the ])romenade is used for telegraph and telephone wires, and the whole 
structure is illuminated at night by electric lights. The length of the river and land 
spans combined is 1800 feet, the same as that projected by Pope in 1811. The bridge is 
flu.spended on four cables, the first wire of which was run out in May, 1877. The length 
of wire in the four cables, exclusive of the wrapping wire, is M,3G1 miles, the length of 
each single wire being 3579 feet. The weight of the four cables is 3538 tons ; diameter 
of each, loj inches. Ultimate strength of each cable, 12,200 tons. Depth o£ the tower 



860 HISTOUy OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

The day was most auspicious. The weather was all that could be 
desired. Both cities were radiant with tliousands of American flags 
fluttering in the breeze. The President of the United States and his 
Cabinet ministei's were the most distinguished guests on the occasion. 
Governoi-s of States and many other eminent men were also guests, 
and a vast multitude were admitted to the bridge by tickets. Several 
vessels of the North Atlantic Squadron, under the command of Admiral 
Cooper, conspicuously participated in the ceremonies of the day and 
evening. All tiie water-craft in the harbor were ga}' with flags and 
bunting. 

The famous Seventh Regiment National Guard, commanded by 
Colonel Eimnons Clark,* was the chosen escort for the President of 

foundation on the New York side below high water, 78 feet, and on the Brooklyn side, 45 
feet. The total height of the towers above high water is 278 feet. Clear height of 
bridge at the centre of the river span (which is 1595 fectj above high water, 135 feet. 
The mass of masonry in the towers and land aijproaehes has no parallel in history since 
the pyramids of Egypt were built. The two towers contain 82,159 cubic yards of 
masonry. Nearly 600 men were employed upon the great structure at one time. 

This bridge will ever remain a grand monument to the engineering skill of the 
Roeblings, father and son. The former was a native of Muhlbiuisen, a city of Thuringia. 
The authorities of that city have honored him by~thanging the name of the street in 
which he was born to Roebling Street. 

* Emmons Clark, the present colonel commanding the Seventh Kegiment National 
Guard, was born at Port Bay (now Huron), Wayne County, N. Y., October 14, 1827. He 
is of New England parentage, and descended from one of the earlier Puritan settlers of 
Massachusetts Bay. His father, the Eev. William Clark, was a Presbyterian clergyman, 
widely known and respected in Western New York during the iirst half of the present 
century. His son, the subject of this sketch, received his education at Hamilton College, 
where he was graduated in 1847. He began the study of medicine, but his active tem- 
perament gave him a stronger inclination for a business rather than a professional life, 
and at the age of twenty-three he went to New Y'ork and entered upon an active and suc- 
cessful mercantile career. In this pursuit he continued about sixteen years, when, in 
1866, he retired from Inisiness and accepted the position of secretary of the New Y'ork 
Board of Health. That office he has held until now— 1883. 

In .January, 1857, Mr. Clark enlisted, as a private, in the Second Company of the 
Seventh Regiment National Guard, then commanded by Captain Alexander Shaler. He 
was promoted to first sergeant in 1858, to second lieutenant in 1859, first lieutenant in 
1860, and to captain in December of the same year. Captain Clark commanded the 
Second Company at Washington in the spring of 1861, at Baltimore in 1862, at Frederick 
in 18G3, and during the Draft Kiot in New Y'ork in .luly of the same year. In June, 1864, 
he was elected colonel of the Seventh Regiment, and has now held that exalted position 
over nineteen years, with honor to that famous military organization, which, as we have 
seen, has ever been the trustworthy guardian and preserver of the peace of the city. 
Colonel Clark is possessed of commanding personal appearance and dignified and courtly 
manners. He is a thorough, courteous, and considerate disciplinarian, is master of the 
profession of a soldier, and is honored and beloved by all who know him. He is the 
author of a " History of the Second Company, Seventh Regiment." 




j:>'^^^'-ir-<^^i.-^ 



y^ 



FIFTH DlilADK, 1H70 IHSO. ^''l 

the United States and the oilier notahles, whu ()eeu|tifil tuciity-rour 
carriages. Tlie procession, le*l by Cappa's l)and of seventy jiiires and 
a (hum corps ot twenty-two, moved down Broadway from the Fiftii 
Avenue Hotel. The windows, balconies, rofjfs, and .sidewalks were 
crowdeil with spectators. When the jirocession reached the New York 
end of tlu' l)ridge, the vicinity was packed with human beings, fully 
5(),(tno having come into the city by the raihvays alone. All the ves- 
sels moored at the wharves were also crowded with men, women, and 
children. The war-vessels, gayly decoratetl with flags and bunting, 
were anchored in a line Ijelow the briilge, and at a signal given the 
flagship Tiinu'SKi'i' opened a general sidute of twenty-one guns which 
was lired from the siiuadron, the Navy-Yard, ami from Castle 'William 
on Governor's Island. 

The nninicipal authorities of the two cities met, with cordial greet- 
in"^, on the bridge, while the band ])layed " Hail to the Chief " and 
the vast multitude cheered. Under the arched roof of the Brooklyn 
station a dense throng of laiUes and gentlemen had gathered. To that 
shelter tlie guests were conducted, where a]>|)ropriate ceremonies were 
opened with prayer by Bishop Littiejoim. An oration was delivered 
by the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, and the Rev. Dr. Stori-s pronounced an 
address. There was a grand recejition at tlie house of Chief- P^ngineer 
Eoebhng, in Brooklyn, at which the di.stinguished guests assembled. 
The evening witnessed a grand disi)lay of fireworks and illuminations 
at the bri<lge and elsewhere. At midnight the pageant and its acces- 
sories hail disappeared — the events at the opening of the great East 
River Bridge had passed into history, and the first toll of am' o,>nt was 
taken on the Xew York side when the City Hall clock struck the hour 
of twelve at midnight. 

What the bridge may etTect toward a union of the two cities is an 
unsolved jiroblem. It is practically a new street, closely built up 
exce])ting over the water, and extending from the Harlem Kiver down 
Third Avenue ami Chatham Street in New York, across the bridge 
and along Fulton Street in Brooklyn to East New York, a distance of 
fully fourteen miles. But Br(K>klyn, the grown-u]) child of New York, 
has so firmly set u]) in life for itself that it is almost as independent of 
the latter, in its industrial ))ursuits and its social organizations and 
asi>ects. Jis any other city. Bapid transit may be the philosopher that 
will solve the problem. 

The incresise in legitimate trade,* foreign commerce, and mechanical 

• This term is applied to all business transactions not imrely speculative, tor N'ew 



S6-i IIISTOHV OF NEW VUUK rllY. 

and manufacturing pursuits at the port and in the city of New York, 
as shown by the hist enumeration in ISSli, has been equally great with 
that of the population. The total foreign commerce of the port, 
exports and imports, inclutling coin and bullion, for the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1880, was $944,229,124:. The number of vessels of 
every kind belonging to the port at that time was 4123. This number 
has decreased, for the carrying trade of New York has rapidly dimin- 
ished. It is stated that during 1882, of the more than 4r),()0(i,000 
bushels of grain exported from~ this port, not a single busiiel was 
shipjied to Europe in a vessel under the American flag. Nearly sixty 
per cent of the grain was carried in British vessels. Various causes 
are assigned for this state of things. Among them unwise legislation 
appears most prominent.* 

New York had become, before 1870, the most extensive manufactur- 
ing city in the Kepublic. According to the census of 1880, the 
number of its mechanical and manufacturing industries was 11,162, 
and their manufactured products were valued at §448,209,248. They 
emi)loyed $164,917,856 capital and 217,977 persons. Of the latter, 
77,866 were women, youth, and children. The largest industries, 
measured bj'^ the value of their products, were clothing, $79,629,250 ; 
meat-packing, $29,297,527 ; printLug and publishing, $21,696,354 ; 
tobacco and cigare, $18,347,108 ; refined lard, $14,758,718 ; sugar 
and molasses, $11,330,883 ; furniture, $9,605,779 ; bakery products, 
$9,415,424, and machinery, $9,216,713. These eight industries aggre- 
gate only $194,080,993, leaving $254,028,255 to be divided up among 
about 150 minor industries, of which only 66 run up into the millions. 

York is conspicuous now for its enormous speculations or gambling in agricultural pro- 
ductions as well as in stocks. For example : in the year 1882 the reported sales of wheat 
at the port of New York were more than 650,000,000 bushels, while the actual quantity 
received was less than 45,000,000, showing that nineteen twentieths were mere gambling 
transactions. The sales of Indian corn were reported to be nearly 450,000,000 bushels, 
or thirty times the quantity received ; of oats, exceeding 150,000,000 bushels, aboiit one 
tenth of which amount was actually received. There were 30,000,000 bales of cotton 
reported sold, when the whole amount actually delivered, both on the spot and future 
sales, was less than half a million bales. More than once the reported sales of petroleum 
in a single day exceeded the entire product for the whole year ! Other large cities, 
notably Chicago, are centres of such gambling. 

* Thirty or forty years ago the Americans took the lead in shipbuilding. Then their 
vessels were chietly propelled by wind. Fully one hundred ships were annu.'illy built in 
the shipyards of New York, many of thcra of 2000 tons burden ; in 1882 the shipyards of 
the city turned oiit only a few yachts or a ferryboat. Steam has superseded wind as a 
means for the propulsion of vessels, and Great Britain now takes the lead of all the 
world in the construction of this class of ships. 



Finn DKCAnr;. i870-i88o. 8(;;} 

It is no (liitilit dill' to tlic fliariU'tiT of these iiulustrics ;m<l tlic iiatiin' uf 
tin- iiiaimfuetmvs tliiit tlicy iiave so little cireet niton pulilie <tiiiiiioii 
eoiKM'riiiii^j; tarill's and otlier enmoiiiie intlueiircs u|ioii laiioi'. 

At the Ite'^iiminjf of this ileeatU- (the sixth i William II. (inice* w.us 
mayor of the city, wielding executive power under the amended 
charter of IS":!. Now York was then almost peerless in every (juality 
of greatness among the cities of the lie|)ul)lic. In jfopuhition it was 
pre-eminent. In the extent of its commercial opi-ratiitns it was niar- 
vellous, it Ijeing computed that, including relevant linancial (tpei-iititms, 
seven eighths of the foreign commerce of the United States is trans- 
acted thi"ough New York with its vortex in Wall Street. It exceeded 
all others in manufactures and the mechanic arts. It was unriv;dled 
in literary, scientilic, and art associati<ms and culture, in religious and 
benevolent institutions, in its various aspects of scK-ial life, ami in its 
magniticent charities, pulilic and private.f 

* Williiiiu Russell Gmoo wiis born in Ireland, nnil rpceireil an ncailciuic education in 
Dublin. Uis father was -Jame.s Grace, and his lucUlier was Eleanor Mary (Russell ) Urace. 
At the ago of fourteen young Grace came to New York, liccaiue a merchant's clerk, and 
Rnbsciiueutly a shi|)|)iug and commission merchant on his own account. Ue has prose- 
cuted business with energy and success between this ami foreiffn countries, residing a 
portion of the time abroad. .Since IHGo he has made the city of New York his permanent 
residence. His commercial firm is W. R. Grace A Co., at No. 142 Pearl Street. In 1880 
Mr. Grace was elected mayor of the city, and performed the important duties of that 
office with wisdom, fidelity, and a fearless regard for the public good, which made his 
administration a notable one. Mr. Grace married Miss Lillius Gilchrist. They have 
six children— four daughters and two sons. 

f In 1883 there were in the city of New York 33 benevolent associations for the benefit 
of the poor, and 43 for mutual benefit ; 18 asylums for the aged, 3 for women, 3 for the 
blind, 3 for the deaf and dumb, 2 for lunatics, 3 for inebriates, and 1 fur soHiers ; 8 
Rible societies, 3 charity organizations, 5 Christian associations for young men and for 
young women, 11 city missionary societies, 12 dispen-saries, 32 " homes, " 37 hospitals, 
20 industrial daily schools, and several church weekly sewing schools ; 6 ladies' missions 
(flower, fruit, etc.) for the sick and convalescent : 51 institutions for children, 4 lodging- 
houses for boys, 12 for girls and women, ond 1 for sailors : 1.5 orphan asylums, 18 
reform societies, 1 1 seamen's societies, and a number of free reading-rooms and libraries. 
Among the most useful of the liist-nu-ntioned institutions is the New York Free Circulat- 
ing Library, incorporated in ISSO for the pnrpose of furnishing free readin;» to the people 
of the city at their homes. The office of this association is at No. .30 Bond Street, and it 
is proposed to establish branches in different parts of the city.* Besides the institutions 
above named, there are about .500 dennminntional institutions and the several public 
charities si called, under the charge of the commissioners of charities and correction, in 
which nearly 40.000 persons were cared for in 1SS3. 

There is a Charity Organization Society for co-operating with all other charitable a,sso- 

• The offlccrs for 1S89-S3 were : Ilonry E. Pellew. president ; Benjamin H. FIcliI. Francis C. Harlow, 
Fr»-<lcricl{ W. Stevens, and Samncl P. Bla.-dcn. vice prceidcnta ;. I. PiiTpoiit Mor;;an, treasurer : Willlum 
Orcenoiich. Borrctnrj*. nnd Mis" Ellen M. Coe, libr.irinn- 



SC-i HISTORY OF XEW YORK CITY. 

In this city is concenti-atcrl the greatest puissance of the press of the 
country in every form — newspapei-s, magazines, and hooks. There 
were no less than 540 chfferent newspapers and periodicals puhlished in 
the city in 1SS3. Several of these were in foreign languages, one of 
them in Chinese. There were 29 daily morning and 9 daily evening 
papers. There were 10 semi- weekly, 254 weekly, 11 bi-weekly, 25 
semi-monthly, 185 monthly, three bi-monthly, and 11 quarterly publi- 
cations. Of the weekly papers, between forty and fifty were classed 
as " religious," tliough most of them ai'e both religious and secular in 
character.* The extent of its book publishing is enormous. Indeed, 

ciations against imposture and for promoting relief for the real suffering. It proposes 
to investigate every case referred to it, to provide work for the deserving, and to expose 
and punish impostors. 

* Of this class the Independent and the Christian I'nion are conspicuous. The latter is 
the acknowledged leader in the new departure in theological thought and inquin- now 
attracting so much attention and discussion in the religious world. It was founded by 
the Kev. Henry Ward Beecher and others. It has been for several years under the man- 
agement of Lyman Abbott, D.D., as editor-in-chief, who has associated with himself in 
that labor Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie. 

Lyman Abbott was born at Koxbury, Mass., December 18, 1835. His father, Jacob 
Abbott, was one of the most useful and influential men of his time, especially in leading 
and directing the youth of our country to the happiness of good living, intellectually, 
morally, and spiritually. His rare harmony of spiritual and practical gifts made him in 
an unusual degree the interpreter of high truths to plain peojile. Lyman, his third son, 
enjoyed the education of his father's companionship and guidance, and received by direct 
inheritance a habit of tireless industry, a simplicity and directness of speech (which 
makes him one of the most popular and effective writers and speakers of the day on 
religious and moral themes), and a vivid insight into spiritual truths. 

Mr. .\bbott graduated from the University of New York in 1853, and spent some years 
in the study and practice of law with his brothers Benjamin Vaughan and Austin. He 
contributed to several legal works published by them and to various periodicals. After 
a brief study of theology with his uncle, John S. C. Abbott, he entered the Christian 
ministry in 1860, accepting a call to the pulpit of the Congregational Church at Terre 
Haute, Indiana. In 18G5 he entered the service of the American Freedmen's tTnion Com- 
mission as general secretary, and gave himself actively to the work. In 1866 he became 
pastor of the New England Congregational Church in New Y'ork City, adding the duties 
of a pastorate to that of his secretary.ship, until 1869. In 1871 he became the first editor 
of the Illustrated Christian Weekly, a journal designed and organized by him and published 
by the American Tract Society. This po.sition he resigned in 1877 to accept the joint 
editorship of the Christian I'nion with the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. In 1881 Mr. 
Beecher withdrew entirely from journalistic work, and Mr. .Abbott became and remains 
editor-in-chief of the paper. Under his guidance the Christian Union has steadily gained 
in influence and authority until it has become widely recognized as the leading exponent 
of a spiritual and progressive Christianity. Its notable characteristics are the recognition 
of the presence and power of God in the history of to-day, interpreting current events 
from a moral and spiritual standpoint, and endeavoring to indicate the lines of growth 
or decay in accordance with the divine law, an attempt to point out and emphasize the 



rilTII l)F.tAI>E. 1870-1880. *"'•'' 

U.viUr imi-suil of .'V.MV kin.i ..(• intrll.rtual cultivation N.-\v York is 
unsuri)asse<l in tli.- nuiltiplicity an.l I'moiimcy of fiicilities. 

Tho jrivat city, alas ! also pivscnts some of ihi; blackest shadows of 
social life to he'foun.! elsewhere. These shadows are intensilie.l an.l 
UKule nioiv hideous l.v their contra.st with the l.ri-rht side of society, 
which, happilv. j,'teatlv i.reiK)nderat.s. Xew York, unfortunately, is 
heconiin;: in u V.iv-^c dej,'ree u city ..f only two conspicuous chisses, tlw 
rich aii.rthe poor. The -reat niid.lle chisses. which constitute the 
hone aiul sinew of the social slru.ture, have heen S(|uee7.ed out, as it 
were, l.v the continually increa.sin;; j„vssure of the i.urden of the cost, 
of livini,' in the citv. They con.stitute the frreat hulk of the sul.urhan 
dwellci-Tto whom the elevated-railuuad system is an inestimai.l.- hoon. 

New York has lieconu^ a mighty magnet, attracting everything ; 
hence its inai-vellous growth hy accretion. Posse.s.soi-s of wealth, ol 
genius, and of enterprise have come tci it from all parts of the Kepul.lic 
to enjoy its manifold advantages <.f cducati(m for their children, the 
cultivation of :esthetic tastes, the l.lessings of scientific instruction, the 
facilities of comineicial life, the chances for winning fortunes, and th<> 
l)le:usures of almost boundless social privileges and enjoyments. Toward 
the great metropolis the authoi-s of inventions and the projectoi-s of 
enterprises of every kind continually gravitate, for here encouragement 
and capital are ever ready to extend aid to the deserving. Here the 
three great inventions or discoveries of our day— the telegraph, the 
telephone, and the electric light— hav(^ had their greatest development. 

These advantages, -with an abundance of places of amusement and 
recreation on every hand (twenty-three theatres and scores of other 
haunts of pleiism-e," in 1883), and a multitude of church spires pointing 
K.ward heaven, together with a salubrious climate, admirable arrange 

essentinl nnitv of Christianitv niulerneath all sectarian rtifferenceg ; a recognition of tho 
progressive aevelopinent of spiritual tnith an.l a consequent .levelopment of theological 
statement in bariiiony with it. n- r-t 

Mr. Abbott is the author of a nnraber of books : " Jcsns of Nazareth. His i-ite 
and Teachings," 18G0 ; " Ol.l Test«mcnt Shndow.s of New Testament Truths." 1870 ; 
" Morning and Evening Exercises," selected from the writings of Henr>- Ward BeecUer. 
1871 ; " Laicus : Tho Experiences of a Layman in a Conntrj- Parish." 1872 : " A Popu- 
lar Keligions Diclionar>-," 1873 ; " A Review of New Testament Notes by .lacob and .Inhn 
S. C. Abbott," 1881 : " Henry Ward Keechcr : a Portrait." 188:1 ; " Family Worship.'" 
188;l. Mr. Abbott is engaged in preparing a commentary on the New Testament. He is 
widely known as an effective and elmitunt speaker, with a singular gift of putting abstract 
truths in vital forms. He has tho lucidity and simplicity of style which his father pos- 
sessed beyond all his contemporaries ; he also has a depth of nient.il and sjiii itual life, a 
vitality of conviction, and a richness of imagery which are distinctively his own. Mr. 
Abbott has received from the University of New York the degree of Doctor of Divinity. 



sec HISTOKY OF NEW YOKK CITY. 

inents for the promotion of health, and markets unsm-jiassecl in the 
variety and quality of meats, fruits, and vegetables which they daily 
display, make ]Siew York one of the most desirable dwelling-places on 
the globe. 

Thei'e are in the vicinity of the great city charming seaside resorts, 
cool mountain retreats, and thousands of quiet rural homes open to the 
wearied denizens of the town, easily accessible. The most remote may 
be reached in a few hours and at a trilling expense. Up the Hudson 
are the towering Highlands and the Kaatsbergs, and beautiful vaUeys 
where pleasant farmhouses are open for the reception of visitors and 
sojourners ; on the sea-shore are Long Branch, Coney Island, Eockaway, 
and Fire Island ; and there are numerous sylvan picnic grounds scarcely 
beyond the chimes of Trinity. Coney Island, lying at the door of the 
city, seems like a work of .magic. A dreary waste of sand less than a 
dozen years ago, it Tias been transformed into one of the most magnifi- 
cent and attractive watering-places in the world, receiving every year 
millions of dehghted visitoi-s. 

New York is now the metropolis of the Eepublic. By the close of 
this century it will probably be, in population, wealth, cultivation, and 
every other element of a high civilization, the second city in the world. 
To the eye of the optimist tlie time appears not far distant when it will 
be the cosraetropolis. 



INDEX 



Abbott. Lvnian. editor of CM^tlan Union. Woe- 
Alwel.'tlie Rev. David, nndthe Scnmnn's Frlentl 

Society, 1-15. 
Ablnirdon Square, aM. .. i, j j„. 

Abolition riota, 3®-»8»; churches attacked dur 

AcSdcmy ..f M.dlcine, hlstor>- of the. 82S-83n: 

officers of til.-, K)0. 
Academy of Musi,-, early performers at the, (.•« 
Academv nf the Siicred Heart. 5(W. 
Adams. Mvln. blnt-niphy of Wl 
Adams Express mmpaiiy. the .tsO. 
Ailiims .loliii at New \ork. Ii. 
Adams! .I.iscph A., ciieravcr. 2.Vi; sketch of, a<M. 

Actli" F'"s^'.""id'l'r>"»'''"l'- 1"^ : """<'<' "'• **• 
Aceil indiitint Female Sorlety. tST. 
Aenew. Cornellns H.. ami the Sanltar>- Commis- 
sion and Inlon l-caEUc flub. 748: biography 

Akerly.' Samuel. M. D. . sketch of 4K 
Allen the Rev. Richard, colored bishop, 562. 
Alsop, .l.ihn. hioKniphy of, a». , „ 
•Iwii-nV./ Ilic famous vachl. and the Royal ^ acht 
" Club VM • owned by (Jenenil II. F. ruitler. !)•». 
Ami'rican .\cademy of Fine Arts, history of the, 
1?2. 17.1 ; conduct of the. 178. , . , , 

American AntlSlaver>- Society, 3i!fl: principles of 

the Xif. 
American Art Union, history of the. Rin. 
••American Association," the. .<«•.. ,„,„.. 

Aiiicri.-an Bible Society, history of Ibc 1!>2 m. 
committee to dr.ift constilulion of the m. 
members of the convention tiiat formed liie. 
liW- presiilenis of the. 1(«: workine of the. 
ini', nmciTSnr 111'-. 1»-'> , „ 

\merl'an Femnlc iJnardian Society and Home 
' for till- Friiniliiss. hisl.iry of the. I(B ; advisory 

commiti f Hie. 461 ; otTl.ers of I he. MV: 

Amerii'iiii liciu-nipbical Society, history of the ; 
' corporators lif the. Ml; presidents of the. &»; 

meml.ci-ship of Hie. 616. 
American Instiliil.-. oricin and historj- of the 
lfifl-171 ; first oflic-rs of the. 16(1: exhibllioii of 
the- losses of the. 170; oflb-ersuf the, 171. 
\mericaii or Know Nothlni; parly, :Ui 
American .lor-key Cliih. t«-J 
Arn-'rirnn Jnunt'i' nf' Ilniihr/i 
American iiicratiire and 
York in 1S.10: liieran,- m 
American Mus.mn of Nati 
ponilorsof tile. S.1I :om 
ti.mof bnildiii 
Ameri 



<mlh>J. -JtW. 

iTcniry men in New 
n and artists. 246. 
nil History. 8ai>: cor- 
i-srif the, 83a:descrip- 
.f the. H31. KW. 

, „ „ mp:.nv, history of the. A17. 

American S.iei 'ty for the Promotion of National 

I'nion. 716. , ,.. 

Ameri.an Tract Society, history and work of the : 

publications of the. arm: ofHcers of the, 91)1. 
Ainerieus Club, history of the : entertainments at 

the. .W. 
Amsterdam. Fort, church in, 6. 



Anderson. Alexander, enirraver. SM: sketch of. 

Andrews, (ieorite II , on the dally press. ?71. 
Anihon .lohn. draws act forchanBlne the Court 

of Common Pleas. -iK! ; biournphy of. 237 
Anihmcite coal. lntrodiiell<>ii of. •«.V 
Anii-Masonlc movement and party. iXa. 
Andros. (Jovernor. reception of. 14. 
Anii slavery Society In Boston. »»: the Amcrl- 

laii. :*.'6. 
Ami slaver\- movements In 1854, 0S1-«W: par- 

tlcipnlorsin the, I'M. 

.\ pari nient -houses. S.'i6. 

\ppleton, nanici, sketch of. 283-584. 

Appleton, 1). & Co., publishers, house of, S8S, 

281. 
Appleton. William H.. 283. 
Apprt'iitlces' Llbrar>-. the. VA. 
Arbitration, Court of, Chamber of Commerce, 

210. 
Architecture, chanses In style of ; cxtravatrance 

in and decorations of. RV.. 
Arcularlus, Commissary-tJcncral, 319. 
Arcuiarins. IMiilip I. .Vil. 

Armitaci'. tlic Rev. Thomas, bioeraphy of. 5.VI. 
Arms for insurgents seized by the Metropolitan 

Police. 710. 
\nny, disbandment of the I nion. i5,. 
Arnold. Wencdicl, attempted eaiittire of, 44. 
Ars"-nal. the. ami election riots. 319. 
Art. eariv ciillivalion of. 171 : a new feature in 
troduccd, 7.5!i: present cultivalion of. H40. 811 

Vrt Students' l-eagm-. lii^tory of the. K."i!): m.m 
bership and schoids of the. 810; officers of tic-. 

\rt inlon. the American, history of the. 619. 

Arthur, the Rev. Dr. M.. 558. 

Artists' Sketchine Club, the New York, methods. 

meeliuKS. ami members of the. 606. 
Aria. the. British ship of war, fires on the city. 

39. 
Assistance Society, the, 129 
Associations, cliaritable and benevolent, «» 
Astor. .John Jacob, blocniphy of TOI. 
Astor, Mrs John J., and the Children s Aid So 

Astor.'Slrs. William, and the Children's Aid So- 

Astor'i.ibrary. history of the.7ni-7(M: offlcers of 

the. 71^1. 
Astor I'iace riot, history of the. 509-517. 
Atlantic Tclcirrapb. first promoters of the. 646 ; 

history of the. i'^7-6.'.0. , _, ^, , 

AthenaMim. tlic New \ork. 190; directors and 

lectures of the. 191. 
Audubon. J. J., 161 
Aumista. Mile., skcti-h of, 4'2« 
Auction hotel, the. 96. 
"Aunt Manraret," a famous boarding - bonse 

keeper, 92. 
Avennes, Central, Riverside, and St. Nicholas. 856. 
\vcry. Samuel P.. nrlatlon of to art and arllsls : 

contribution of to this work. R|0.8)S. 
\vrcs. Mr., and the Baptist C hurch. .vyi 



Babcock. S. D., president of tlie Chamber of 

Commerce, 211. 
Baclielcr, O., founder of the Family Magazine, 

280. 
Baldwin. J. C, and the Society for the Relief of 

tlie Ruptured and Crippled. 704. 
Bancroft, Oeorfie, pre.si(leiit of the Geographical 

Society. G45: funeral onitioii of (Lincoln), 756. 
Bangs, Xatlian. and the Jlethodist Misslonai-y 



Baptist Homo Mission Society, 460-463 ; found 

of the, 460 : officers of the. 462. 
Baptist place for baptism in Kast liiver. 222. 
Barclay, Anthony, elopement of daughter 



Society ; hioj; 
Bank of KnirlMii 


aphy ot, lUli. 

i. aitionorthe. 370. 




Bank 1. r ^: _ 


. liist in New York, histor> 


of 


tlir,-;: :.' 

tir, 1 - -' !■! ,-- 

Banks in \. -a -, 


- 1 • >flii;ers and directors of 


of- 


i,' ill ISW. 22.5. 




Banks uud in-,; 


, ' ■ 1 ,iii|ianies, 235.326. 




Banks suspin 1 


I i . . n.rnts, 6C;J. 




Bankrupt law 


■ . I ;ii 




Bayard, Peter, i 


• i 'Mi-of, 8fl. 




Baptist chunli. 


, lii-I..ry.ir. .550-.').xS. 




Baptist Iluiiir f, 


r .Vsed and Infirm Persons. 


of. 



>f, 



Bard, .John. l.i<.;,'iai.liy of. no. 

Barker, Fordyrc. in.sidi m of the Academy of 
iMedicine. lii<i::iai'liv "i. s-,'!l, 

Barnard. F. A 1' . p'nsni.nt of Columbia Col- 
lege, 147; biography of, 148. 

Barnum, P. T.. and .Jenny Lind ; lecture room of, 
678. 

Barlow, Joel, prophecy of, 78. 

Barrett, the Kev. B. F.,aiid the New Jeru.salem 
Church, .574. 

Bartholdi statue of Liberty, CIO. 

Bates, Ueed & Cooley, dry-goods .iobbers, 783. 

Bates, Le\i M., biography of. 784. 

Battery, the, 87 ; distinguished dwellers near, 88, 
89. 

Beach, Moses Y.. of the Sun newspaper ; and the 
Moon Hoax, .360; biography of, .363. 

Bedell, Mrs., and the Kve Points House of Indus- 
try, 632. 

Bedell, the Rev. O. T., and the Five Points Douse 
of Industry, 633. 

Beccher, the Rev. Lyman, and American Bible 
Society, 193. 

Bcekman, Williara. sketch of. 2J6. 

Belknap, the Kev. Jeremy, and John Pintard, 157. 

Bell, Jacob, shipbuilder, 233. 

Bell of the .Middle Dutch Church. .54. 

Bellevue Hospital, history of the, n4-]16; condi- 
tion of colored children in. 400. 

Bellows, the Rev. H . W., pastor of Unitarian 
Church, 574; president of U.S. Sanitary Com- 
mission, 738 ; biography of, 739. 

Belvidere Club, 186. 

Bennett, James G., and the Courier and Enquirer, 
869 ; begins a cheap newspaper, 272 ; biography 
of. 277. 

Bennett, Mrs. S. R. I., works of usefulness of, 
46.5. 

Bergh, Christian, shipbuilder, 231. 

Bergh, Henry, philanthropist, founder of the So- 
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 
846 ; biography of, ftl7. 

Bethune, )Irs. Uivie, and City Mission and Tract 
Society. 203; manager of infant school sys- 
tem, 307. 

Bible and Fniit Mission, officers of the, 82.5. 

Bible Society, the American, history of the, 192- 
195. 

Bishop, Mnd.ime Anna, .519. 

Bishop & Simmons, shipbuilders, 233. 

Black (rook. the. 139. 

Blaekwell. J)rs. Elizabeth and Emilv, 694. 

Blackford, Eugene G., fish merchaiil, biography 
of, 800. 

Blaekweirs Island, 309. 



Blind, X. Y. Institution for the Instruction of the, 

456 ; officers of the, 457. 
Bliss, Cornelius, sketch of, 794. 
Bliss, Fabyan &, Co., dry-goods commission house, 

;94. 
Block, .\drien. ship of. burned and built. 4. 
Blodgett, W. T., and Loyal Publication Society. 

754. 
Bloodgood. Abraham, sketch of, 217. 
l;|.H,iiPi,^.i,,i,.. (io3. 
I ' i' ii : I . Asylum for the Insane, 113. 

li ■ the, 822. 

l'"l'i iii ' I'-, invention of the. 40.3. 
Bu-ardus. (m neral, and the election riots, .315. 
Book publishing, the first. 55 ; in New Y'ork. 864. 
Booth, Edwin, first introduction to a New York 

audience. CH4. 
Booth. Junius Brutus. 102. 
Booth, Mary \V., president of Colored Home and 

Hospital. 470. 
Borthrop. Doctor, and Magdalen Benevolent So- 
ciety, 453. 
Botanic Garden (Elgin), 140. 
Boudinot, Ellas, first president of Anierii'an 

Bible Society, 193, 193. 
Boulevards, the, 8S5. 
Bowery Theatre and abolition riots, 334 ; popu- 

laiity of the plays at, 319, 520. 
Bowery riot. 667. 
Bowling Green, a'*4. 
Boz (Dickens) ball, committee of arrangements 

for the. 518. 
Brace. Charles L.. and the Children's .\id Soi-iety ; 

biography of, 634. 
Bradish, Luther, and Central Park. Gf;S. 
Bradford, William, first printer in N< w York, 

16-19. 
Bradstreet, John M., and mercantile agcncv. 599. 
Brazil, visit of Emperor and Empress of. 815. 
Brevoort, Mrs. neni^y. masked ballot, 438. 
Brewster, James, carriage-maker, biography of, 

789. 
"Brick Church" demolished, 065. 
Biidge, East River Suspension, history and de- 
scription of the, 858-861 ; a proposed earlier, 

858, 859 : cost of the. 859. 
Bridewell, the, .314, 397. 
Brinekerhoff, Lieutenant-Colonel, and .\stor Place 

riot, 511. 
British forces before New York. 41 ; ships of war 

in N. Y. harbor, 71. 
Broadway, now and then, S9. 
Broadway Lyceum, the. ois. 
Broadway Theatre, the. .530. 
Brooklyn, population and character of in 18S3, 

858. 
Brooks. James, bic-iaiiliv ..f, 276. 



Br. 
l;r..UL'li: 



: : .' I ark Theatre, 518. 

Bnnv._-r. Ala-ali:in . . , I i i - , .f . 99, 402, 403. 

Brown & li.-ll, si, ; ! I, 1 .. vj-j. 

Brown, Adam ami \. mIi. sljipliuilders, 222. 

Brown, David, sliii^l.nildi r. -.'-J.-). 

Brown, (ieneral ilarviy, and draft riot, 745. 

Brown, James. liiciL'rai,|i\ ..I, .".S3. 

Brown, Stewart, and i cnir.il I'ark, 609. 

Brown, W. II.. sliiiiLmi,!. i-. ■■.■•,' 

Bruce, George. Iii>ima]ik\ .1. ls:i ; and David, 481. 

Bryan Gallery ..1 1 liri-iian An. UA. 

Bryant. Wilhain <'.. Mil. 317; sketch of, 257; eulo- 
gy by of President Lincoln, 756. 

Br.vson. Daviil, bi.igraphy of, 217. 

Buildings bluwii up at great fire, 348. 

Bull, Licius, first president of Mercantile Library 
.Association, 167. 

Burcliaid, the Rev. S. D., president of Rutgers 
l'enuile(\)llege. 444. 

Bun-. Aaron, 50-53. 

Burrall, Charles, and Woman's Prison Associa- 
tion, .587. 

Burton, W. E., and National Theatre, 423 ; sketch 
of, 429. 

Business changes in location of, 414 : men alarm- 
ed at prospect of war ; men, petition of, 716. 



siy.) 



Biitlrr, II. r.. iiii'l Mn-umclmiiclln Imopi", ?*. 
Hulteriit'ld. .lohn. I'Xiinsaiif ; uiiil W iirri'ii's Ks- 
lires.t, .ISI 



rnlliiiiiii..l •'. iiimIJ. Wiitson \Vclil>. »;;. 

Cnllfiiiiihi. ili^i'iviry of k<>I<I In: i-ml|!nili<iii to, 
591. 

ralviiry iiimUry. .va>. 

('amp, Wllltaiii A., iiiaTumi'r of tlio CU-urlni;- 
lluiis.-. l.i..i:ni|.liv<if. IVili. 

('nnali'<>iiiinl>'<l i-s In |k|',>. iiDilirlloiior IIic. 7U. 

<ar|..iil.r A l!lsl„,|,, fl,l|iliiiil(UT>. SSa. 

larriiiu'vaniisb, niamifaotiin'of. 7M). 

larriin:. •^, iiiaiiiiUi.iiir.' .if, 7MI. 

I'arrviiiL' iraili-. ilii-, ww. 

l-am.ll. .ImIlii. liMiiiun I'athollc aroliMiiliop. :m. 

Ca^Ik' <,anli'M. Ki, tiTM : (lisrliit.'<ii'li<'<l inrMins nt, 

lirs, ii;'J; n plloii liimnu for iiiilKraiils, 079; 

onti-a at. (isa. 

C'niliolir l»ri.ii-<;tiiry ; odlrors of tlic, TTl. 

Ciito and his famous resort, lo.i. 

Celesti-, >lll«., sketili of , ami CImrle!) Mutlicw.9, 
Jr., ■04. 

Cenlrniiial cclrhrntions. si;. 

Central Park, history of, etr: nio ; rommLsMonprs 
of the. miB ; pitis of llii\ cm ; c.iminis-lnm.r* of 
estimates ami ns.M-.-;minls. OiM: supirlliial 
area of. ticW: topoirr ipliv anil hvilroloirv of the. 
eiO : statues and altraetion> in and around, nil. 

Century Clul), history of tlic.VtV-.'iOn; lirst mem- 
liers of the. ."/>;: eorporators r.f tlie. :i<«: ehar- 
acterof tlie; tii-st ollleers of the, r.iiM ; olTleeisof 
llie, fiill.. 

Ce-snoltt, I>c\vls P., Count til, lilom^aphy of, 83« : 
Cypriote antiquities colleeted l»y, ^~ ; tlirec- 
torof Motro|Mj|iluii Miiseiiiii of Art ; honors to, 
837. 

Chamber of Commerce, history of the, ai6-2n ; 
eorpifratoi-s of the : after the Uevoliition : pro- 
poses the uni«m of the lakr'.- with tlie ocean, 
and upliolds the canal i ' ii 1 forli- 

fieatlons of New York. • • . 211. 

Childri'n-s Aid Soeietv, i I Oil ; 

circular h-tier of tlie, ■ > ■< and 

the, I*i8; work of the, (.■>. .uh. i- ..f the, 

611. 

Clianiilng. Dr. Willinin, a convert to homa?opathy, 
S9t. 

Cliannins;. the Kev, William E., Unitarian minister 
In New York. f>?i-57». 

Chaiiin Home, history of the, 7e», 770; officers of. 
770. 

Charauii..Iohn.daneinc master : ball-room of. 91. 

Charters, eily. ..f 1K«. 2*1 ; of 1819, 43S ; of 1»»7, 
065: of 1KT3, MO 

Chariier Institute, the. (ill. 

Chase. Salmon P.. t^ecrclary of the l". S. Treas- 
ury. rJ3. 

Chase National Rank. the. 7*1. 

Chasteau. Captain L., and the Morse telcftrnph 
operators, 891. 

Chatham Street Clinpcl and Anti-Slaver)- .society, 
332. 333. 

Checver, the liev. George B., and ("hurchofthe 
Puritans, .'.73. 

Chelsea houses, 73. 

Chemhai Bank liuildincr.m<t. I 

Chester. Mrs. \V. W.. founderof the Colored Or- 
phans' Home and Hospital. 4W. ' 

Chil.lr.ns Aid S.iciety. lilstory of the, 031,r.4O; 
iirkofth. 



Choi.- 



Introduced and opposed, 307- 
: in IWil. 7S7. 
ii. the. 575. 



City Hall, th.- old. ": i!,. ii. w, 211. 

City Hall Pu: • til 

City Motel. . .•,>,!«. 

City striitv • ..ut. 67. 

Cltytr.-a«iii\ ; 

Civic j.nMe-s ,„ ,-.•. ,, 

civil War inaUL-unit.-.l. .11; efTectd of the on 
wa^'t'sand l.usiiies-.. ;.v.i. Tx) 

I lark. I'.mni.ii- ...).ii. 1 I the Seventh Keiti- 
iiK-nt N.I. ' ' • '^■■•y 

Claik. I., i.i. ■ ...n Hoax, 361. 

< lark .V llr.. M. 

I las-i-s I I .lays, Iim. 

Clt-arinc Hon- , u,. .,..:. 

Clirt..ii..l.iM>,.lilii.<.skili-li..f. 421. 

Clllleli. .1.1. .il.. and .V T. Stewart, 571. 

Clinton, lie W lit, inavor of Sew York, 5,1 ; bloc- 
raphv of, 79 ; and llisloriial Society, l.'id ; jires- 
ident ..f Am.ri.aii A. a.l. inv of l-lne Arts. 172 ; 
filthts a duel with ( ..|..nil .lolin Swartwout. 
2-10: president of tlie Pne Siliool SiK-lity. 3li3: 
and Koinaii ( atliolii.' priesthood, 5t>7 ; statue 
of in linenwood lenictery, 5(». 

Clinton, Oeorito uVdmlralt, Governor ; sketch of, 
St. 

Clinton. Sir Henry ((Jeiicrali. attempts to fake 
Ni-w York. 10. 

Clinton Hall As.-oeiation. |i'.s. 

Ciouifh. till- Kev. Simon. 574. 

Club life in Ni-w York, tAI 

Clubs, 8S0, 823. 

Cobb, Nathniiiel, i.roposes a line of ocean steam 
ships, 366. 

Cogswell. .los, ih C, and the Astor Library: 
biouniphv .f. ;e4 

Coldcn. I a.lwalla.l.r, bloeraphy of, 24. 

Colden and He l.aneey. 2«. 

Cole, Thomas. 'J.'.^; bloirraphy of. 301; and 
Luman Keed, Ol.') : "Voyaue of Life" and sale 
of the, OIB. 02il. 

" Collect," the, filline the, 4ff : tanners near, 210. 

ColleRC of Itental Surceons. ;>•). 

l'olle(,'e of the < itv of New York, hlston' of the, 
591-5'.« : tni,ste,-s of the. .',!n. 

Colleffi- .if Physiiians and Sunreons. history of 
the, i;«i 141 ; and Columbia College, ofUcers of 
the, 140. 

Collegiate Chuii-h (Dutch Refonnedi. the, 538. 

Collesi. Christopher, and city water-works. 75. 

Collyer, the Rev. Dr., pastor of the church of the 
Messiah, 575. 

Collyer, Thomas, shipbuilder, SH. 

Collj-er, Vincent, and the I'. S. Christian Com- 
mission, 729. 

Colored orphans, assfK-iation for the benefit of, 
4«.-> : first ofn<-ers of. 466. 

Colored ()r|ilians' Home, destruction of by a mob, 
4ti7; oiricersof, 4fi.s. 

Coli.n-d Home and Hospital. 469 ; gifts to, 409, 
47'3; iinii-ei-s..r llie. 470. 

Colored l!ef..rm.-.l Dutch Church. .'vW. 

CoL.red tr.io|is and the draft riot, 747; presenta- 
tion of colors to by Women of the eltv. 749 ; 
committ if Inlon 1 eaL'ue to recruit, 749, 730. 

Coilon Dental As«.i.iaii..n, 7S0, 

Colton. (Jar.lner Ouiniy. biographv of. 781. 

"Column, The, " liistory of the, '430: members 
of, 4.17. 

Columbia Academy of Painting, 171. 

Columbia CollcL-e. hist.irv of. 14'J-150: first gov- 
ernors ami pupils of ; medical silio..i of. 14.1; 
early graduates of; gifts offered t... ]4r>: semi- 
centennial anniv.rsary of ; financial affairs of. 
140; removal of; medical department and 
College of Physicians and Siii-geoiis. 147 ; 
schools of; proposition to niak.- a university 
of. IVl : . ..mnirm..r:itcs the French Kcvolu- 



'lniinii.iii. .■•.nl.ly of the, history of the; \iril 
of inemhers of the to Its birthplace, SIR 



■lignithin. 6S0. 
.Miiiiii— 1.11 Ml. 1. ii.iiiis, locatUin of the, 214. 
oinmiiiei' of eoirespondence, 36; and No 
importation lAagties, 27. 



870 



Committee of Fifty-one, 33 ; of One Hundred, 36 ; 
of Vigilance, 32. 

fommittee of Seventy in isri, 8(18, 80!) ; officers 
of tlie ; appeal of tlie to tlic people ; purge tlie 
city of plunderers, 809 ; results of the labors of 
the. 810. 

rninmon Pleas, t'ourt of, 236 ; array of eminent 
lawyers in the in 18.30, 237 : constitution of the, 
49(1. -197 : modified. 4'.i.'>-498. 

Coniinon-sc-liool system extended to New York 
City. .577. 

Common schools, first movement for establishing, 
302. 

Comptroller's oflico and the city plunderers, 809. 

Comstock, Anthony, and the Society for I ho 
Suppression of Vii'C, 849 ; most salutary and 
efficient work of, 849, 850; useful book 
(•• Frauds Exposed"') by, 850. 

Concanen, the Hev. I.uke, Eoman Catholic Bish- 
op of New York. .'J6«. 

C'-n'-v I^Iiir! transformation of, 8(56; Jockey 

I ' . i: :,\ ( •hurch, first, 573. 

< ■■■._i. —. . I i.hiniiiiary session of. 731. 

■ I ..iiiriit litit^ .s(ates of America," organization 

of government of the, 717. 
Connelly, the Rev. .John, Bishop of New York, 567. 
Conner, James, and elec:trotyping ; biography of, 

484. 
Conspiracy to burn Northern cities, 755. 
Continental Congress, First, 31 ; delegates to the, 

36. 
Contoit's garden, 91. 

" ('onstitution" and " Veto" in political proces- 
sions. 314. 
Cooper, Myles, president of Columbia College ; 

politics and flight of, 144. 
Cooper. Peter, and the Cooper Union ; biography 

of, 670, 671. 
Cooper. Thomas A., biography of, 419. 
CtHiprr rnion. history of the, 670 ; schools and 

lni-t(rs.,f llii'. 671. 

< . 1 -' . l-iM i, l.iography of, S17. 
( c.^nuric . -ixiv years ago. 90. 

(./«((./■ mid i'lirjulrei; editorial staff of, 269; 
office of the threatened by a mob, 316 ; defence 
of the, 318. 

i'ourt of Over and Terminer, 2.37 ; of Sessions, 
237. 

Cox, the Rev. Samuel Hanson, and tbo abolition 
riot, 335. 

Cozzens, Frcd(Hnck S., editor of T/ie Cm/iir;/, SOS. 

Credit system, expansion and collapse of the, 
368 370. 

f'l-itteiidi-n Compromise, the. 710. 

crolius, Clarkson, Sr., biograpliy of. 72; grand 
sachem of the Tammany Society, 244. 

Crohus. Clarkson, Jr., and the Seamen's Retreat 
Hospital, 13.3. 

f'rosbv, Enoch, tlie original of Cooper's " Spv," 
288.289. 

Crosby, the Rev. Ilowai-d. chancellor of the Uni- 
versity of the City of New York ; biography of, 
451 ; president of the Society for the Preven- 
tion of Crime, 8.51. 

Croton Aqueduct, history of the. .3.57-860. 

Croton water, introdnction of the into the city, 
485. 

Cruger, Jolin, first president of the Chamber of 
(."ommerce, 208. 

Crystal Palace, destruction of the ; American 
Institute, loss of in the, 614. 

Cummings, Thomas S.. and the American Acad- 
emy of line Arts, I7S ; and Colonel Trumbull. 
177; biography of, 180; mentioned. 252 ; the 
Morse telegraph and, 387 ; New York Sketili 
Club and, .505 ; Macready and, 517. 

Cunard, Samuel, and ocean steam navigation, 
367. 

Cunningliam. British provost-marshal, 43. 

Curtis. George William, address of at the nn- 
vciling of Ward's statue of Washington. 815. 

Curtis. Joseph, and the House of Refuge. .393. 

Cii>liman, < harlotio, sketch of, 12."). 



opolitan Museum of 



,, and his invention ; Professor 
St ory of the, 407-410 ; first taken 
cost 111- proflui-iiif M morning, 

n -i<i. Ill MiM I '.itriri.s Society, 



1 1- : I'i'LM- ipli\- i.l, l'.i6 ; prusiiluiitul American 

I ■■■-■ : ' '•■■■' Snciety, 645; the crew of the 
> 1 1 ' 1 . 7.38 ; first president of the Work- 

iiij w ■■:, . ': - liiion, R23. 

D:il;< ill- ■ . i'-^ :"-'•.. 93. 

DmihIv p.. II . - I i. lace, 222. 

D;nis. ^l.:ll, II,, I , 111 r, biography of, 810. 

Dav.lSriij.i ii ., II lull lof the *!s''/« newspaper, 

intrM.lii.i ; i.iii.i.M l.\ steam-power, 2T3 ; letter 
i>l ii.ilif iiuih.n ; biography of, 274. 

Pavliiii, AliiMli;iin, mioted from, 108. 

Deaf Minis. 1 hurch Mission to; officers of the 

Iiiri I : I II 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1, XewYork Institution for the In- 

.sTiii. In II 1,1 III.- : historyof the, 118-120; officers 

..1 III. , i.'ii, l-Jl. 
Dean, .Julia, an American actress, 519. 
Debt of New York in 1870, 805. 
Debt, prisoners for, remarks of Red Jacket and 

Whittier tipon. .397. 
Debtors' prisnn in thf I'nrk. 3(1. .397. 
Declaration nl Imli i - mli n. , mi \ew York, 40. 
Decorative All, >.. n i ^ : .mcersoftbe,839. 
Degrauw. .Ji.liii \i .. ,■, ) ...-iMiiiiy of, 2.30. 
DeHaven, couiiuciinkr oi tii._ e.iinuell expedition, 

643. 
Delafield, Edward, and Eye and Ear Infirmary, 



if .Tnstice of New York, 16 ; 
' liinibia College, 143 ; biog- 
with Colden, 29. 

, 1 lo Apprentices' Library, 



raphy .if. 
Delmoni.'.i. 
Demilt, Bci 



Demilt Dispensary, 689 ; officers of tlie, 690. 
Democracv in Now York nnder Dutch rule, 10. 

Drm.'.'r:itii-Kii r- dnli, i!"-? : -. i-i.-lies. 24.3. 

Pni' I -ii-i " ■• I, 'i;, .1 , ■; rsofthe,780. 

11. 1 ,. I ' ilii I ■•,' I ■ I , ,, ilii-city, 498. 

I).-|i,iii, i 1. 11- I- iiiiii 1.1- i,.iiii.v.:i>'. 

Del'>>siei, ii.-.leii.\ .-.nrt- 111. .\fvv York Histor- 
ical Society, 161 ; biography of. 162. 

DePeyster, General John Watts, 163. 

Devoe. Colonel Thomas T., and the markets, 
skftrli of. 605 

rir- W itf. ilir Ijiv. Thomas, biography of. 536 : at 

llli' I1\r I'lijlltS. 630. 

DixM A . 111.' l.'i V orville, pastor of the Church of 
th.. M.ssiiiii, ."i;.->. 

lii.k. lis. ( liMil.'s. and (he Five Points, 626. 

Wn-iii.ir.'. William Ii.. horticulturi.st and stoek- 
rai^i r. iiirsiil.nr of the Adams Express Com- 
[lain. v.iii , 11. ach"s Express and, 302; Adams 

, Mil a J. Ills sent to Europe, 7'35. 

isaiA .11-1 li.-ts, 689. 

isary, (In- .New York, 116 ; president of the. 



Diliii.i 

Dispr 
Dispc 

117. 

DIx, Dorothea I... and the soldiers' hospitals, 728. 
DIx. John Adams, famous despatch of ; biography 

of. 714 : iiresiiles at war meeting in Union 

Sipiare. 714. 
I)ix, the Rev. Morgan, rector of Trinity Church 

and biographer of his father. General J. A. Dix ; 

I.eake and Walts Orjihan Asylum and, 456. 
"Doetors" mob." tlie. -18. 
Dodge, William Iv. l.iography of, 219 ; and the 

S..eie(y lor ihe Relief of the Ruptured and 

tlripv>led, 766. 
Dodge, Mrs. ViUiam E., and the Colored Home 

and Ho.spital. 470. 
Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, visit of, 615. 



s;i 



DoiiiililsDii, Jiimt'N, aii<l till' l"iv<' r<.liita IIoiim- ..f 

liKliiKlry. (UCJ. 
Iiomtliiiw. Major I). I)., oiiitliii'rri.f imtmi A<|ur- 

aiiut, a">T ; uikI (JniMiwiMMl ( vim'tcry. KV. 
Dowiiliii!. A. J., »iii{K'»<" 1 t.'r™t I""''' f'"' ^'''W 

Vork. liiiV. 
Downliiirt ■• ..y»l<T .•.•Ihir." 07. 
Unifl fiirMililliTsuriliTud, 7W; oiiponllloii In llii-. 

711. 
Ilriift rloK 111 Now York, hlstt.ry of the. 711 747. 
Uniper, .lolin \V.. on the diiKUirn^olyiio ; lili>if 

ruphy of. Iiw. 
Draper. Nlinedii, iiimI the eh'ctloii rlot«, 319. 
llniina. the. hi New York. U«. 
Drawhii; As^oehillon, ilio New Yi>rk, IVfl; uiul 

('ohiiielTnimlMill. 177. 
Driven, fiivoriie. on Muiihaltnn l.«liin<l. la'i. 
Dry Kooils menhiii.is. loi>ai|oii of, SH. 
Dimiie. .Iiiine«. hioirnipliy of. 34 : mayor. 4.'.. 
Uulxil.". Mrf. loriiellus, and the Nursery and 

Child!. Hospital, im. 
Dubois, tho Kev. .lohii. HNhop of New York, 5<w. 
Duer, .lidin. and Coluinbla College. IIU ; at the 

IrvhiK hani|Uet, ■AVJ. 
Ducr, Wlllluin A., president of Columbia Colh-BO, 

140. 
Dunderl>erp. the steamship, 627. 
Uuiilmin, Duvid, and oeeiin navinatiou by steam, 

.306. 
Dunlap, William, on I.iiman Keed. (!1.">. 
Dun, K. <;.. and mercantile BKenty, 599; biog- 

raphy of, WW. 
Dunshee, H. \V., and the Dutch Reformed Chiirch 

school, 541. 
Duranil. A. B . and New Y'ork Drawiiiit .Associa- 
tion. 17ii. l.ti ; a foiiiidirof the Natii>rial .\cade- 

my of the Arts of Desiu'ii. IT'.H biot-rapliy uf,505. 
Durand..)oliii. and the Century club. 1«4. 
Durr lolleetion of Paintings in the Historical 

Society, l&l. 
Duryee, Abraham, colonel of Seventh Rejriment 

N. G.. and the Astor Place riot, 513 ; bloirraphy 

of, 515. 
Dutch Reformed Church, history of the. 5.'J4-510 : 

at Bloominsdale. MS : school of the, 3iei, 54U. 
Dutch East India Company, the. 3. 
Dutch West India Company, the. 4. 

Kast India Company, the Dutch. 4. 

East River Susi».nsioii Bridge. Iiislory of the. aw- 

861 ; dimenshms. materials, and cost of tlie. 819: 

openins of tlie. mo : what It. may effect. WU. 
Eastern DLspcnsary, 4.Vi ; offieers of tlie. 4.V!. 
Eckert. Thomas T.. ami telegraphy ; biography 

of. 393. 
Eckford. Henry, shipbuilder, sketch of. iS: and 

the commodores liorses. Hi : builds an ocean 

steamshi|i in isai-i!. atHi. 
Eddy, Thomas, and House of H.luge. SSe*. 
Edmonds, .lohn W.. and Prison Ass<iciation. 5H5. 1 
Edwards, .lonaihan. preaches in -New Y'ork, .i54. I 
Education, tii-st lioardof. and their work. .577. 578. I 
Egleston. I'liomas. .Ir.. and Columbia College I 

School of Mines. 147. I 

Eg>-ptian antkpiitles in the Historical Society. 

"H. , , 

Election riot In 1834, history of, .114 331): result of 

the, 3A). 
Electro-magnetic telegraph, hisloi-y of the. 3S3- 1 

.•filO. 
Electrotyping. beginning of. 4SI 
Ellsworth, Anna, and the Hrsl message by the 

Morse telegraph. :«K1. 
Ellsworth. Ephraim. and th<- hire Zouaves: 

death of and lioii.'rs to. ;:«. 
Ely. / Siilei. enilows a ehair in the I'nlon Theo- 
logical s..miiiarv, 449. 
Emanii-cl. T.inple of. .\5S. 
Emliiirv. EiiiM.il i.. »!. 
Embnrv. Philip, and the Methodists. M). 
Emignints. arrivals of at Castle Oartlen. 680. 
Emigrati'iii. commissioners of. (Kli. lisil ' 



Kiiim.l, Mrs. lir. and .Nnreciy aii.l i lill.l's llo«- 
plliil. Mtl. 

Enimi't, ThoinnH A.lills. bl.igniphy .if. arr. 

ii tl, .lanns, engaged In the pros<>eutlon ■■! 

Tw.'.'.l. HI19. 

Eiigmversiiii w I proinlnenl In IM)). aui, ■Ji>l 

l:iiv.'l.ip.'s, niaii.ila.'t.ir<'or, 7(N). 

lOpiM'.ipal il'rotentaiiK .'liiir.'hes. 5-11, 513: In tho 
iipii.r pari ..f the i.lan.l. .Vil. 

Ijl.ssoii. .I.'hii. civil engineer, and the steam Ore- 
engln.'. ■£» 

Erie Canal. ..riglii of the. 69. CO; o'lebratlon of 
the opi-ning of the, 117-79; conimenionitlve 
medals ..f th.', W; evening festivities of the 
celebraiioii of ilie o|M'nliigof tlie, 76. 77. 

Ellinologlial .'<ocii ly, the Amcrk-un, founders and 
.iffl.ers.if the. .-.IK. 

Evening -,-l I, for newsboys, 639. 

Evans. William M . fonlgn err. spon.ling secre- 
tary '.f tie- New Y.iik lli-i..ii.als...i.ty. 11-.; 
engag.iliii th. pros.-, iiii.iii ..f Tive.-.l. niIi ; na- 
tional S.Mi-.'tary of Slat.-, 4:17; bi.>grapby of. 



4.37. 
Everett, Edward, addn'ss before tho American 

Institute, 170 ; I'nltarian clerg>-nien, .574. 
E.\chaiige, the Jlerchants', destroyed, .346. 
E.x<-liange for Women's W..rk, the New Y'ork, 

history of the ; officers ..f the, K«i. 
Exempt Firemen. As.s...ia:i..n ..f. a)l. 
AV/-/..«<n.wspap.-r estal.lisiicd in New York. 276; 

his^.ry..f the. :.'rr. 
Expnss business. hisUiry of the, 377 ; extent of 

in N.-w Y.irk, .3N2. 
Eye and Ear Iiilirmary, history of the. 121-iai. 



Faber, A. W., and the manufacture tif pinclls, 
76i, 70.3. 

FalxT. Eberhanl and .lohn. 7K1. 

Kamilles move from the din of business. 91, 98. 

Fainihj .Vmiaziiir, the. founded by Drigcn Bachelor, 
3HII ; editors of the. !*0. 

Farmer, Little & Co., slereiitypers, 4»4. 

Fay, Theodore S., and theA«to I'wt .l/irrwr,a49; 
sketch of, 2.J8. 

Federal procession In 1769, 47. 

Ke.leralisls, the. 30. 

Female Association for tho Relief of Ih.- Poor, 
ail-.'. 

Female .\sslstance Society, the. 13S. 

Female d.ictors. preju.lices against, (Oii. 

Female Ciuardiaii Society, advisory committee of 
Ilie. WA. 

Ferris, the Rev. Isaac, president of Rutgers Fe- 
male College. 444 ; chancellor of the I'lilversitjr 
of New Y'ork, 4BI. 

Ferry-lK.ats. M. 

Few. William, tirst president ..f the American In- 
stitute. 1«9. 

Field, ll.-njamin II.. vicepr.>sideiil ..f the Histori- 
cal Soiiety: pr.-sident of the Home r..r Incur- 
ables. 7iXi ; biography ..f. 786-708. 

Fiel.l. lynis W.. luid submarine telegraphy, 040- 
•W); bi.igraphy of. II-.I) 

Field. David Dudley, and submarine telegraphy. 
«0. 

Field. Matthew D., and submarine telegraphy, 
616. 

Fl.l.ls. great meeting in the. .30. 

Finan.'inI embarra-ssmeiits an. I N.-w York mer- 
.haiits. 309. (irj). 

Fire, the gr.'al. in 183V 34.V3.V.. 

Fire company, names of uu-nilM'rs of the first, 

Fire Department, history of. STT *)3 : Hie Volun- 
teer. 227 ; the Pai.l. 2:)1. 

Fire-engines. 23*. 

Fire liisurane.- .-..mpanies. 5(«-.V»l. 

Kiieiii.n. prill.- anil aniWli.ni .if. 2-,"-i : character 
of at Ilariium's .Museum. £12. 

Firewardens of New .Vmsterdam, dignity of the. 

Fire Zniniviw. the, in military servli-e, 7M. 



I 



872 



Fisli, Hamiltou, and Union Sgume war-meeting, 
719 : president of tlie Society of tlic Cincinnati, 
Xationai Secretary of State ; bioftraphy of. 818. 

Fij^li mercliandisc. extent of, 799. 

Fisli. Preserved, M4. 

Fisher, Alexina. an actress, slictcli of, 420. 

Fislier, Clara, sketcli of, 419 ; Jlrs. Maeder, 420. 

Fis-e I'oints, liistorv of tlie purification of the, 
026-0.34 ; character of the. Cv'O. 027 ; temperance 
meetings at the. 020 ; riot, 007. 

Five Poiiits Douse of Industry, history of the, 
631 : officers of tlic, KB. 0»1 ; woik of the, 034. 

Five Points Mission, B27, 028 ; mission-house, 630. 

Five Points schools, 028. 

Fleming. General, marshal at the Canal celebrn- 

Floati'ng Hospital and Seaside Nursery of St. 
John's Guild. 772. 

Flour riot, hislory of the, 373-378. 

Flower and Fruit Mission, 824. 

Flvun, Thomas, and the theatre, 430. 

Foreign-born citizens, influence of, 342 ; character 
of, -Mo. 

Foreizn commerce in IfHO, 475. 

Foreign conespondencc of New York newspa- 
pers. 308. 

Forei^ers, political tendencies of, 311. 

F'orrcst. Kdwin, sketch of, 421 ; quarrel of with 
Macready, 310. 

Fortifying the citv in 1S14. 57. 

Foundling .^svlura of the Sisters of Charity, his- 
tory of the. 770 : officei-s of the, 771. 

Fourth ..\veiiuc Improvement, 814. 

Francis, John W., and the Amerlean Medical and 
Philomphieal Jtegister, 117 : the Bread and t heese 
(or Lunch) Club and. 18.'); the Hone Club and. 
431 : biography of, 434 ; the American .\rt L'nion 
and, 619. 

Franklin, Walter, merchant, 208. 

■■ Frauds Exposed," a book by Anthony Corn- 
stock, SiO. 

Free Academv, the, 592. 

Free Church Home for Incurables, founders of 
the, 768 ; history of the, 70S, 769 ; officei-s of the, 
769. 

Free Circulating Library, officers of the, 803. 

J'rec School Society. W3. 303 ; conspicuous work- 
ing members of the. .3o:j. 

Free public schools and Lafayette, 304. 

Fredricks. C. D., and pholognaphy ; biography 
of. 411, 412. 

Frelinghuysen, Theodore, chancellor of the Urn- 
Yersity of Xew York, 451. 

French Revolution commemorated, 280, 291. 

Frey, the Kev. J. S. C, organizes the fii-st Congre- 
gational Clmrcli in New York, 573. 

Ficket iS Thomas, shipbuilders, 222. 

Friends or Quakers oppose slavery, 326; society 
of in New York, 552 : the and the Civil War, 727. 

Fugitive slave law, the, 655. 

I'ulton Jlarket rebuilt ; account of the opening of 
ti)enew, 800. 

Fulton, Holtert, the steamship, 223. 

Fulton Street Noon I'rayer-meeting, 664. 

Fur business, location of the, 214. 



Gallatin, Albert, and Ethnological Society ; biog- 
raphy of, 287. 

Gallatin, James, founder of the Sanitary Reform 
Society. 7.t8. 

(iaiio, the Hev. John, 5.56. 

Garcia, Siguor Emanuel, and the Italian opera, 
103. 

liarcia, Signorina. 103 ; marries Monsieur Mali- 
bran, 104; misforlunes of. lOt. 105. 

Garden Street Church and the great fire, 848 ; 
account of the. Xir,. 

(jardcii City begun by A. T. Stewart, 41' ; cathe- 
dral and mausoleiiiii at, 418. 

llsirdens, Vanxhall. Indian Queen, and Tylee's, 52. 

Garrettson, Freeborn, and the Methodist Mission- 
ary Society, 190. 



Gan-ison, Willi.im Lloyd, and the iiitruto', 320; 
course of in England, 3x^. 

Gate.'* of ( vntral Park, names of the, CIO. 

Gen. ral funiisbiii:,' l.ii>-in.-ss, 791. 

Geuiral TlHiil.i;;ical s.-minary of the Protestant 
Episcopal lliuich, history of the, 4I."j; officers 
of the. 447. 

Georr/e Uricwotd, a ship of mercy sent to England, 
7.38. 

George III., statue of pulled down, 40. 

Gerard, Jaini-s W., and anti-slavery meeting, 652. 

German Hospital and Dispensary, Ladies' Aid 
Society of the, 773. 

German Methodist Church, 563. 

German Hefornied Church and the Lutherans, 039. 

German and Spanish clubs. S22. 

Gerrv. Elbridge T., president of the Society for 
the Prevention of Cruelty to Childieu ; biog- 
raphy of. 851, 8.52. 

Gisborne, F. N.. ;iiid submarine telegraphy, 040. 

Girls' lodging-houses established, 039. 

Glenn, Anthony, and the American flag at the 
British evacuation. 289, 290. 

Gold, effect of discovery of in California, 531. 

Golden Hill, flret battle of the Revolution fought 
in, 29. 

Gourlie, John IL. editor of T/if ('a)ttiry, 5C8 : 
chairman of the finance committee of the Met- 
ropolitan Fair, receipt to, 756. 

Gouverueur. Samuel L.. orator at the commem- 
oration of the French Revolution, 288, S91. 

Government House, the. 51. 

Grace. William K., uuivor of New York, 803. 

grace Church, arcliitei^ture of. 073. 

Graham. Isali.IlM, sketch of, 130. 

Gram. John, inirciluics homaop.ithy into the 
Vnitcd statr>, V'.ci ; >kctchot. im. 

Gramercy Park. .Vis, ^34. 

Grand Central Depot. 814. 

Gray, John F,. and hoinceopathy, 293 ; biography 
arid character of. 297 : professional assaults 
upon, 298 ; anecdote of, 299. 
Great Emlern, the, arrival of, 709. 

Great fire of 183.5, extent of the. STiO : value of 
property destroyed by, 351 : meeting of citizens 
after the, 3.52 ; committee appointed, 353 ; re- 
covery frotn the ; James Lee and the, 355. 

Great fire in 18:i"i, 345-.3.'J5 ; in 1845, ECO. 

Greeley, Horace, and the Loii Cabin, 476 : and the 
Tribune, 477 : biography of, 478. 

Green, Andrew H.. made comptroller. 809. 

Green, John C. gifts of to the Society Librai-y, 
1.5:j : and to the Society for the Relief of the 
Ruptured and CruJpled. 704. 

Green. Norvin, president of \\'estern I nion Telc- 
giaph Companv. biography of, 39-2. 

Greenwood ( emeierv. proiectors and history of 
th,. -,7„-:.s,i: ..ffi,-.-i'~..nhe. 580. 

(;,i- 11. 1 . -. iii - Mssels in search of Sir 

Gni,i,> : M li :. ; -McCurdv, .517: biography 

ui. t^l^;; ,iiui II. c w.a meeting at Fnion Square, 

Griscom, John, and the House of Refuge, 398. , 

Guerin's cafi5 and drinking-saloon, 98. 

Guernsey. Egbert, homoeopathic physician, biog- 
raphy of. 299. 

Oulirk. James, Chief of Fire Department, and 
eonimeinoratiou of the R-ench Revolution, 290. 

Grocers, location of the, 214. 

H. 

Hacketf, James, merchant and actor, sketch of, 
427. 

Haggerty & Sons, notice of. 96. 

Halineinann, Samuel, founder of the homoeo- 
pathic system of medicine. 892 : transhitions of 
works of, aw, 294. 

Hahnemann Hospital, officers of the, 827. _ 

Hale. James W., and the express business, 3ii, 
378. 

Hale, Nathan, executed as a spy, 42. 

Ilalleek, Fitz-Grecnc, and Wall Street, 108 ; anec 



srs 



ili.lr cir iiml Dr. I ■• Kay. IWi : finrl I(.><onl.T 

lllkir. *ll : ii.inmiiiliiiii-.- ..f fcirm.'il wlili .1. 

Itixliiiiiii liniki'. •i.W ■-•Ml; «k.tih <•!. 'rs'.. 
Hull, till- H.'V. .luhll. .liali.-.-llMt i>n. I.m. ,.{ tlii' 

rniv.T.liy ..f till' liiv i.r Niw ■inrk. i:.;! 
Hull. l.iiiiUi' titirlaiiil I shliT I.<iuli«'"i. fiiiiniler 

■ if llii' I'M'i' ( liiinli lliinii' r<ir Incunibleit, TtiM. 
Hull I.r l{i-i-..riN ill till I'ark.»H. 
niillHi.iiiiilliiisi"..«'.' 
Hulls ..f .lilslliT ..1- 111, Tunilis :m. SX. 
Iliiiiililni. Tli..iims ^..^kl•t.•ll cf. «•(, 
lliiiiilillu. Alixiiiiili 1-. Ill 1 1 •.IliiKln the HeliK 

at: stiitiiii iif ili»iiiiyiil. »|il. 
IlaiiilliMn. .laiiii s A . niid t'liloiii'l Smith ut the 

criat tlr.', :H'.i, »•<!. 
Ilardil.l.riaiii|iaii.'ii. 47«. 
Il.iiill.-. laims M.. nkiMiti of Ni-vv York l>y, IM. 
Ilarli'iii l-lalii". I.altli'im. II. 
Ilaniar.1. Saiiiml. slil|iyar<l of. SS. 
Ilaniilin. William I".. >slalill-il.i-i tlifl flml ex- 

nn-si i'<an|iaiiv. .3>. X'J: i-nilgratloii iM.-hi<iiio 

nf. .tni; ilialliMf. :i-«>. 
llai-hi-rA llr..llii-rs-|Mili|i.liini.'liimsi'.-a«» aia; ilc- 

struitlmi of the isiaMi-liiii-in ..f, -JHl. 
Iliirper llroihi-rs. ski-tiln-s of tin-, »«: publicn- 

tioiisof llie. *«.'. 
HarpiT. .)iinii-s, mayor of New York ; l>iii-;rapliy 

of, 491. 
llHrrts. Klisha, mid I'. 8. S»i)il<iry Commission, 

7-». 
Hart, IVtcr. and Fort Siimtt-r. 717. 
Hart, I-;ll, aiidtlie flour riot. »73-, and Company. 

ston- of siu-kt-il by a niol), 371. 
Harlli-v. If. M., a foiiiid.r of tli.- So,i,-ty for tlie 

lii-iirf of till- Kilpliinil and ( rippli-d. 7i;i. 
Hulti-r-. iMiation of tlii-l.u^inc.'is of Ilii-, -JM, 
Hatch, u. W.. eiiKniv.r, iioiii-t-il, sa; skitoli of, 

28,2iH. 
Hatoh lithogmphic establishment, 7ni, 703. 
Uavemcyer. William F., mayor of New Y'ork, 

4i5: and the Committee of Seventy, 809. 
Iluwks, the Rev. Fraiu-ls I... president of the 

American CeoRrapliieal Soeiely, biography of. 



04.'> 



738; 



Health, Boanl of. and Its effleii-ney, 
first lioanl of. T.'i7; olTKei-s of, 731. 

Health Deparlm.nl. »fl. 

Hebrew Iti-ni-voliiii and Orphan Asylum Society, 
history of the, fJl |-.T; offlrersof the, l-i7 

Hi-lKiale, impnivemeiit of navlciitloiiat.KU.W.'V. 

lleliniitli, W. Tod. physician and surgeon, biog- 
raphy of, -Jim. 

Henderson, Peter, liortieulturist, biography of, 

rffmiil, morning, established by .lames tiordon 
Dennett; character of the, 273; first financial 
report in the, 870 ; Introduces a new featiin- i i 
Journalism, 3<JH. 

Hewitt, Abrani S., oration of at the o|ienliig of 
the Kivtt Hivi-r Bridge. Wl. 

Hicks, Ellas, and a Virginia slaveholder. .137. 

Uistorieal Society of New York. hist..ry of tli.-, 
130-lGj : founders of ihe : organization .^f tin- ; 
first iiffieei-s of 111.-, I.VS: niigraitons of the, 

ISO; exislen f Miunii. Ii'.l ; Egyptian colh-c- 

lion of the. \M: painlings and slatnury of the, 
IW; offli-ii->..i th.-. 1113. 

Ilohart. .lohii Henry, bishop of the Diocese of 
New York, and llic tieiierai Tlieologicul Sem- 
inary, +lil. , , „ , 

Hodge, I'aui & Co., steam fire-engine buildcnt, 
23S. 

Hoe. Knbert. Sr. Inventor. 47H. 479; anil (.rant 
Thorburii, 47'J : founder of the bouso of IL 
Hoc * Co.. 4711. 

Hoe. Itichurd M.. inventor of printingpreiwes ; 
dinii' r :;iv.ii I... ■-■7:); lightning press of, 47S; 

Hm. crd M.. I'eter S.. and Kolwrt 

s f. 4.si>. +S1. 

H,.ll .1 postulate of the, 9. 

Home f-r I ai;. II and Friendless Ulrls, ofllcers of 

the, 7ti9. 
Home tor Incurables, history of the. 7(iC-70» ; 



7il<>; glris to Ihi-: <inieeis of Ibe, 

a-wochit ion.. fill,-. 7IW 
HomiiKn-.- rl.ur.ln f..r Ineiirables. 7W. 
II f..r 1)1.1 .M. 11 ami Agi-d Cuplis, («3 ; omccm 

..r the. I'Ji) 
Home for Woiiniled and Sick Soldiers. nS; of- 

Ih-i-rs of the. ::«). 
Home l-'Ire Insurance Company, history of Ihe. 

im. uas; operalloiia of the, 023; olllccrs of the, 

«24. 
" Home. Sweet Home," kUtory of Ihe song of, 

|i«i. 
Hoinii-oimtby. lii»l..ry of Ilii- iiilr.iilucii.in of. 

2ir.' .IHI ; 11' w r..iiveris to. -.113 ; aii.l 111.- nic.lical 

profcn-.i..n : and Ihe .-li..li-l-a in IM'.i. .'>'.». 
Homn-opaihlc .Medical Colligi-. 77H 7>*i : offl.-crt 

of the. 7*1. 
Honuj-opallil.! .Medical Society. '.W. 
Hone. I'lillip. mayor, nl .Mbany, IIA; the eom- 

menioratioii.if the Fn-ncli l(evolutlonafid,-.9«4; 

character of, |:12: nl the Irving lianiiuei. 2.'iU. 
Hone Club, ih.'.dt-s.rilx-d by Dr. Francis, 431 ; last 

survivor of llii-.4«. 
Hopper. Isaac T.. a hading alKilllionisl. 333; 

blogniphv of. 339: ..verawesaniob.SKI: Pri-uin 

Asso.lati'on and. .3X3 
Hoplier. Isini.-T. Il.,nic. .3Hn. 
Horse raiiroa.is in .New York. 4I1|. 402. 
llorticiiltunil s,„l. tv. tin- New York. 79f; 
Ho.-a.'k. Ilavi.l. audit. Il.-vu.-l|..-pilal. 114: bhig- 

raphyof. 113: ami l.ving in .\s\liiiii. IIK. 
Hospiiai. first in New York. 19 ; first on Manhat- 
tan Islanil. III. 
Hospiial. New York City. bistor>- of the. IIO-IIS. 
Ilo'.ise of Mercy iltotnan CatholicI, sisters of 

the. .390. I — 
House of Uefngc. the. 3118. 
Howard .Mis.sionand Home for Little Wanderers, 

offleersof the. 772. 
noyt,,Ie»se. 214. 

H.>Vt. .losepb It . bi.'gniphy of. 7W. 
Hoyl. ,Io'<.'|.li It .V I .... l.-alh.-r and belling man- 

nfaclur.i-saiid in.n-hanls. 7W. 
Iluglies. III.- IC.'V .I..I111. K.miaii Catholh' Klshnp 

of New V.ii-k: cnsecralcs St IVi.r> ( liun-li. 

603: i-..a.ljut..r l.|-.li..|.. M*: ar.lil.i-li..|. : biog- 
raphy • •I.M.I: til.- nul.ii.- s.i|....|s and. .-.77: St, 

.lolin's I'oli.'g.- aiei. .393: ilip|..nialic agent in 

France. 7:13. 7.i«: visits I{..mc, rjO; the draft 

ri.its and, 741!. 
Hull. A. <;.. convert to homiropathy, '294. 
Illllnune Society, the. 1-27. 
Iltinlington. Daifiel. pn-sident of Ihe National 

Aca.lemy ..f Ihe Art.s .if De.sUtn. IS2. 
Huniiugton. Emily, ami the Wilson Industrial 

S.I 1. f>42, 

llutt.in. the Rev. Mancius. c.ilieagiie pastor of 

the i;ardeii street Church. 533. 

I. 

Illuminating gas introduced, 60, Ki. 

liiilrpmitrni, the, 8rM. 

Indians, massjicre by the. II. 

Industries of New York In IKNO. 801. 8fi2. 

Infant Asylum. New York, 771 ; oftieers of the, 

Infaiit School Soeletv. 307. 

Infirmary for Women and Cblldnn. fi9l : first 

managers of the. fili3: oniecrs of the. li'.iti. 
Ingham. Charles ('.. a fonnih-r of the National 

.\ca.lemv.if the Arts of Design. I?,i: the sketch 

Club and. I«l : sketch of. -JS'i. 
Inglls. William, judge of Court of Common 

Pleius. 49«. 
Ingll.s. slciimshlp bnil.l.r. •?.'! 
Inman. H.nrv. I.i'.gni '' .under of 

the Natl. .mil \. a.l. 
Instilull..l.-,l..■n.•^..l religious. 



be 



..lent. 



|.| ell 



Insurance .-..mpani.'s. mat ;.:. ai.-i in. . in 1H80.227. 
Insurance Department of itie .**tat.-of New York 
established. .3ii3. 



y;i 



Irish Emipranl MH-ioty. 11"'. 

Irving, Joiin T., jiuide of tlie Court of Common 
Pleiis, slceteh of : monumental tablet in honor 
of, 33(i. 

IrvinK, VVasliington. Imnqupt, pucstsatthc, 259. 

Irving, WashincU.n. ilwclliiif; of, 88; sketch of, 
254 ; public haniiuct ;;ivcn to, S.iO ; and Mac- 
ready, 517; Ltmral I'ark commissioners and, 

coa. 

Italian opera, attempt to make it permanent, 

520. 
Ivison, Henry, biography of, 5iM. 
Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., school-book 

publishing establishment, 594. 

.J. 

Jackson Square, 854. 

Janes, Bishop, at the Five Points. 630. 

Japanese treaty and embassy, 708. 

Jarvis, J. Wesley, sketch of ; anecdote of, 260. 

Jay, John. 'H : president of the Manumission 
Society, .303, 320. 

Jay, John, and an anti slavery movement in )8i>4, 
051 ; biojrraphy of, 652. 

Jay, I'etcr A., biography of, 237. 

Jay, William, and American Bible Society, 193, 
194 ; answei-s Bishop Ilobart, 194 ; slavery and, 
329 ; liiosraphv of, :«0. 

Jay's trcaky in New York, 50. 

Jennings, Dr. Ella A., founder of the Pvovident 
Dispensary for Working Women and Girls, 827. 

Jervis, John B., chief engineer of the Croton 
aqueduct. 359. 

Jesup, Morris K., president of the City Mission 
Society, 205 ; president of the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History, 830; biography of. 

Jesup. Mrs. Morris K., president of the Women's 
Branch of tlie City Mission Society, 205. 

Jews and Moravians, 23. 

Jews in New Amsterdam. 124. 

Jews in New York, early history of the, 124 ; 
places of worsliip of the, 552, 55.3. 

Jockey clubs, 822. 

Johnson, the licv. Samuel, first president of 
King's (now Cohimbia) C:ollege, 143. 

Johnson, William Sanuiel. first president of Co- 
lumbia llaie King'sj Ccrlli-u'i-. liiii;;raphy, of, 145. 

Johnston, .John Taylor, i.nsiil.nt of Metropolitan 
Museum of .Art. bio;,nai>li\' of. s;j:>. 

John Street Church, till' nioi her .Methodist Soci- 
ety, 561. 

Jones, the Rev. Lot, and City Mission Society, 457. 

Journal of Co»wuTce and the Courier and I&tQuirer, 
271. 

Journalism, new era in, 368. 

Juvenile .Asylum, history of the ; corporators of 
the, 687 : officei'S of the, 688. 

Juvenile Delinquents, Society for the Reforma- 
tion of, 398. 



*■ Katie" Ferguson and her works, 101. 

Kean, ('. J., sketch of. 421. 

Kean. Mr. and Mrs.. 510. 

Ket:ne, Laura, sketch of, 684. 

Keep, Emma, and the New York Ophthalmic 
Hospital. 697. 

Kennedy, .Tohn P.. and the Morse telegraph, 389, 

Kennedy, Robert Lenox, and the Lenox Library, 
1.53 : Bleecker Street Savings Bank and, 261. 

Kent Club, the. 436 

Kent, Chancellor James, and the Irving banquet, 
'259. 

Kenible, Charles, biography of, 422. 

Kcnible, Fanny, sketch of. A'i-i. 

Khone, F., legacy of to the General Theological 
Seminary, 440. 

Kidd, Captain William, biography of, 18. 

Kieft, Willi.im, Governor; the Twelve; the Ind- 
ians anil, 8. 

Kinc Pox Institution, 141. 

King, Charles, president of Columbia Collegc,H7; 



the great fire anil. Ml : Macready and, 517 

l.oval I'lll.liialion Soiiily anil. 7.M. 
KiiiL-, .laiii.-s li.. l.ioL'iapliv of. :352 : the Bank of 

Kn-iatlil ali.l, :!: 1 ; i-lcilioli riot and, 317. 
KiiiL'>-Iaiiil. Alavor A. ('., recommends a great 

pulilir liaik. 6118. 

Kip ,V 111 own. omnibuses, 99. 

Ki-sani, liiiliaril, and Hichard Riker. 310. 

Kiiapp, llcrnuin J., founder of the Ophthalmic 
and Aural Ihstiliite. 82.5. 

Knickerbocker soiiftv, 81; amusements of, 80; 
funerals, ',15 ; furniture, 85 ; home life of, 86; 
hospitalities of. 84. 85 ; Sabbath of, 81. 

Knight, James, founder of the Society for the 
Relief of the Ruptured and Crippled, 764. 

Knights of the Golden Circle, 743. 

Knowles, James Sheridan, sketch of, 423. 

Kohlman, the Rev. Anthony, rights of vindi- 
cated, .567. 

Kurtz. William, and photography, 4i:i 



Ladies' Home Missionary Society and the Five 

Points, 627. 
Ladies' Home Society of the Baptist Church, ofB- 

cers of the, 824. 
Lafayette, visit of, 59; the public schools and, 

304 ; gold medal presented to by the National 

Guard, 324; statue of presented bv French 

I'csidents, 815. 
Laidlie, the Rev. .Archibald, first preacher in 

English in Dutch Reformed Church, 537. 
La Kozewska, Marie, and the Infirmary for 

Women. 695. 
Lalah, Alderman, and the abolition riot, .3.57. 
Lancaster. Josei>h. system of introduced, 306. 
Lathrnp. the Rev. Edward, and the Tabernacle 

Church,, 558. 
Lamb, John, 30, 39 : biography of. 30. 
Lawrence, C. W., the first mayor elected by the 

people, 235, 310, 313. 320 : the flonr riot and, ,374. 
Law courts of the city, notice of the, 810. 
Lead pencil manufactni-e, 702. 
Leake and Watts' Orphan Asylum, ex-ofiicio trus- 
tees of the: trustees and ofticei-s of the, 4,55. 
Leather manufacturers and merchants, location 

of the. 214. 
Lcatlii r laniiinL'. lii-toi y of, 215-218. 
I.rr, I 111!, ral I ii.n i. s, at New York, 40. 
1.1 r. i.iii.oii, iiiayoi. Iiiography of, 312; wounded 

Lefferts, Marshall, colonel of Seventh Regiment 

N. G., 723. 
Leggett, n-ancis H., biography of ; and company, 

785. 
LcL-i-'itl, William, 2.50-254 ; sketch of, 257. 
Lii^li r, .la. oh, fate and biography of, 14. 
Lenox, .lam,-, anil Nineveh marbles, 164; founder 

of tho I'resbyterian Hospital, 775: founder of 

the Lenox Library, 833; persoual notice of, 

834. 
Leslie, C. R., biography of, 201. 
Liberty-poles erected and defended, 29. 
Liel)er, Francis, and Loyal Publication Society, 

754. 
Life Insurance Company, the Mutual, of New 

York, liistorv of the, 487-492 ; founders of the, 

487. 
Lind, Jenny, in New York, sketch of, 678. 
Lindsay, Marcus, and the Methodist Missionary 

Society, 195. 
Lincoln, President .\braliani. assassination of; 

Iiroceedings in Now York concerning the assas- 
sination of, anil risp.it t.i the body of, 756. 
Literary and Philosoj.hical Society, founders of 

the, 190. 
Literary men conspicuous in Now Y'ork in 1830, 

234. 
Livery business in 18-30, 100. 
Livingston, Philip, 34 ; and St. Andrew's Society, 

188. 
Livingston, Wells and Co., express established by, 



STo 



ijHTku, lik-linnl Ailnm?!, aiilljur >>r the Minm 

llonx. m\. 
Lvi'knoiMl. t^' iJmnil. xkctcli nf. HIS. 
LoiIkIiii! liiMiKix fur h.iy!« ui»l iflrls. «a», (M<) ; aU- 

tisii r. i;iii 

l/xj I Willi, ihr. a rainimlini |"ap<T, 470. 

I^iL'<'aliilis ill Ihr lily, 4711. 

I.0111I011 |>ark8. iiuiiies i>t the, 007. 

l>>ri<liin TiiiKS, uiistfikeM (if corro<ipondcnt of 

Ihr. Tin. 

■• I^Kv K >«." ■.rtcin of thi' parly of, Sll. 

I.0111: iHlali.l. liatlUof. 41. 

rliil). I hi' Maiiii.'s of fuunilcrs of the; of- 



Lnuilii 



i.f III 



. H-.'l. 



I Ni'w Ynrkfrs, a. 

1a)W, .Mii.l .\ . l.i..:rniphy i.f. BIT 

Loyal |i<'i>|ilr. <'tilliu>la'<Mi of thi-. Tia. 

Loyal I'uliliialiiiii Suciilv. work nf the. "M. 

LiK-ky, the Uiv. .1. L., isiis.simiary ul Five Points, 
8SM. 

Ludlow,the Rev. Mr., chuivh and house of attack- 
ed by an antiaholitlon mob. 33T. 3W. 

Luneh 1 Bread and I'heescl Club, 183-1»5. 

Lutheran Cliiirih. tlie. .Ml. 

Lyceiiin of Natural ULstory, presidents of tlio. 
190. 

LyliiR-in Asylum, officers of the, U». 

Lynch, Uoininiek, introduces the Italian opera, 
103. 

M. 

Jlc.\ulcy. the \W\\ Thomas, first president of the 

rnlim Tl hiiricai Seminarj-. 44fl. 

Maclav. Ilic itcv. Archiliald, .ViM; the Congrega- 

tiiinal rliunh anii,.'>7:t 
:«crlo~kc\ il.c liev. .Ii.hii iCardiiinli. and .St. 

.Johns (-..llcKc .VJ.-I : liiiii-niphy of. ii77. 
.Mcli.un. \V. c, and Prison As.soiialioii. .Vh|, 
Alacdtiu;;all. .-VIexander. and iin|iri8onniiT.t of, 

30.31. 
MeKimth. Thomas, anil the Tiifiimr. 47T: suitgt^sts 

an l^isl Uiver suspension bridge. 8.~>9. 
Mclhaiiie. Bishop I.'. C. diplomatic iment in Eng- 
land. 7:i.'i. 
.McKen7.ii'. K. Slielton, 3ii.s. 
Mackerclviile. riot in. tms. 
McKesson, John. bifi:;rnphv of. 7.S7. 
McKesson J; Ruliliiiis. ilrUL'irisis. house of. TSn. 
Maeready and Furri'st. quarrel between, ."ilii ; at 

the Asi.ir Place ((p.-ra ll..use. :,U: letter of 

citizens to. 517 : at Park Theatre. 51S. 
Macv. 1( n . noti.e i.f : bi.iL'iaphv of. Till. 
Macv. li H. A c... .'.'.tablislimeiit of. 791. 
Maey. William II .and ihe Soci.iy for the Belief 

of llie l(u|>turi'd and Crippled: bioKniphvof. 7«5. 
Mairdalin Bcncvolciil Society. 45-i-4W ; leeacy to 

tlie. l.V) : nuuiaL'irs and officers of the. 4M. 
Mailliran. Madame ( si i:noriiia Garcia 1, 104. 
Maiihallan < iiili. liii. 7.'>i. 
Manliattan Kve and Kar Infirmary, first board of 

siirircons of the. 777: officers of the. 779. 
Manhatlan Island. 7 : villai;es on, (X)8. 
Manhattan walirworks. .Vj. 
Manufactures and ni:innracturingcompanics.2M ; 

in .New York in Issn. «;•,' 
Manumission S.Kiiiy. :iirj. :ijn. 
.Mapes, .1. .J., bioniiiphyof. 4iifS ; andelectrotypine, 

4'il. 
Marble, Danforth. sketch of. 427. 
.Marcy, E. E., hiosniphy of, 2119. 
Marine Bible Socielv, l.'M. 
Mariners' cliurch, the first ever built, l»l. 
Marine Courl. notice of the. 837. 
Miiinf \f,iriaziiif. \M. 
.Mariiir Sociclv. 1?.". 
Markets in New York. fiiVi. 

.Martin. I'harles.T. president Home Flr« Insur- 
ance Company, bloifniphy of. IKI. 
Mar.\. " l)anil>'." chaniclerand doings of, 106, 
.Masked hall. elo|M'niciit from a. I-W 
Mason. .\ .1. chLTavcr on wood: |N>em in -Wic 

Ymk .l/irmr. liioitnii.hvof. •-■17: notice of. «58. 
Mason, the Kev. .lolm ; writes the address of the 

American Bible Society tu the iieoplc. WJ. 



Ma-son and .slidell. I'oiifedenito agents. TSi. 
Masonic Hall. the. -iVi : headi|unrter»of tlie Whig 

partv. 311 Sl.l: attack ui-in. 3I« 
Miilsell 1;. \V.. rejK.rt of on sirecl cliiidn'n, IVM. 
Malhiws. cliarles. .Ir. actor. liotic' of. \'M. 
Malhi »s. the Uev .lames .M . pastor of Harden 

sii.'i I chtircli. .VCi: lirsi ehuiicellor of tlie liil- 

versitv of N.'w \ork 151. 
May. 



Mayor lir 
Ma 



ill., t he 



Ihe people. 3111. 
lit. pi-nminenl law Judge of. 230. 
Kiiglisli. iiiiniigration of, £25. 
Iiistitnt.'. Ihe. 4«3. 
and Tradcsiueu's Society. IM, 1&4 , 



haiiic- 
M.'chaiiic. 
Mechanics 

officers I 

Medal, gold, given by tlie National Ciiinnl to Iji- 

favctte. 325. 
Medical education, faciiilhs for acquiring, 82«. 
Medical examiners. Slate Ikianl of. 29K. 
Medical inslilutions and medical faeuily In 1839, 

.•Ml. 
Mcili.al science, eondithni of, ani. 
Medical .Soch'ty of New York County, 1.17. 
.Medical Soi'leivof New York State, 13H ; action 
•pathv In lt«;. 2»5. 



M 


dical s. 


M 


dicil,.' 


M 




ri iiiii; 


M 


ri'-aii'i.; 


M 


■rcliaiii 


.Men-hant 



•r. N»i. 



' liomii'opathy, 295. 



the, 211 ; 



i 1 1:. \--oelatlon. origin and growth 
■ ;!.■ 1- of. 189. 
,1. . 11,, l!„„is of. 219. 

It rks. iliiiles of formeriy. 219. 
Kxeliange. the first. 2:): location of 
deseri|illi)ii anil destruction of the 



Merchants of New York, contributions of In .sup- 

pori of liiet'ovcrnment. 7:tl 
Mcsiayer. Kiiilly. actress, sketch of. 421. 
Mctiiodist H.H.k ( oiicern. K.-)7. 
Methodist cliiiri'li. Iiislorv of the. .wn. 
.Mctiiodist ehuiches. colored, first In New York. 

.V12. 
MethiHlist Ki'lseopai church Home for Aged and 

Inlirin Members: offiiers of the. 7W). 
Mclhodist Manners' cliunh. 56.3. 
M.thodisi mission .'hiirches. .va 
Mcth.Klist I'ro'.esiant cliurch. SftJ. 
Metnipiilitan Fair, openition and receipts of the. 

Metropolitan Mii.seum of Art. 834 K3« : e<irpora- 
tors of the. K.35: colleothms and schools of the, 
K3<;. N37: balldb..ok of Ihe. KTvS. 

Metn.politan 1 iperallouse. ('>«!. 

M.tr..pi.iiiaii Police and MavorWood. OflO. 

Mi'inipoliian sanitary district, 757. 

Metropolitad TheatH'. fiK4. 

Mexico, war with. 530; French troops withdrawn 
from. 711 

Micklc. Andri'w II.. mayor, 495. 

Mhliiight Mission. \:a. 

Middle Diiicli lieformed Chunli. bell of. M; ser- 
vices in III.'. .X2: dcaions of and singing In the, 
83 : closed and sold. 5;iB. 

Mllliiigton. the Kev. J., donates Ixioks to the city. 
151. 

Mills. Zopliar. and Ihe Volunteer Fire Depart- 
ment : sketch of. 229; boiioni to, 230. 

Mills building. K* 

.Miliior, James, rector of SI. George's Church. 

Miiiult. first governor of New Xetherland. 5. 

J/irrr»-. the New York, a generous patmn of lit- 
erature and art. 24« ; poem at the opi'nlng of 
the ninth volume. ^10-251 : incident in editorial 



Mini of. 'ivj 
Mi»sionarv.s..cl 

work of' tlie. 

cei-s of Ihe. 1 
Miielieil. Edwani, first rnlversaiisl minlsl 

New York. .-.71 
MItchlll. Samuel L.and his contributions to the 

wedding.. f ihe hikes and IheiM-ean, 72; bhigni- 

phy of. 119; memlier of the Drones' Club. isi;. 
Modern churches and the nervlccs, 83. 



y of the Methmllst rhureh. 185; 
r ; first officers of the, 196 ; offi- 



i-T 



Miiliawk audUudsou Itivcr lijiilniad Company, 
304. 

Mom-c.i , .laiiH ~ . \ I'n siilciiO, and the fommem- 
Ol-ali. iM 1 iIm 1 irinh K.voliillou, 287, 890. 

Mom. / 1 .: .1 1, .<{. IM. 

Moon ll..,L\, iH-i.n .It tin-. :«. 

Moonev, William, luuudeiot the Tammany So- 
ciety', 242. 

Moore, Menjamin, Bishop, and the Historical So- 
ciety, 1.tS. 

Moore, Clement ('.. gift of to the General Theolog- 
ical Seminary, 445. 

Moore, sir Henry, biography of, 28 ; the City Hos- 
pital and, 110. 

Momvian Cluiri ):, tin ::.',i 

Morehouse, til. i II i historian of the Bap- 
ti^stHomeMi 1 m ~ . i.ty, 462. 

Morgan, E. l)..ii ,ii ,i :ir\ n.mniittee, 622; gifts 
of totheriiionTliii.l.ii^ii-:!! Seminary, 450 ; gov- 
ernor of New \V>rk and the Civil War, 724, 725 ; 
biography of. 724. 

Morgan i Smi, shii.bnilders, 222. 

Moniiii--:!. r.ni, <.i. 

Morii-, - I iiiitice of, 93. 249; sketch of, 

25S: M , ■• M.i ...III, M7. 

Morsf. ^iiii !■ , I 1: , inventor. 175; conference of 
artists in stiKJin <if; New York Drawing Asso- 
iation and, 176; biography of, 383: first con- 
ception of a telegraph by ; exhibits a telegraphic 
instrument in public. SM ; ree(i\'es goveinnient 
aidinestablisljiii:.' tin- lirst t<-legra|ili liii./, 389; 
first messag.- i;ivcn to l.y Mi^s KlNwoiih ; sug- 
gests subniafiiir irl.Lri-aiiliy. ;>s!i : the (i;i;„aiLTre- 
otype and. los : tiKl.iwiiit-ui of a i-hriii- in the 
Union TheohitfiiMl Si-uiiM;iiv. U'.i ; submarine 
telegraphy ami. mil; ilu' .\merirau Siociiivfor 
the Promotiiui nf N.-ui'mal riiion ami. Tlii. 

Morse, Sidney, priiplncy niui-iiuing the Morse 
telegraph ; biography of ; the New York Olj- 
serverand, 387. 

Morton, Jacob, reviews troops. 88, 89 ; at the 
commemoration of the French Revolution, 290. 

Morton, Levi I'., and Grace Memorial Home, 
675. 

Moss, John C, inventor of the " Moss process," 
biography of, W>. 

Moss Process aiul Engraving Company, &42-845. 

Mott. Valentine, eulogy on Dr. Francis by, 4:U ; 
biography of. 5'.)1 ; the Women's Central Relief 
Association and. 728; Home for Sick and 
WouTid.<ls,,l,li,isaud,738. 

Mott, .L.tiiaii I- iiivi'utor, biograpliy of, 707. 

Mott. .1 I... ir.ii] w.irks. 708. 

Moti ami Iliiiliibiv on tiahy farming, 693. 

Mount Sinai Hospital, 690; officers of the, 691. 

Mount Morris Square, 854. 

Muhlenberg, the Rev. William A., biography of, 

Munn, O. D. and SchuOJic American^ 620; biog- 
raphy of, 621. 

Munn. Stephen I!., and his negro servant, 86. 

Mmm & Beach, patent agency of, 621. 

Murray, JIary (Mrs. Ferris), and Home for Colored 
Orplians. 465; notice of, 466-469. 

JIuiTay, Mrs. Robert, and British officers, 53, 208. 

Murray, Robert, merchant. 208. 

Mutual Life Insurance Company of ?few Y'ork ; 
patriotism, policy, and benefactions of the. 489- 
491 ; condition of the ; tlie Tweed King and the, 
192 ; new building of the, 493, 850. 



National Academy of the Arts of Design, history 
of the. 174 1.S2: names of founders of the • first 
e.xhihitiim nf ihc. 179; attarksupon the ; migra- 
tions of the; iicrmancnt home of the, 180; 
cluiracter <.f the, 181 ; officers of the, 182. 

Niitiotuil currency, origin of the, 733 ; opposition 
to the. 7:M. 

National Government, seat of at New York, 47. 

Native .American iiarty, 493. 

Naturalization laws, defects in the, 215. 

New Amsterdam, rcprcscutativc conveutiou in, 



10 ; menaced by Indians, 11 ; name of changed. 



II 



Nrlli. 



;ith1. 



■ lony sent to, 4; settlers in 
.j;vi,, 1 V. ii .-, ; lii-^t Kiiropean born in, 5. 

N, L-r.. l.:.il 111 N,\v Vofk, 20. 

N. « .r.vaK. !,iii-iii N.-w York, 66. 

N, w.KniMili in I lull. h. .574. 

••N.-w .M.di.al Iii-iiiuiioii,-' founders of the, 140. 

N.w York As>... iati.m for Improving the Con- 
ilitioii .if rill- poor, its history and work. 582 ; 
ofticers of the. ,o84. 

New York Asylum for Destitute Lving in Women, 
118. 

New Yiu^k Bible Society, 198 ; work and officers 
.if Ih.-. ■.'.in 

Ni \v ^ .irk . iiy. nameof. 11 ; social condition of in 
I'i'il. i .' ; ' liait.'rof Liberties of. 14. democracy 
in. \ailin- in. l.a ; nuiliieipal rHfjulalioiis of, 19; 
lii-l i-liai-iiT ..f; growth of pauperism iii,-.;0; 
inilustii.s in. i.s: ^livi-ts lai.l out in. 20; leading 
mill ill in 1740. a--'; political soi'ictv in, ;32 ; con- 
tiii-Iing authority in, lis ; (l.-fiiice's of: Wash- 
ington in, 4(1 : great tires in in 1776 and 1778, 42. 
43; cold winter at, 44; evacuated bv the 
British. 44 : in 1790, 46 ; description of, 52 : in 
1830, (H; invasion of. 66; homes in then and 
now, 87; proinin.nt institutions in about 1830, 
142; ('li.iiiL'.- in III.. ;is[i.-.-t ..f. 213; newspapers 
in in is,>;, ■,'.;i; ; th.' jin.,..s m-ws-gatherers in. 368; 
contrasts in tli.. Mn-iity of. 4;j!(: f.. reign .-oni- 
nierce ami population of in Ism, i,:> . -inwili 
of and puhlii- si|uai-es in in i^ i. 1, . ii|i- 
tioii of and linrlior of inl8.-iii. "• i, ,,i;..ii 

of, 604: iiii.-rsand markets ,it. n. n . n i- of 
trade in: manulaeiiirts of, u i- , I n-.i . -- in. 11 
intdanii.MlliVsiL'iisof war. Till ;i . i.n;! ut. - in.n 
aiidniom-v for tlu- war, t:il, T.'J'J, ;. a : in. . nliarv 
attemplsf.. Imin ili.-, T,".", ; |.o|ail.iiii n, LuTigfi 
eomnit'ii-f, niaiai 1 1 n,i. ^. 1,1 imiai institu- 
tions, vain.' ol I ,,. ,i I , I.,,;, , I state and 

debt of in ls;i. -1 i, . 1 1. rritors; to, 

811; boumlari. s . 1 n; i^s;; i i;:,ri. iai . .perations 
in, 812; changes in areliitecture and decora- 
ti<u)s in 856 ; social advantages in. 865 ; sea- 
si<le and rural resorts near ; present and future 
of the, 866. 

New York ( itv Dispensarv, 116, 117. 

N.w York (itv Hospital. 110-113. 

N.w Y. Ilk (itv .Mission and Tract Society, 201- 
2(1.-.; first offii-.-rs of tlie, S03;wiirk of the, 203- 
204 : Woman's Branch of the, 203, 204 ; officers 
of the, 20.5. 

New York County Medical Society, 137. 

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, officers of the 
123. 

New York Gallery of Fine Arts, 164 ; trastees of 
the, 616. 

New York ami Harlem Railroad Company, 401- 
406. 

New York Infant .\syluni. 771 ; officers of the, 772. 

New Y'ork Infirmary for Women and Children, 694. 

New York .luvenile .■\svlum. 687, 

New Y.irk Pi ..vimial Congress, :I7. 

New Y.nk si:,t. . n iranized, 43. 

Now Yolk si;ii.. .M. ilical Society, corporatois 
and ofti...-is .,f th,., i:is. 

New York Times, the. 820. 

New York Typographical Society, 165. 

New York Yacht Club, 595 ; notable event in the 
history of the, 596 ; officers of the, 597. 

Newsbov. the first who sold the .S«n, 275. 

Newsboys and the Children's Aid .Society; cliar- 
ait.r .if the, 689; lodgings provided for the; 
(•v.iiiiig s.lmols for, 6:w. . 

N.-ws-gatliering. new methods of. 270. 

N.'wsiiaiiers in New York in 1840,477; in Ne\.- 
V.irk in l.ss:!, 864, 

Nibl... William, sketch of ; "Garden" of. J:!:: 
l.'sscc of Asti.r Place Opera-House. 510 ; gift of 
b. Y.iiiiig Men's ( hrislian Association, 657. 

Ni.|K(' and Daguerrc. 107. 

Noah, .\l. M., notice of : biography of, 269. 

Noble, John, and the Moravians, 559. 

Normal College, the, 269. 



877 



North IMiioh Ki'rnriiii'il Chiin'li. MT. 
Ni>rwi'i;liiii I'liilu'iiiiils in Now York, W. 
Noliililf OLiilliicnitliniK, M4 
Nuiiil'-niiitii- iind Aroliii-oloKli'iil Society, fouiiilers 

iiiiii<>m<')-ncir tiic, nuH. 
o. 

iiiiklvy. Tlioiiiiui .1., Hketcli of. 43(1. 

O'llrli-n. Ciiloiicl II. T.iminUTof, 7lil. 

D'llrii'ii. ,l»im-s. anil tliv Twi'i.-d Itliii:. IHIT. 

(K'tMtii Kti'iim liiivlinilliMi. nirly, HHt-HliU 

Uci'iin Ktt'iiinnliliisi'iitci'lni; Aiiii'ilian pints In ISK2, 

sirr. 

fVran tiliL'nipliy fii-st suKt^stvd by ITiifcssor 



Ml 



, ;iwi. 



lai^ls. Mi. 
O'tiiiii.r. charli'M, and the Ki'nt Club. 4*i ; iMi- 

Kiitiil In tin- priisci-utlnn i>f Tweed, KtlO. 
Old llriwiTy. seines at the. Ii3«. 
Old families i.f New York. 93. 
Old Jail. Iiell of the destroyed. .V)l. 
Ole Bull, lessee of till' Aeadeiny of Muslo, mi. 
Olmsted. Frederlek Ijiw, and Central I'ark, 009; 

skeieh of. BlU; secretary of the Sanitary Com 

mission. 7-JM. 
Omnibuses in New Y'ork, ftO. (KB. 
0|iera lllallani. first introilueed. IIB ; Opcm- 

House and. 4S). 
Opera trouiie from llavnnn, hUl. 
Ophihalmie llos|«ital. liW : iinicer.s of the. (HW. 
0|ihthalinle and Aural Institute, ufHcers uf the. 

K». 
Oraniremen and Rlbbonmen, riot between, HIS; 

casuullles of the riot between. 81 1. 
Onler of Merit and the National (lunrd. XH. 
O'Jieilley. llenr>'. and Ihc .Morse tele);mpli ; bloR 

ri|.liv..f. :f.il. 
oriihan .\-vliim Soeietv il'rotestanK, directors 

of III. ■ mi; oflie.rsof llie. i:)7. 
Orphans' Home and Asvlnm of Ihc Profe.stant 

K|iis .1 ihiireh. (i'.ll ; i.m.ers of the, filW. 

Orthopa'die Disjiensarv and llosiiltal, corpora- 
tors of the. mi; onieirs of the. 7T7. 
Orton. William, bioi-raiiliy of. .m. 
OslHirne. <;overnor. eonimlls suicide. 34. 
Otteiidorf.r. Anna, and the (Jermaii Hospital. 773; 

S'ew York ZMiing: 
biofraiiliy of. 77S. 
Oyer and Terminer, Court of. 837. 



I'. 

I'ackard. Sllae S.. biocraphy of, 685; business 

colieee of. i;s.|. (;s.'>. 
Packet slii|.s. .'>x.-.'14. 2ir>. 
I'aL-anini and Miss Watson. 434. 445. 
Painters prominent in 1h;)ii, 3j«. 
Paid Fire Department. 331. 
Pnlmo. r. and his opera-house. 434. .'.31. 
Palmer. William Piit. 3.'<i. 
Palatines in .New York. 1(1. 
Panitfilay. relief ..f Mini>ter Wn.sbbum in. 741. 
Parker. W illard. im: endowment of a chair In 

I iii..n Th. ol..i;iial Seminary. +1'J ; the Academy 

of Meilieine aii.l. .S3ii 
I'arks ami .s<|naies in ISV). .V»; in 1.S83. RM. 
Park riiealieaiiileanaleelebratlon.7B: actors al, 

103: foreiitii actors at. 4i;»; wanine popularity 

of the. 43fi: bnrneil..-.17. 
Parmly. Eleazar and Prison Association. .VW. 
Parsons. Isabella, and the Nonnal Collejfc, 578. 
Patriotism ..f N.w Yorkers, .-.7. 
Pauldim.'. .lames K . sk. t.h of. 355. 
Paxloii. th.- I!.v William .M.. trustee of I^akcand 

Walls iirplian Asylum. 4.V1. 
Payne, .b.lin Howard, and "Home, Sweet Home," 

103 ; bloKrai.hy of. 103. 
PealKidy. (Jeorirc, and the (irinnell Expedition, 

(M3. 



Peace party eleeisa uovenior of N.'W York. "43; 
omtionofn illsilniculshed leader of th.- 714 

Penle. Iteml.randt. a foiiinl. r ..i ili.- n.iImiuiI 
Aeudemy of the Arts of n. . ,,m- 

menlo^lll..n ..f ilie I niifli ; -'v; 

Pelts... tlir Kev. I. M . mi- | llo 

Points. i;3S; Ihc Five Poiiu- I. . . i-iry 

and. 1131 IU3. 
Peekham. Wheeler H., enKaued In Ihc prowiu- 

tlon of Tweed. H<«i. 
Peel. II. P . and Asylum for the iK'af and Dumb ; 

blo|;ni|.hy of. I'Jii. 
Peet. Isaac I, , and Asylum for the Deaf and 

Dumb. 131. 
Pell. Alfred, and Ihc Mutiuil Life Insurance Com- 
pany. 4K7. 
Penitentiary on lllackwell's Island, inmates uf 

the..'>H7. 
Penny pn-ss, iirojectors of llie,S!i7. 
Perry. Coininoilore M. C.. mission of to Japan, 

l'.-ialo7.7.l, system of, .107. 

Pitei-s. the Kev. Dr., uiid the Episcopal Hty Mls- 

sh.n .Society, 4.'.7. 
Pettcntrlll, S. M.. advertlsluE ajfcncy ; sketch of. 



K,7. 

Phelan. the licv. .lose. .IIK 

Philaileli.liiii. al.i.llti..n riot in. 339. 

Physliiiins i.r..nilii.-iii in IKi3. :««. 

Ph'rre|...ni. Kdwiinls. and th.- I'nion Defence 
Comniillee ; lii.iL'nii.iiv of. 731. 

Plnlard. .b.hn. ami lie- openini; of the Krie (anal. 
69: oriL'iiialorof the New York lllsiorieal So- 
ciety; Dr. Fralielss esliniali'of. I.Vl ; llie Ilev. 
.Teremy Itelknai. ""d. I.W ; bl..aia|.hy of. 158; 
founder of lt;iriMim°s Museum. IW: notice of, 
SID: llrst bank f..r sjivlnj.'s and, 3»; House 
of Ucfuu-e. 111.1, :t'is. 

Police eomnilssion.rs. board of, IMa. 

Police, diiiies of Ihc ; justices. 2S(t. 

Poliie riot. 11(17. 

Polk. .1. K.. nomination of, announced by the 
Jlorse teleitnipli. :m. 

Po|ie, Mrs., and th.' Astor Place riot, 513.517. 

Pi.|ii''s siis|iension l.ri.lu'e. Kif. 

P..|iiilaIion and valnation of propertyln IS35. 61. 

P.irl Soei.ly, the. 1:14. 

I Post-dill. e. the. in colonial limes.M: In 1883, 532. 

Poll. r.ltislii.|. Henrv c.. sketch of. .V.I. 

Poller. llisli..|.lloralli.. biopaphy of. .Vjl 

Pollers Field. Ihc. (.(S*. 

Potts. III. Ilev. Dr.. .-..v.. 

Power, the Kev. .lolin. vIcnr-Bcneral, 568. 

Pow.-r. •lyr..iie. skeieh of. 4-j:i. 

Presliyteriiiii ( liurcli. Iiislorv of the, .W4. 

I-iTsbyiirian Home for .Xl'.iI Women, corpora- 
tors and ofliiei^ of ih,.. 77.-. 

Prcsliyiiriaii llos(>iIal. oflieers of the. 774. 775 

Press I hib. founders of 111.- ; ..fliiers of the. 813. 

Press, the newsiiaper and niacazine In New York. 
t«VI. 

Prevention of Cruelty to .\nimals. American So- 
ciety for the. H4(l. mti : work of the. tMH ; itifU to 
the; officers of the, Slfl. 

Prisons and inlson ships. 4'3. 43. 

Prisoners, coiulltion of. .W3. 

Prime, the Kev. S. Irenieus. and the Obtrrfr ; bl- 
oirnii.hy of. .'IK7. 

I'l-liitiiiir. iiitrodinlion of steam-power In. 373. 

Prodii.-.' Kxehanue. the, W". 

Pro.seh. (;. W . and the dairuerrei.lvr>e. -wn, 4(19. 

Ih'oieslaiit Ei.iseopal ( liy Mission Society, 457; 
work done by the : oBleers of the, 459. 

lYi.lesIanl Kplsco|.al church, history uf the, 542- 

Provideiit Dispensary, for workiii(c-women and 

Kiris. S3;. 

Provi.leni Society, the. 139. 
I'n.vliiiial ( oiufres-s. delcKates to the. St,. 
Piibii.' balK. Ilil. 
Illblie l.iiil.llnL'sin 1K3.%. CI. 
Public iiisiiiiiiionsln 1K3.'.. Ii<). 
Piililie Inslnieilon. bisloiv ..f In New York. ;>il- 
307. 



Public School Society and tlie Roman Calliiilios, 
576. 

Public school pay system introduced and abolish- 
ed. 304. mo. 

Public singers in theatres, S48. 

Public squares in IWO, 475; in I88.S. SM. 

Purser, George H., and a corrupt judge, 492. 



Quakers, or Friends against slavery, 326 ; and 
slavery, 656. 

I{ 

Rachel, Mile., at the Academy of Music ; slietch 
of, 683. 

Railways converging to New York, 604. 

Randall, Captain Thomas, founder of the Sail- 
or's snug Harbor, 12!) ; monument in memory 
of, 131. 

Riiudall's Island, buildings on, 899, 400. 

Rapcly e. Sarah, first European born in New Neth- 
crlaiid iXewTork), 5, 7. 

Ravel family. 422. 

Rjuvdon, Wright, Hatch & Co., engravers, 253. 

Raymr)nd, Henry J., biography of, 880. 

Raynor, Samuel, envelope manufacturer, biog- 
raphy of, 706. 

Raynolds, C. T. & Co., manufacturers of painters' 
colors, 788. 

Real and personal estate in New York in 1870, 

Red ilouse, the, 106. 

Red Jacket and itnprisonment for debt, 397. 

Redfield, Justus S., publisher of the Family Mag- 
az'uie, 280. 

Reed. Luman, house and picture gallery, 88, 
614 ; patron of art and artists ; biography of, 
61.5. 

Reformatory efforts, good results of the, 641. 

Regatta, first regular in the United States ; yachts 
that participated in tiie first, 595. 

Renwick, Professor James, at the Irving ban- 
quet, 259. 

Renwirk. James, architect, biography of, 674. 

t;- , ii! 'i ,)ii I'iirly, formation of the, 653. 

"I.. ■ 'T " Democrats," 50. 

ed by many, 96. 



. .s.w. 



l:. t;nl r.v^' - Is houses. 793. 

li.iMil st..n.s, fashionable. 89. 

Kctiiil i.a.l.-. location of the. 220. 

KhiTiil. I iiarli's. and canal celebration. 69, 71. 

RicliiiH.iiil Hiil, 63. 

Richmond. .Mi's., and St. Barnabas' Home and 
(•h:i|..-l, 4.-.S. 

Ridley, lidwurd & Sons, retail dry-goods house, 
793. 

Ridley, Kdward, biography of, 793. 

Riker, Richard, recorder, 78; sketch of, 23.9, 242; 
duel of with Robert Swartwout ; courage of, 
240 ; Halleck and ; quelling riots, 341 ; biogra- 
phy of, 3-12 ; defends a Itoman Catholic priest, 
067. 

Riots, atjolition. .328. 329 ; .-^stor Place. 509-517 ; 
Bowery. 667; draft. 714 ; election. 313-320; Five 
Points. 667 ; flour. 372. 373 ; Orangemen and 
Ribbonnien. S13 : police, 667 ; stonecutters', 341. 
Riotous ].n..-e(din;.-s..i.i:). 

l;V.-r-M.- \i,.ii:i, ;aHl l;i..r-iaL- Park, 854. 

l; <'.. \l:,i^li;,ll o . :,,mI 1 he Metropolitan Fair, 

V.Vi; hiojjnipliv of, 7.')0, 7.')1. 

Robertson, Archibald, opens the first school of 
art in New York ; paints the portrait of Wash- 
ington. 171. 

Roebling, John A., and the F.asl River Suspension 
Bridge ; death of, a")9 ; honors to, 8G0. 

Roebling, Washington A., cluef engineer of the 
Kast River Suspension Bridge, 859. 

Rodgers, J. Kearney, and the New York Eve and 
Ear InBrmar>', 128. 



Rogers, John, sculptures of. 759; biography of 

760. 
Rogers, Mrs. M. \.. and the Church Sisterhood, 

.589. 
Roman Calholic Churc^h. liistory of the, 564 ; first 

c(jngregalion on Manhattan Island. 56.5. 
Roman Catholics, first sitllcment families of in 

New York ; disabilities of, 564 ; the public 

schools and the, 57C.. .577. 
Roman Catholic Orphan .-Vsylura, officers of the, 

701 
R.iTii:i\iir. Nicholas, biography of, 139. 
l(oo~. ,,li Hospital T7.-. ; officers of the. rre. 
Itoo-r\.it, .Ja.ii.s II . r,,iir..hr of the Roosevelt 



I:hp' 



764. 



Rose Hill lanii ot i.ni.ial (iatcs, 52. 

Royal troops in ..New York, 29. 

Ruggle.s Samuel B, public spirit of; biography 

of. ,529. 
•Ruptured and Crippled, Society for the Relief of 

the ; first managers of the, 764 ; officers of the, 

706. 
Russell, Henry, and "Woodman, spare that 

Tree." 94. 
Rutgers, Ctolonel Henry, biography of, 442 ; gives 

land for a Presbyterian church, 555. 
Rutgers Female College, history of the, 442-444 ; 

officers of, 444. 



Sailori' JIagazine, 1.35. 

Sailors' Snug Harbor, history of the, 189-1 ;;3. 
St. Andrew's Society, 188 : officers of the. 189. 
St. Harnabas' Home and Chapel, history of the, 

458. 
St. Barnabas' Free Reading Room Association, 

4.tS. 
St. David's Benefit Society, officers of the. 581. 
St. David's Benevolent .Society, officers of tlie, 

=81. 
St. George's Society, 186, 187 ; officers of the. 188. 
St. John's College at Fordham, 568, 695 ; officers 

of the. 595, 
SI, .lolins iiirlil, ::;' ;;;: officers of the, 773. 
St. I. Ilk. - li I I ii;;ent Christian Females, 

St.' Uik.-~ Ih -]. ;,,:, . s: offieersof the, 589; no- 
tice of (.:■ ««-vr, offin-is. 5,S9 ; .seal of, 590. 
St. Mary's Free Hospital for Children, 834. 
St. Ni(!hoIas Avenue, H.5G. 
St. .Nicholas Club : officers of the, 442. 
St, Niiholas Society, founders of the, 440; officers 



Ml, 



St, I'airirVs Cathedral (the old), .565; (the new), 

dcsi-rii.tion of, 675-677. 
St. Peter's Church, consecration of. 565. 
St. Vini'cnt de Paul. Hospital of; Sisters of 

Chiirilvof, 590; Orphan Asylum and ; officers of 

the. 692, 
Sandford, General, and city militia, 3!9 ; Astor 

Place riot and. 514. 515 : the driift riot and. 745. 
Sanitarv Reform Society, founder of the; officers 

of the, 758. 
Sands, R. C, sketch of. 258. 
Savannah, steamship, crosses the Atlantic Ocean 

to St. Petersburg in 1819, .364 ; at Liverpool, 

365 : at Copenhagen. 366. 
Savannah, Confederate pirate ship ; disposition 

of crew of, 738. 
Schuyler, John, secretary ot the Society of the 

Cincinnati, 818. 
Sclmvhr. Louisa 1., , ,,ri-iiiaior of the State 

Charili.-s ,\i,l As, i ,,,, kj,, 

Schiivl.-r. riiilip, ri ■■ . . .1 ,; 

.Sell. Mil liiH.k puhlisliiii^ li-ii-.,.-i;i4. 

Schell. .\iigiistiis, i'resideiit of the Historical 

So<'ietv. 165 ; and of the Institution for the 

Blind, 457. 
Scien/ilii- American, 620-6'28. 
Scientific publications, 70.5. 
Scott, John Morin, 30, 37; biography of, 30. 



INDKX. 



879 



Scamon. soclPtlcn for the rcllgloui! inil mi.nil 
SoarllVKrSl s....l...y. l!M-..<i«: "fli'-rs of tho: 

of III!-. i:«. , ., 

Scnairirs SiivliiKS Iliink, .tVi. 
Sears l^aat' t>iot;ra|)hy of, :).%. 
Stiwi-t'i c'lif/ an I lliv iMiiul celobratlon, .1. 
Si-ituiii. Mr. iiinl Mn< . 511i. 
st'rm'.'KUwibolli",' f Jlindcr of Sisters of Clmrity, 



'iilh U<-"liilclll N. r.., S19. S21-3»; stall'l of 



HV 
SfVi. 

colors nrr»»'in»'»i o», •«" . ^i"^"-- — - ^ 

33.1 Ml) atL-rnit «r>;ln 1««',»?-' V'^^.'^-^ ? '[ 
the l'.« : ilei-ariiire for WasUiiiKton, ai-.ifi . at 
tlie oiMMiliiL' of tlie Kast Kiver Suspciislon 

Scveiitytlrst UfKlmenl and its record, iS. 
Shak.siH-are Tavern. *t!. 

Klinniriki-k Krieiul V .\sioelatl«>n, loU. 

Illelll.m <: \V '...,1 "The Story of the Volun- 

leer Kir- ll.parlniei.t," •-►JS. 
Shnihiiililiiii: an. I -h i.tiuiWhrs, -JJI *a. 
ih ;!.lll.ii..;-a„.l >hil;< at New Vork. W3. «W. 
Slii iiiini: iner.hanls. lo.allon ..f the. 311. 
S/,wu„l l.:il/i-r /.■./*"■'•'■ 'I'iole.1 from.ain. 
Shotwell, .\niia, aii.l Home lor Colored lirphans, 



Soiilc, John, anil the MclhwUst Mlnslonary Soel- 

ety.' Ilie. 
S|.ani.-enlHri.'. ltlHh..p. .WO 
spanlHli an.l tiemian eUihs, KS. 
Siieele Clreular. elleetg of the. 871). 
s!«eulalh.n, ehnnietcr of lu New York. 818, *,!, 

n»a. 

Sciiian-s and parks. 851. ,„ »- . „. 

I Stamp .\et; onRress at New -iork, i». 87 . re- 
state ('hariti'es Md ARs/iciatlon. K!«. 

1 state Prb.m ai tireenwhh. 4tW. 401. 
Slate Street and it- oeeupanis, 88. 

statues In >>''->^' "^ '.','■'',■ "■',',; "^I-'f y,; 

start"' llVe'uev' M illiani. and 'the Hospital of St. 

Vilu'ent de I'iiill. •V.«i. 
Steaml.oatHandr,.il«ay«.m 
I Steam tiri->ii!rlne. -Si-J : introduetlon of the. ai). 

1 Sl.ers Drothers. -hipliuilders. aS, Ml. 



4C:> 



«d Homo 



.leallx.f. 



Shotwell, Mary, fonnder of the Co]. 

an. I Il.npllal. V>V. 
Shninwav ( aiilain. and Astor Place riot. .11(1. 
Sk.Th .Mub th.- New V..ik, history of the, 183- 

is.-,- re,.ru'ai.i/.atl..nof the. M\ 
Sims . I. .\laii..n, sketch of, 008, ««9. 
Simpson, Eilwar.1, iHan«Ki-r of tlie Park Theatre, 

Simpson. Bisliop Mattlicw, pn-sidcnt of tlic Meth- 
odist .Missionary So.'iety, tfl8. 
Sineliir ''atli.rine i.Mrs. Korrest). notice of, 6Si!. 
Siii'i' a'nd './"i' Wftlnn steamsliips, arrive at 

Sisters ..f Cliarily, first In the United States, 303; 
" tirst in Nt'W York. M7. 
Sl^tli Wanl. ri..t in. 3i:>. 

Sll'ver'y. eflect of the aplation of the subject of, 

Siiiii'lie, .lames, biography of, 262. 

Smith MorLiin L. proposes to civc a medal to 
Ijifay'ctte by the Nalio nal Guards ; adopted, 
,S^1- .■,il.m..l ..r the Nath.nal Ouard. iW9 : the 
eri'i'it lire in IW. and ; liioimiphy of. *"*, 349. 

Smith. Steoh.-n, shipbuilder, asl. 

Smith & Dlm.m. shipbuilders, 2-M. 

Suee.leti ,t l,iwriii.e, shipbuilders, !BS. 

Swial Club. th.-. 181!. . , , , ,., 

Social habits ..f th.- Knicki'rl>o<:kers, 101. 

S.iciai ostra.ism. effe.ts of. 584. 

Society Library. ..riL-in of the. W : hisb.ry of the, 
131 154 : truste.s ..f the in 1778. 152 ; gifts to the. 

S.!idwv^™f''n" Krieniilv'sons of St. Patrick, 189; 

openili.msan.l..fli.ersoftlie, IflO. 
Socieiv f..r til.- K.li.f of Half iirplians and Destl- 

tute'chil.in-n, ITU; ..ffl.-.r-i of. 471. 
Soci.'ty f.irthe l'revcnti..n of Crime; ofBcers of 

Socie'i y 'f.)r tlie Prevention of Cnielty to Animals. 

8|li. 8411 ; nmr,-r< of tin-. I«M. , ^, „ , 

Society for the Prevention of ( Yueity to Children, 

S31-8.vi; olBccrs of the, 833; work of the. 833, 

S..i-^-ty for the Helief of Po.ir Wiaowa with Small 
Childn-n ; 12H. , ^ „ . 

. Soiii-ty f.ir 111.' It.-lii'f of the Ruptured aim Crip- 
pled: .,ni..rs..f the. 7i<i. 

S.>i'iety f..r the Supprcssi.m of ^ ice. the New 
York, 81'J, JOO ; sphere and work of the, 850. 

Sons of Liberty. «. 

Sontag. >la.lamc, a renowned singer, BK2. 

Socosis. a .lull for women ; formation and olBcers 
of the, 821, S22. 



-...-.iiwio a. .- pian..f'..rte-makers.(WO 681. 

s .• mv- V llenrv KuL-hhar.!. bl.igniphy of. B8I. 
Stephcn;.'.n. .b.hn. hrst buil.l.-r..( ..mnibuses and 

h.irse.niilwav .ais. I"--' ; l.l..gniphy of, 4(8. 
Stern, Myer. ad.lies>of : ii.iti.e.1. 127. 
Stereotyping, inir..du.ti..n ..f int.. New \ork, 

Stevens, Jolin A., and the I.oyal Put)lication So- 

Steven's." .lohn C. aii.l ocean steam navigation. 

884- founili-r of tlu' New York Yaehl Club, 

524 ■ til.' \aiht Aiii.rirfi anil. .'M. 
siev.ns I iniisW . .•.il..ii.lof theTwenty-seventli 
" in.>wsev.'nthi n-giinent National (iuard, 319; 

the alMilition ri..ts and. :t\7. 338. , , , 

Stewart. Alexan.ler T.. and the dryg.jods trade, 

415; skctch..f career ..f. 416 418. 
Stock a.-tors in New Y.irk. 5a>. 
St.M^k Exdiange. tlie ; methods of business atthe. 

Stone, A. B., and tlie Cliiidrens Aid Society, MO. 
Stone, William I.., |.i..gnipliy of, «7. 

Storrs!"the'Kev."ll."s.. a.ldress of at the opening 

of the E:ist Kiver Uridg.-. 8(il. 
Stoves an.l niiiges. manufacture of, 707. 
Stove-dealers, h.cation of llie. 214. 
Street boys, eliaracter of the. IWl- _, .,„,.„ 
Stuart. Cieorge U., and the I . S. Christian (om- 

St!?rS-^'jo'nathan, and tlie New York (Jallery of 
Fine Arts, CIB : dinner to, Iil7 ; biography of, 

Stuyvesant, Peter, governor of New Netherland ; 

character of ; biography of, 9. 
Stuyvesant Square. 8.V). j ■ / ,i 

*■«» newspaper estabiislieil. 272; rivals oi lue, 

S74. 
Sun.lays.-hooIs establishe.l. 31)2. 
Swift, John H.. anil church sisterhood. 589. 
Swift. Joseph t;.. ami th.- great Hri-. 348. 
Swamp, the. n..tice of. 211. 218; leather dealers 

Sw'aVtwont. Colonel John, duel of with De Witt 

Swartwoiit. liobert, duel of with ISichanl Kiker, 

Swartwout. Samuel, grand marslial at commem- 
oration of llie Frencli I{ev..lution, 288. 
Swedes on llie Delaware, II. 



Tagllnnl, Monsieur and Madame, 42e. 
Tallmadge, Fre<lerick A., and the Astor Place 

ri.)t.51l. ., , ,. 

Tammanv Hall and,^ commemoration of the 

FrenehRevoiution.aC. 388. 

Tammany Society, history of the. M2.iii: char- 

ai-ter of llie anil device on its certificate of 

membership. 244. 
Tanners near the Collect, 216 



880 



Tappan, Arthur, biography of, 167 ; store of as- 
sailed, :i'i7 „„ 

Tappan. Lewis, liouse of sacked by rioters, 338, 
334 ; ami mercantile ageney. 599. 

Taylor .\slier B., on the eoloi-s of the National 
Ciuavil, »A 

Tea .<liips at New York, .3). 

Temple CinMi. 8.i('>. 

Teimnt liciiise system considered, 758. 

Theatres in New York. 49. 

■•Tile Niiitti .Anniversary, a Drama," 247. 

"The house I live in." a poem. 394-396. 

Tiieolo;,'iial S(iiiiii,[rv. the General, 477. 

Theolii"ic:il Sirninarv. the I'uion, 447. 

Tliomps..lr.sal...in of. 96.97. 

ThoHipsiiii. .U)hii. ami the National banking sys- 
tem, n« 73.") ; biography of, "34 ; plan of a paper 
currency, 7.*J5. 

Tli<iini)S<iu's (Corporal) tavern, 105. 

Tliorbiirn, (Jrant, and liohert Hoe, 470. 

Tliorne & Williams, shiphnilders, 223. 

Tlioriie. Jonathan, leather merchant, biography 
of. il7. 

Tiffany. Charles I„. receives the decoration of 
the Legion of Honor ; a gold medal from the 
Emperor of Hussia, 799. 

Tiffany & Co.. establishment of, 797; honors be- 
stowed npon, 799. '* 

Tilden, Samiu-1 .J., affidavit of causes the arrest 
of Tweed, fAi. 

Timex. the New York, exposes the frauds of the 
Tweed ring. WS. 

Titus. Klias, one of tiie founders of the American 
Institute, notii-e of. 169. 

Toomt)s, Kobert, and Mavor Wood. 717. 

Tomliiisun, \V, A., and the Half Orphan Asylum, 
47L 

Tompkins Square, 854, 

Tontine Associatiim, 51 ; Coffee House. 108. 

Townley. the Kev. John, organizes a Congrega- 
tional church. ,573. 

Train, George Francis, introduces street railways 
into I.ond<m, 403. 

Training School for Nurses, 827. 

Transportation business, the, 794. 

Transval. tiie, 8.V>. 

Tree, Ellen, sketch of. 426. 

'J'ril/utie, the, established, 477. 

Tribune building burued, 499 ; the pioneer of tall 
buildings, 856. 

Trimble, George T., and the Demilt Dispensary, 
689. 

Trinity Church established ; property of, 19 ; 
school of, :i02 : and the Free School Society, 
303; parish, chapels, and charities of, 542-516; 
architecture of edifice, 673. 

Troops, response of New York to call for, 717, 
718. 

Truax. the Rev. John, and the Marine Magazine, 
1»1. 

True Reformed Oliurch. the, 510. 

Itumhull, Colonel John, and the American 
.•\cademv of Fine Arts, 173; character of, 174; 
sketch o'f. 2(i0. 

Tryon, William, Governor, gives a charter to the 
New York Society Library, 1.52. 

Tweed. William M.. and the Americus Club, 597; 
career of, mm. 809; death of, 808. 

Tweed King, the, 805 80^. 

Twentv-sevenlh (now Seventh) Regiment N. G. 
and election liot. 319: hi.storv of the, 321-335; 
votes a medal to Lafavctte, .324. 

Two-mile Stone pravermeetins. .t61. 

Tyng. the Rev. Stephen H., and Home for the 
Friendless. 461 ; biography of, 543. 

Typographical Societv, the New Y'ork, 165, 166 ; 
officers of the, 166. 



Ulshoeffer. ^f, judge of the Court of Common 

Pleas. 49.V496. 
Underground railway. 6.55. 
Union Club, founders of the; character of the 

members of the, 4.34 ; sketch of the, 435. 



Union Defence Committee, members of the, 720 ; 
labors of the. 722, 723. 

Union Dime Savings Bank, 8.57. 

Union Home and School, 738. 

Uniiui League Club, origin and history of the, 
748-7.53 ; lirst officers of the ; committees for 
raising colored troops, 749; committee to re- 
cruit troops, 750 ; services since the war, 752, 
7m : officers of the. 7.53. 

Union Square, 528, 854 ; great war meeting in, 718, 
719. 

Union Theological Seminary, history of the, 447, 
4J.S; endowments of the; officers and faculty 
of the, 449. 

Unitarian Church. 574. 

I'niversity of the city of New Y'ork, 450 ; notable 
events at tl)c ; officers of the, 452. 

I'niversalist Church, the. 571, 572. 

United Bank building, 857. 

L'uited Slates Bank, government deposits re- 
moved from, 369 ; recharter and failure of the, 
370. 

United States Christian Commision, work of the, 
729, 730. 

United States Sanitary Commission, history of 
the, 727-729. 



Valentine, Lawson, owner of the Houghton farm ; 
publisher and varnish manufacturer, biography 
of, 790. 

Valjean and the BishoptHugoi, 588. 

Van Amringe, J. H., historian of Columbia Col- 
lege. 147. 

Van .Arsdale, John, and the British flag, 290. 

Van Cortlandfs joy, 14. 

Vaiidciliilt, c ornelius, biography of, 405. 

Van l>;nn. Hip, and Governor Cosby, 16. 

VamU-iil]..!!. t.eorge, 518. 

Van Xostrand, David, publisher, 7M; biography 
of, 705. 

Van Twiller. Governor. 7. 

Van Wyck, Pierre C, second of Richard Riker, 
240. 

Varick, Colonel Richard, biography of, 202 ; at 
commemoration of the French Revolution. 287. 

Vaux, Cahin, and Central Park, sketch of. 610. 

Vermilyea, the Rev. Thomas, senior pastor of the 
Collegiate Church ; trustee of the Leake and 
Watts Orphan Asylum. 455. 

Verplanck, Gulian C, biography of, 255 ; candi- 
date for mavor, 313. 

Vestris, Madame, .sketch of. 424. 

Victitria. Queen, and tlie yacht America, 525. 

Viei6, General Egbert L , and the Central Park, 
sKetch of, 609 ; report of on topography and 
hydrology of Manhattan Island, 610. 

Volunteer Fire Department and the canal cele- 
bration, 74. 

W. 

Waddell. Coventry. 603 ; mansion of. 612. 613. 

Wakeman. T. B., and the American Institute, 170. 

Wales, Prince of, visit and reception of. 709. 

Wales, Salem H., and the Homoeopathic Medical 
College, biography of. 778, 779. 

Wall Street in 1830, occupants of ; character of, 
107, 108. 

Wallabout. the, 5. 

Wallack. Henrv, 520. 

Wallack. James, and National Theatre. -123, 520. 

Wallai-k. J. Lester. 520. 

Wallack's Theatre. 6*B. 

Walloons in New Netherlands, 4. 

Walton, the brothers, 208. 

Ward district courts, 238. 

Ward's Island, 400. 

WariH'r.. Colonel Andrew, on General Morton's 
staff. 290 : the National Guard and, 323. 

Washiniiton, an attempt to poison, 41 : parts with 
his officers. 45 : inaugurated President, 48 ; resi- 
dence of. 49 ; bronze statues of, 815. 

Washington Market rebuilt, 800. 



881 



Wasliinet"!) raniilflinniml nii<UMniiii(Miiiiriiliim 

..f Ih.- Kiviuli lt.-v..luil<in, a«i. 
\\u<liinsfl"ii Niimn-, S.V» 
Wul.liim-ii. iliiii.sMf, JSS. *«>. 
WiitcrlH.iisi'iiiiil viii-i-iiiiillim. HI. 
WaltTS of lilt! hikes iiiiU tlic (ii.-an ciminilnglcd, 

\\ irt.i-C.liir SiM-icty, tli« AimrU-im ; .idlc'crs of 
I 111', >««<. , 

Watir Miiiply lit tlic illy. a'lC. SCO; new sources (if 
siiiiiilit. I*. 

Waiir wiiiks, early proji-cts fur, 5.>. 

Wallivi-l. llislii.|i. MSI. , . , 1 „. .. 

Walls. IChIhti. f.iiiiiili-r of llie U-akeaiiil Watts 
(iriiriaii Vsvliiiii, 4.'>4. 

W.11S..I1. 1 liaVl.itlc, sketch of, VH ; ami MuJaine 

WVhli, .\lixaiiili-r"s.. and tlio CollcRO of New 
Yiirk ■ liiiiuraiiliy of, ."MM. 

W.I.I. Isaao. shii.bulUltr. SH. TOT.. 

W.l.l. .laiiK's Wals..n, i.lilaiiis a military com- 
,„i--,.,n ill liis yi.mli, %r. aw : fi.iiiiils Ilie 
f, ,,,,.,- .11../ f:i,t/'iinr iifWS|iaiHT, '.IIU ; ri'Vulil- 
n,,iii/..< ilii- mctli.Mls .if jiiuriialism, iM. -JTI ; 
till- .•..innu-nii.iali.ili of It"' l"r>-liili K.-voliltl..il 
ami, •*«: ttivesllii' iiaim- UV.i;/ t.i liis poliiiial 
parlv, .111; tin- i-li-.Ii.m ri..ts ami. :il.-. ■U": l:ist 
survivor of tin- Horn- (lull. IW; riiHeil Slal. s 
minisi.rat 111.- i-..iiit o( linizil, 71(1 : iiilirvi.w 
Willi Naiiolvon 111. : on.ic.li.- .aicr of in 
Brazil, 740 : n-lievi-s tli<- .\imii.an iniiiistrr in 
I'liniKiiiiv: iffifl-s an arnin!;i'iiii-iit Willi Napo- 
Ipiiii for tlif removal of troops from Mexjeo, 
741 : lilocniphy of, 741, 7«. 

Weill), Captain Tlioniiw, soldier and preacher, 

Weliii, W. II., vessels built by, safi; biography of, 

w'rhU & .Mien. shipliuiUlers, SS. 

W.il.lin..-s in the Kiiiekerl...eker (lays. 100. 101. 

W.eil Tliurlow. diplomatic acent In Kurope, 

-J.-. : liloiimphy of, 78B. 
Weir, Uoliert W., and Trumbull, 171 ; biography 

of, -.111. 
Welles huildlns. 8.'>7. 
Wells. Horace, and anaesthetics. TW, 781 ; statue 

of. 7S1. 
Wells. Fariro & Dnnninit. express of. .181. 
W.'sl. I'r.iffssi.r f. E, and the datriierreolype. 

lii!i ; l(iiii;irs Female I'ollece and, 44.1. 
W.si.rii riii..ii Telegraph fompaiiy, ofllccrs of 

111.-. *il..-«fJ. 
Wi-siervi-li. .lacol), shipbuilder. SiH. 
Wi-si Iniliii Compaiiv. ibe Dutch, 7. 
\\'i-lm..ix- Home for Fallen and l-Mcndless Ciirls, 

Wi-tiii.ire, Prosper M., and the Mnniinq ('oitrier, 
•la : and Tweniy-scvenlh HcBiineiit N. (;., 8*!, 
:Wi. :wi. , , ,. 

Wlii-all.-y. Mrs, and Misses Emma and .Julia, 
skel.hi-sof. 4-Ji>. 

V.li.liin. Ihe Hi-v.. (liaraeter of. Mi. 

Whliipai-ly. origin of name of the, 311. 

While, raiivai. engineer of Croton .Vriueduet, 3.i.. 

While .t Fanner, tvpe founders. Mil. 

\Vliiieiiil(l. Ihe Key. lieorge, .VH. 

Whitli.-r. .b.lin (J , iiuolathm from on linpiison- 
nieiil for .bill, 397 

Wid.nvs' Fnn.l Society, the, l-». 



Williams, David. V». 

Willis. Nathaniel P.. -iM, -iW. 

Wllleit. Mariniis. biognipliy "f. -''7- 

Wilh-ls. Samuel, bioj-'raplu of. (,'.«. 

W llsoii. \. 1).. (-oiiveii ti»lionia-..patliy. ■»». 

Wilson, (ieorge, secretary of the Ihamber of 

('oinnierce, 'Jll. , ,. , . 

Wilson, .lohii II.. prop<i.s(-sthe name of " Nntlonnl 

liuai.l" for Ihe Twcntysev.-iiib Keglinent, 3-Jl. 
Wilson Industrial School, the, lill ; officers of the, 

ivia. 

Wliidust's i-estaurant ; Athenian Hotel, 9.. 

Winston. Frt-deriek S.. president of the Mutual 
Life Insurance company, sketch of. 4H9. 

Wisiier. <ieorg<; W., suggests k oiieeent news- 
paper. ".VJ. 

Woh-ott. A. S., and the dagtiemiotype, 410. 

Wolfe, Miss Catharine, gift of to Grace Church, 

Wolfe. .I(din David and Miss Catharine, and tho 

Home for llK-nrabl.-s. 7«7. _, _ .„ 

Wonians llospllal. tin-. MW: officers of the, <l«9. 
Woman's Mi-di.al ColU-L'e ; officers of the, fiiC 
Woman's I'lison Association, 5ti.'>; officers of the, 

.V<7. 
Women of N<-w York, patriotism of the, 738. 
W.iin.-ns Hrancb of the New York Cllv Mis-slon 
and Trait Society, a04 : cliaraetcr and work of 
111,-; ofllcei-sof the. iitt-i. „ 

Wi.ni.-ns I'entral Kelict Association ; officers o. 

Ihe. 7'JS. 
Wood. Fernando, ni.ivor. proposes the secession 
Iroiii the Inion of th.- ( llyof New York, 715 ; 
l{ol..rtT.i..mlisiind.717. 
Wo.i.l, William, and Ihe Normal College, r,78 

W 1 William, orifiiialur of the Mercantile 

Ulii-ary Association, ir.7. . 
Wood. Mr and Mrs., opera singers, 4-J3. 
Woo.lliull. Caleii s. mayor. 4M. ,.,™.i. 

Wo.iilw..rlli. Saiiinel. noticed, 351; and Tho 

House 1 live in. "394. 
Wooillawn Cemeiery. .WO. 

"Woodman, spare that Tree,"" song of, 98: Cap- 
tain Marrvat and the song of. »-l. 
Wool i;.-iii-ral .John K. and (;overnor Morgan: 
hell.- -:iv.- Ibe National capital. 7-^.'.. 
, Woikiiii: (. iris. Home for. 41K. . 
I Workiiii: Womin's Proteclive I nion, SS). 

Workmen in shipyards, former condition of. iH3. 
Worth. Ueneral. monument to. 580. 



Yacht Club. New York. the. 595-597. 

•• Yankee Hill." sketch or.43H. 

Yellow fever. M. .W. Ml. 

Youii- Ladies' New York Bible SiK-iety. 199. 

Yonii" M.ns Bible Society ; officers ..f the. 198; 

work of I lie. I '.19. 
Young .Men's christian Association. 656-058; 

names'of Ihe chief founders of the. il-ifl. 
Yonng Women's Christian Association; officers 

of the, 099. 
Yorkville, Ii03. 

7.. 

Zenger, .John I'eter, trial of and biography of. 



1 



BB 



(fC\ 




• \ ^w'/\ w'y\ •w/'^' 









^o^y . ■'•e.o^ -ov*'"' ■'-^.^ 









^„« ;,<'.;';:'■, »„^v '-f^o-f ._.-! 



0^ *, 



4 O 






'^^ ^^'"-^^ .^^'"-^. ^s^""^. .<^'>., 

<" ■ ^^^^ \<^'' %<,^'' 












-/\ .^^^x \r\ y^^r 

\/ %/. '\/' ' ^\/ \/' 

'**.,**' \/ ''■%,*^- 



MAR 70 

ST AUC'JSTir 



' o 



•J J* -t. 



AUC'JSTINE '^ f •"• U' OV ^0 



